COEUR d'ALENE - Some come armed with attorneys and outside appraisals. Some just come with complaints.

A long stream of Kootenai County property owners are appealing their property assessments this month before the county commissioners, acting as the Board of Equalization.

There have been appeals on 335 properties this year, said Assessor Mike McDowell, adding that many appellants own multiple properties.

He was surprised to see the number up from last year's 200 appeals, he added.

"I was, based on our assessment reviews. We didn't see that many coming through, especially in the last couple weeks," he said. "Many just went straight to the BOE, without first coming in to talk to us (the Assessor's Office)."

The board started hearing appeals in late June, McDowell said. The officials' days are packed with more until early next week.

Only a small percentage of appellants have achieved a new assessment value, he added.

The county's assessment is presumed correct in BOE hearings, the assessor explained, so the burden falls on the appellant to show a "preponderance of evidence" that the assessment is wrong.

"What they need to show is information from the appropriate time-frame that would indicate their value is less than we have assessed for," McDowell said.

A common problem is that appellants present real estate prices from this year, McDowell said, while 2011 assessments are based on market information from only the 2010 calendar year.

"I think most understand after the course of the presentation of the appeal what we're required to do by law," McDowell said.

Chris Avery was accepting on Wednesday after the commissioners denied his appeal of the assessment on his Mullan Trail property.

"I was one of the unlucky ones," he said with a shrug.

Avery, who had outside appraisals conducted, argued that the county erred in raising his property value $100,000 above the $650,000 he paid for the home in 2009.

Although the BOE found he lacked enough evidence to tweak the assessment, Avery was just glad to participate in the process, he said.

"I think if no one thinks we should challenge these appraisals if they're higher than multiple (separate) appraisals, then we all pay the price," Avery said.

John Magnuson, representing the Golf Club at Black Rock, said the organization would go the state Board of Tax Appeals after the BOE voted 2-0 to maintain the county's assessment on the course.

The $14.5 million assessment, the attorney said, is roughly twice what investors purchased the property for in late 2010.

"Higher operation costs," Magnuson said when asked the impact of a higher assessed value.

He argued that the county was unfair in basing its analysis off the course's construction cost, as all memberships had been terminated when it was sold.

"It looks like a Cadillac, but it was driving like an Edsel the day it was sold," he said.

County staff said they had made the assessment after comparing the course with the Gozzer Ranch and Coeur d'Alene Resort courses.

They also contended that the sale of the course was a distress sale, not representing the course's full value.

"The sale in my mind was a distress sale, so it does not reflect the market value," said Commissioner Todd Tondee.

In such a complex situation, McDowell said, the county can suggest hiring a third party professional with expertise in that kind of property.

Otherwise, if appellants disagree with the BOE decision, they can appeal within 30 days to the state Board of Tax Appeals.

Only about 20 individuals typically go that route, McDowell added.

"We've got new commissioners, and they're working very hard to work through the questions posed before them," he said. "Overall, it's an important process that ensures property owners have a right to be heard."

Coeur d'Alene resident Russell McLain admitted on Tuesday that he might not be successful in his appeal hearing, scheduled for today.

His only evidence are his neighbors' assessed values, he said, which didn't jump up $50,000 like his.

"I'll lose my appeal tomorrow, for sure," McLain said. "They'll have all their big fancy words, and I'm just a guy."

But he has to try, he added. And he wants to bring his 14-year-old daughter, to show how an appeal hearing works.

"I've got to fight the good fight," he said. "I want to take my daughter in and show how you stand up to the government, and how the government is supposed to work for you."