By Alabama Public Radio
Bay Minette, AL – Many land owners along Alabama's Gulf Coast are complaining bitterly about increased property values. Some homeowners suffered extensive damage or total loss when Hurricane Ivan came through last year. Now, they say high taxes are burdening them even more. Cecil Young owned a beach front house before Ivan destroyed it. His property had been valued by Baldwin County tax assessors at more than 586 thousand dollars. That's about a 15 hundred dollar tax bill. But now, assessors say his property -- without the house -- is valued at almost one-point-three million dollars. Now his tax bill is more than 82-hundred dollars. Young is just one of nearly 13-hundred Baldwin County property owners who are challenging their appraisals.