The number of Huntington County property owners who filed appeals of their tax assessments in 2009 is down 70 percent from the number of appeals filed in 2008, Huntington County Assessor Terri Boone has announced.

The deadline for filing an appeal of the 2009 assessment was Feb. 16. As of that date, Boone says, 244 appeals had been filed. In 2008, she says, 774 appeals were filed.

Decisions on those 774 appeals, which lowered property assessments and resulted in less-than-expected property tax revenue, contributed to an unexpected shortfall in the Huntington city budget and prompted layoffs of city employees and cuts in city services.

Most of the 2008 appeals were filed by owners of commercial and industrial properties in Huntington Township, which includes the city of Huntington, Boone says.

"The drastic increase in commercial/industrial in Huntington Township over three years is why we got in this mess," Boone says. "We've straightened that out."

Since the 2008 appeals were filed, Boone says, "My staff and I, along with our new vendor (Accurate Assessment) re-evaluated all the residential, industrial and commercial properties for the entire county."

Boone says the 2009 appeals will be decided over the next few months and results will be given to the county auditor's office and the Huntington clerk-treasurer's office.