CEDAR RAPIDS - How much are some flood-damaged homes in Cedar Rapids worth after the trail of destruction in June?

City inspectors are out walking the hard-hit areas now to answer that question.

The city assessor's office started going door to door in neighborhoods Monday. They're taking notes, and photos, and in a few months owners will know what the flood damages will mean to future tax bills.

Before the flood, this home owned by Robert Welch's 86-year-old mother was assessed at about $68,000. What it's worth now is anyone's guess.

"Hopefully it's worth 20-thousand dollars to somebody...that's what we're going to ask for the property," said Robert Welch.

And appraisers like Tom Lee have started the process of figuring value for tax purposes. The city's assessor's office will visit 38-hundred residences and 1000 commercial properties damaged by flood waters through November. The post-flood valuations will show up on property tax bills due in September of 2010. In some ways, figuring the value of a damaged home is the reverse of assessing a home under construction.

"There's percentages applied for certain items under construction...we do that when we build it up...take them off as we take them down to the bare bones structure," said Tom Lee, Cedar Rapids Deputy Assessor.

Some owners may be hoping for drastic cuts and much lower tax bills. But Steve Spalding is repairing his home and a big drop in value will limit his options later.

"3-4 years down the line when we want to sell they're not going to say well...you can't get that money because it's not worth that much," said Steve Spalding, homeowner.

The assessors office will look at the data from inspectors, study home sales in damaged areas and consult experts like realtors and bankers. That will take time, so owners shouldn't expect to see the new post-flood values till next April.