Jasper County Courthouse to be reappraised

Appraisal services for the Jasper County Courthouse and possibly other county buildings were approved last week by the board of supervisors to make sure the structure is properly insured in case of severe damage. Supervisors frequently referenced the Marshall County Courthouse damages from the 2018 tornado.

Dennis Simon, human resources director, said it was likely that supervisor Denny Stevenson was on the board when the courthouse was last appraised. It was a new practice back then, and Simon said many historical buildings were provided assessments for better price coverage in replacement costs.

Jasper County will have to pay Valuations Northwest, a more than 45-year-old professional appraisal company, a flat-rate fee of $2,500 for the evaluation. Marshall County will also be utilizing the services of the appraiser, and it will be splitting travel expenses 50-50 with Jasper County.

“After the Marshalltown incident and they got their courthouse back open, they are bringing Valuations Northwest in to reassess that property,” Simon said. “Bobby Shomo is the agent for Marshalltown and he’s also our agent linked to ICAP. We discussed bringing them back to look at our courthouse.”

Simon said it is “essential” for the county to take a look at the courthouse and ensure the structure has the proper insurance coverage.

“What did Bobby say? They were around $40 million on their’s or something? I mean it’s just astronomical,” Simon said of the Marshall County Courthouse.

Supervisor Brandon Talsma did not have a problem with the appraisal and he saw it as a benefit to have the structure reassessed.

Stevenson said, “I think we need to do it. We need to have the proper coverage. Because I think Marshalltown got in a bit of a jam because of that.”

Talsma added, “They did. They were way under-insured on that cost. And that’s one of the things they found out. I’d hate to end up in the same scenario.”