Laguna Beach Fire Victims Appeal Property Assessments : Real estate: 22 taxpayers contend appraisals are too high. County officials say some adjustments are possible.

A group of Laguna Beach fire victims who contend that the county has appraised their vacant properties at too high a price appeared before an independent appeals board Thursday to ask that their property values--and property taxes--be lowered.

In all, 22 of the 366 property owners whose homes were destroyed in the devastating Oct. 27 wildfire are contesting the county’s assessments.

The hearings at the old Orange County Courthouse gave property owners an opportunity to present evidence supporting their position to the three-member panel appointed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

The board, which also heard presentations from the county assessor’s office, will decide at a later time whether to make any adjustments in the assessments, officials said.

“In some cases there might be adjustments and in others there might not be,” said Webster J. Guillory, manager of management services for the assessor’s office.

Guillory did not address individual complaints during an interview Thursday but said property owners were dealt “with fairly and equally across the board.”

“We have talked to many of these people, and we understand how concerned they are,” he said. “Of course, out of roughly 400 people, there will be some differences of opinions.”

Guillory said that when a vacant parcel is assessed, the land is appraised by subtracting the value of the home and other improvements from the entire property’s value the last time it was sold or improved.

Some of the property owners, frustrated by the lengthy hearing process, left before they could present their case.

“We’re fighting big government,” said Frank Smart, who lost his home on Canyon Acres Drive. “It’s clearly obvious that their assessment of the vacant lots are not anywhere near reality.”

“It’s a full-time job when you lose your house,” added P.J. Duke, an engineer at McDonnell Douglas in Huntington Beach. “We are very, very busy, and this is just another time-consuming thing you have to go through. When obstacles come up like this, it’s very frustrating.”

“You would think that you would get a better break after the fire or more reasonable treatment,” said Peter Moore, Duke’s husband.