Nov. 7—MITCHELL — Davison County property owners are choosing the expense of replating land rather than the expense of property taxes.
Property owners in Davison County face a tax bill for each parcel they own. This has led to sticker shock for many property owners as the way the parcels were previously combined qualified these parcels for a lower tax assessment.
Parcels cannot be combined at the Davison County Equalization office, according to a June legal opinion given to county leaders from Deputy State’s Attorney Jim Taylor, which was requested in April by Davison County Director of Equalization Leah Vissia.
Register of Deeds Danna Kolbeck is concerned that the new directive will cause a domino effect in Davison County. Property owners are turning complaints into paperwork at the Davison County and city of Mitchell zoning offices, as well as the register of deeds office and local title companies. Property owners are footing the bill to have parcels surveyed, and if recently surveyed, to be resurveyed.
It’s frustrating for property owners who thought they were doing the right thing a couple years ago, and are now redoing plats, according to Kolbeck.
By Thursday afternoon, Kolbeck had received six re-plats, and expects this trend to continue.
Kolbeck, 38, has worked for the office since 2018 and was appointed as Register of Deeds in March 2024. She was elected for a term that started in January 2025.
In order to combine parcels, property owners have to vacate the properties and then get approval for a new plat. Property owners are paying application fees with the county offices, and Mitchell, Ethan or Mount Vernon, if applicable, and then going before the County Commission and city councils for approval.
Kobeck believes there’s historical precedence for the combining of parcels, and that some plats have been grandfathered into the system.
“Everybody should be getting treated the same, no matter when you plat,” Kolbeck said.
Property taxes are the source of government revenues and are based on parcels. Fewer parcels in the county could potentially mean fewer taxes collected, but Taylor told the Mitchell Republic that he believes that fewer plats will not result in less taxes collected.
“What people have been doing in previous years have been combining the parcels informally for tax purposes, and getting the lower valuation,” Taylor said.
Taylor noted property owners do not have to vacate lots to get a lower assessment. Property owners can go before the Board of Equalization in the spring every year and argue their case that the director of equalization has lots valued too high, according to Taylor.
“That’s always been on the books,” Taylor said.
Taylor told the Mitchell Republic the county’s Equalization office has to assess properties based on fair market value calculated by comparable sales and income potential.
Vissia is out on medical leave. Carla Wittstruck, an assessor who is currently in charge of the office, declined to answer the Mitchell Republic’s questions.
It comes down to getting an agricultural assessment to avoid being assessed for development land, according to Taylor.
“If you’re holding this land for development, that should be evaluated at a fair market price, whatever that is, on a lot by lot basis,” Taylor said. “They have to make a decision, if they’re in the development business or the agricultural business.”
Kolbeck has her doubts. Different statutes govern each county office, and the new directive has a lot of people coming to the courthouse with frustrations, according to Kolbeck.
“I just record what is recordable,” Kolbeck said.
