BOC puts more in pot for chief appraiser

The commissioners voted 4-1 March 9 — with John Pethel providing the lone “no” — to amend the 2009 budget, which includes a $55,000 line item for the chief appraiser’s position. The budget will now include $75,000 for the post. The increase will be covered with county contingency funds.

New BOC chairman Anthony Dove supported the action, saying Madison County’s tax troubles have gone on too long and that a qualified chief appraiser is needed to bring stability.

“We’ve got to get on the ball and get this thing fixed,” said Dove. “It has been one of our biggest problems in Madison County for eight long years. It’s time for us to step up and fix this for our citizens.”

Board of assessor (BOA) chairman David Ragland told commissioners that the BOA had no one to recommend to the post and he asked the BOC to offer more direction on what the county is willing to pay for a chief appraiser.

“We have looked and re-looked at our application pool,” said Ragland. “…Right now, we have no one who is ready to be brought forward to the board of commissioners. But we are looking and trying to recruit. Unfortunately, we’re not receiving many applications.”

Pethel said he felt the BOA missed out on qualified appraisers who were willing to do the job for less than $75,000.

“We had at least two applicants with revaluation experience who requested $60,000 to $65,000,” said Pethel. “I don’t know what happened to those applicants and why they weren’t brought to the board.”

But other commissioners said saving a few thousand dollars on a chief appraiser’s salary isn’t worth continuing a nearly decade long trend of late digests. Those tardy digests have led to tax levying entities in the county having to borrow money to keep the government operating, while paying interest on those loans. There have also been questions about the uniformity of values in the county — whether people with similar properties are taxed similarly.

The chief appraiser oversees the assessment of property values in the county. That person not only determines whether individual properties are appropriately valued, he or she also oversees the establishment of a county digest (or overall county property value), which is the first step in the county property tax revenue process.

“This person has an awesome responsibility,” said Commissioner Stanley Thomas. “…Other counties don’t pay $80,000 to $100,000 (for a chief appraiser) for no reason.”

Thomas noted that $75,000 is a lot of money but pointed out that salaries for other skilled positions in the county are comparable in pay. He said a qualified chief appraiser could eliminate late digests, improve the uniformity in values and perform an in-house revaluation. These things would ultimately save the county far more money than what is spent on a greater salary, he said. Madison County plans to revalue all properties in the county, a process that could cost several hundred thousand dollars if performed by an outside agency.

“We have to have the values more in order and get the digests out on time,” said Thomas.

Someone in the audience moaned when the $75,000 figure was first discussed.

But commissioners Bruce Scogin and Mike Youngblood agreed with Thomas, saying the $75,000 salary will be worthwhile if the county can attract a qualified appraiser who brings some stability to county assessments.

Scogin addressed the moaner.

“I know how it hurts,” he said of increasing the salary. “But every day is putting us farther behind.”

Dove said the BOA needs to act quickly to get a recommendation for a chief appraiser to the commissioners. The board wants to avoid a late digest in 2009, which could lead to more borrowed money in 2010 if tax revenues lag behind schedule. Ragland said he felt the 2009 digest can still be completed on schedule, despite the difficulties finding a chief appraiser.