A PASSION FOR AG WILL GUIDE BENDA IN HIS NEW ROLE

By Jenny Kirk Chad Benda began settling into his new role as Murray County Assessor last Wednesday, and while there is plenty yet to learn, he is starting off with a great deal of knowledge and experience on his side. “I’m learning names and faces, and it’s a different computer software than I had at Jackson County, so I’m learning that, too.” Benda said.

Benda, who served as the Jackson County Appraiser since July 2016, seeks to have good client relationships with the people he serves. “Murray County is a lot like Jackson County, which is heavily into ag,” he said. “That’s what my passion is in. One of the statements that stuck with me — one of the county commissioners in Jackson County said real early on — is ‘I expect you guys to be experts in homestead, so the taxpayers get the best programs possible according to the law.’ So the idea of customer service is important to me.”

Minnesota county assessors typically evaluate land, buildings and other structures for property taxes — property taxes are the main source of funding for local governments in the state — classifying each type of property as residential, commercial, agricultural and so on. “Assessors have a unique job where a lot of people look at us adversarial, but it’s a job required by state law,” Benda said. “If we don’t do it, the state will. Most of it is working with taxpayers, and while some taxpayers might have an idea of the way it should be, the state law says it has to be this way.” Serving as an assessor means being accessible to taxpayers while following the state law, regardless of thoughts and opinions. “A lot of it is educating the taxpayer on what the process is,” Benda said. “A vast majority understand that we have a difficult and clumsy job. Maybe I agree with someone (on fairness), but state law says we have to do it a certain way. That won’t change until it changes at the state level.”

In Minnesota, the assessment date for valuing property is January 2 every year. County assessors appraise property based on 100% of market value, which is supposed to be what the property would sell for if it were placed on the open market. Once the assessment is complete, county assessors mail a Notice of Valuation and Classification to each property owner, detailing the estimated market value, limited market value, taxable market value and property classification for the current and prior year, as well as the value of new improvements and information for appealing the value or classification of property. A Notice of Valuation and Classification also includes the date and location of Local and County Board of Appeal and Equalization opportunities. “One of the things I’ve found is that you have to be comfortable telling people you don’t know something but that you’ll research it and get back to them,” Benda said. “No one, if they’re being truthful and honest, is an expert on every aspect of the law, so you have to be willing to get back to people with answers if you don’t know them right away.”

Benda anticipates building a solid rapport with people throughout Murray County over the next weeks, months and years. “We’re basically referees here,” he said. “You want to build the rapport with the taxpayers, so they can understand the process we need to go through, but again, we’re required to follow the state laws. We’re applying the laws, so it’s never anything personal. We have to do what the law says we have to do for the property.” Benda hopes that people will feel comfortable reaching out to him with questions and concerns when they arise, especially since Minnesota has a complex property tax system. “People have said that Minnesota is one of the most complex ones in the nation,” he said.

Benda is a graduate of South Dakota State University in Brookings, where he earned a degree in Agriculture Business in 1996. He then worked as a loan officer for United Prairie Bank in Round Lake for two years before transferring to his hometown of Jackson, where he assumed roles as a compliance officer and assistant vice president. “We dealt with a lot of ag,” he said. In February 2005, Benda became an adult farm management instructor for Minnesota West Community and Technical College at the Jackson campus. “I worked with farmers through MnWest until July 2016,” Benda said.

Benda is married to wife, Amanda, and they have three children, all of whom attend Jackson County Central. Son Christian is a senior at JCC, while daughter Rylee is a freshman and daughter Aliyah is a third grader. Another of Chad Benda’s passions is the Little Huskies Daycare Center and Preschool that he and his wife started in 2006. “Amanda was the director and had a staff of 15-20,” Benda said. “In December 2022, we signed a sales agreement for a new nonprofit to buy it and a new director was hired. We still own the building, so they lease it from us.” While the center is licensed for 95 kids, Benda said the need for childcare is much bigger than that. “We’ve said for years that the place could expand to double that,” he said. “But with every business these days, it’s hard to find qualified staff. COVID certainly made everyone’s job harder, too.” The best part, according to Benda, is seeing the children grow. “We still see the kids that would’ve started out as preschoolers the first year,” he said. “They would be seniors in college or are the first year out of college. They’re still ‘your kids.’ It’s not so much the business, it’s the people you meet and get to know.”

That’s how Benda feels about his new position as the Murray County Assessor, where he joins deputy assessors Amber Hansen, Chris Baumberger, Selena Lopez-Cardenas and Karla Ray. “Chris and Amber have been here a long time, and Selena and Karla have been here a couple years,” Benda said. “They definitely know what’s going on, so it’s making my transition much easier. I look forward to working with them and meeting the people in the area.”