The Cochise County Board of Equalization on Oct. 2 voted 3-0 to ratify State Board of Equalization (SBOE) hearing officers' decisions on notice-of-value appeals held Sept. 10, reducing county assessed values on several parcels including 18 vacant lots owned by one taxpayer.

County Assessor Phil Leyendecker told the board the appeals docket involved approximately 125 parcels and that “there were only basically 3 property owners that received adjustments” — one residential parcel, one commercial parcel and 18 vacant lots owned by a single taxpayer. He said the total reduction in full cash value was $341,247 and the reduction in limited property value was $111,564. “This was an extremely light year,” Leyendecker said.

The largest set of changes involved 18 lots in a subdivision south of Benson along Highway 90 that Leyendecker linked to a development the transcript identified as an out‑of‑county retirement plan manager; those lots had been carried on the tax roll at $45,000 each and were reduced to $32,500 each after the hearing because, Leyendecker said, “based on current market selling bridal, we couldn't defend that value. We reduced it to $32,500.”

Leyendecker also described a separate adjustment to a commercial property (parcel 106.060.021) that dropped from $451,000 to $446,000 after the board found a change in wall height on a shed warranted a slight value reduction. He explained that construction costs rise with greater wall heights, noting, “if you have like a 18 foot wall height, you go to a 20 foot wall height or so, cost goes up considerably.” He said similar cost differences apply to homes with higher ceiling heights.

After the assessor's presentation, a supervisor moved to ratify the SBOE hearing officers' decisions as noted in the meeting exhibit; the motion was seconded, and the board voted unanimously to approve the ratification. The board chair called the vote and the motion passed “3 0.”

The action formalizes the SBOE hearing outcomes and updates the county's assessment rolls; Leyendecker said the overall appeals workload was lighter than in previous years. The board scheduled its next regular meeting for Oct. 7 at 10 a.m. in the hearing room for the regular board of supervisors meeting and related district items.

• Discussion: Assessor presentation of appeal results, market defensibility of prior lot values, and the effect of building wall height on assessed construction cost.
• Direction: Ratification of the SBOE hearing officers' decisions (formal action taken).
• Decision: Motion to ratify passed 3-0.