CAPE COUNTY BOARD OF EQUILIZATION CONVENES FOR YEAR

JACKSON -- The Cape Girardeau County Board of Equalization has convened for 1994, but only a handful of property owners in the county are expected to seek a change in assessed valuation from the board.

"We may have owners of a few homes come in, but right now I don't know of anything big coming up," said Assessor Jerry Reynolds.

The board held a brief organizational meeting Monday, but has no appointments scheduled until next week.

The purpose of the board is to consider requests from property owners who feel their property has been unfairly valued by the county assessor's office. The board has the authority to lower, or even increase, assessed value.

Serving on the board are the three county commissioners, Reynolds, Auditor H. Weldon Macke, Jackson Mayor Paul Sander, and Cape Girardeau Mayor Albert M. Spradling, III. Roger Arnzen, director of mapping and appraisal, serves as an adviser to the board.

Reynolds noted that more than 6,000 notices of increased assessment were sent out several weeks ago to property owners whose values had increased, advising them that they could appear before the board. In most cases, values were changed due to new construction or additions to buildings.

The board will schedule appointments on Mondays and Thursdays through July 28. Appointments can be scheduled by calling the assessor's office at 243-3123.