Residents and officials press board over reassessment notices and large property-value jumps

Residents at the meeting described steep increases in reassessment notices and demanded more transparency about who conducted the work and how appeals will be handled.

Martha Harris said her property received a 161% increase and asked whether the reassessment was conducted by Pearson Appraisal Service, Vision Solutions or another vendor; she also raised concerns about incomplete right-of-way forms for a local utility project. "Mine was a 161% increase," Harris said, and pressed the board for documentation and an explanation of the process.

Brandy Marino and Jared Klein also criticized the reassessment process and the brevity of board materials. Jared Klein compared Charles City’s 28-page packet with substantially longer packets in peer counties and said the public deserves fuller presentations and staff updates.

County Administrator Rogers told the board the county’s contract is with Vision Software (sometimes referenced in the meeting as Vision) and outlined administrative steps: the board extended the reassessment contract in October 2025, the reassessment deliverables had not yet been provided and any required equalization and tax-rate changes would require advertised public hearings. He said the county will post a reassessment-specific web page, host a community meeting and planned to have additional updates at the June 23 meeting.

Speakers asked for more responsiveness on appeals, documentation of the vendor deliverables and an explicit timetable for completing reassessment work and addressing resident appeals. Rogers said the 2027 reassessment must be completed by December 2026 and that staff would present contract updates at a future board meeting.