Madison County commissioners and assessors agree on one thing — the county tax assessment process has been plagued with problems for years.
So, who’s at fault?
Well, Madison County commissioners contend that the current assessor board has exhibited a dysfunctional nature, an inability to get beyond personal differences to pay attention to bigger issues, like getting a digest out on time or hiring a chief appraiser.
They must go, commissioners say, before things can run smoothly.
Meanwhile, the four members of the county board of assessors bite back with their own accusations against the BOC. The commissioners, they say, are calling the shots on assessments, something truly frowned upon by the state government, which encourages an appraisal process free from political influence. Assessors say they can’t really do their job since the BOC has ultimate control of hiring and firing of the appraisal staff. Want a smooth assessment process? Get the BOC out of the mix, assessors say.
Enter Superior Court Judge John Bailey.
The judge heard four hours and 45 minutes of arguments July 8 in the county government complex meeting room. Bailey did not issue any rulings or recommendations, but asked that within 10 days, both sides present a list of things they’d like to see in his recommendation. He also asked for a copy of the county’s personnel policy. However, the judge did not give a timeline on when he will present his recommendations in the case.
Bailey joked that he had looked forward to the hearing as “something different,” but that, after all, it was like “every other divorce – there’s always fault on both sides.”
THE BOC’S CASE
County attorney Mike Pruett, who represents the commissioners, opened the July 8 hearing with a 50-minute summary of the board of commissioners’ reasons for removing the assessor board.
But first he asserted that Wednesday’s hearing was ultimately a procedural courtesy to the board of assessors, an opportunity for the assessors to have a judge hear their complaints. The county attorney said the law establishes that a judge can make a recommendation concerning the termination of assessors.
“But the recommendation is not binding,” he said, adding that he knew the BOA attorney would disagree. “I don’t think that (a binding ruling) is what the statute allows.”
Pruett then outlined the charges against the board of assessors. The BOC’s case hinges on four primary complaints. They say the assessors have failed to submit tax digests by deadline, that they failed to secure a chief appraiser, that there has been constant turmoil among BOA members and that a 2008 Department of Revenue audit revealed numerous assessment problems.
Pruett said the BOA’s perennial failure to submit a digest — overall county property value — in a timely fashion is, in itself, sufficient cause for dismissal. He noted that the digest was four and a half months late in 2007 and 2008, seven months late in 2006, five months late in 2005 and seven months late in 2004.
Not all current assessors were on the BOA for each tardy digest, but Pruett said the four members have shown no ability to get the digest done on time.
“The late submission of the tax digest is sufficient and irrebuttable reason for removing the board of assessors,” said Pruett.
The attorney noted that the late digests have led to $9,391 in state penalties for Madison County. Meanwhile, the county government has been forced to borrow money in recent years to operate the government due to the late digests, which has delayed the property tax revenue flow. Interest payments for those loans between 2005-07 totaled $56,567.
Pruett entered several BOA emails and letters to the editor into evidence, which painted a picture of an assessor board with significant inner conflicts. The BOC contends that the assessors have been too preoccupied with inner scuffles to pay attention to the big picture.
“That (the turmoil between BOA members) is at the root of a lot of these problems, hiring a chief appraiser and getting a digest approved,” said Pruett.
Pruett pointed out that BOA member Larry Stewart submitted a letter to the editor last June regarding the vehicle use of appraisal staff. He noted that assessors were working on completing the county digest at the time and suggested that Stewart and other BOA members were preoccupied with a minor matter while a much more significant issue, the approval of the tax digest, loomed. That lengthy June debate included a review of appropriate places for bathroom and lunch breaks.
Pruett also pointed out that BOA member Jim Escoe appeared before the BOC to discuss removing fellow assessor board members. Pruett recalled that Stewart resigned from the BOA after his recommendation for chief appraiser was shot down by fellow assessors, submitting another letter to the editor that painted his fellow board members as impossible to work with.
“… The conditions that now exist on the board of assessors and the assessors office make it impossible for me to continue,” wrote Stewart. “I have too much respect for our citizens to continue to be a part of this sham against them…”
But Stewart took back his resignation two weeks later. However, the three remaining BOA members wrote a letter to the BOC, asking them to keep Stewart off the assessor board.
Beyond the infighting, Pruett said the BOA for months failed to offer a recommendation to the BOC on a chief appraiser, a delay that could lead to more taxpayer expenses if the tax process fell behind schedule again. Meanwhile, he said a Department of Revenue review determined that the assessors show a tendency to “micromanage” the appraisal staff. He said the review also revealed inappropriate appraisal practices.
“I believe the Department of Revenue hit the nail on the head when they talked about this board’s micromanaging and inability to communicate,” said Pruett.
The county attorney said the BOC does not relish terminating the assessor board, adding that the group has no other option.
“This county has had a continuing problem with the tax assessment process,” said Pruett. “Those problems are not getting any better. It’s getting worse.”
He said the county now has a chief appraiser, Robin Baker, in place, but he questioned whether the BOA could work with Baker.
“There are grave concerns about this board’s ability to work with this man,” said Pruett. “ … I think there is plenty of evidence to support the commissioners’ position that solving this problem involves starting over fresh with a new board of assessors.”
Pruett said if the current board is removed, commissioners should look for people who’ve made their mark on society and who are not looking to make a name for themselves, but instead working as a link between the appraisal staff, the BOC and the public.
“It’s time to thank these people and say it’s time to move on,” said Pruett.
THE ASSESSORS’ CASE
Assessor board attorney Robert Leverett said “kicking someone out is an odd way to thank them for their service.”
He contended that the BOA has been a victim of a power structure rigged against them. He said the BOC calls the shots on all personnel, essentially cutting the legs out from under the asssessors.
“We concede the digests were not submitted in a timely fashion and generally that circumstance gives the commissioners the discretion to remove the assessors,” said Leverett. “The court generally should respect that discretion. But this case is unusual.”
Leverett said the BOC’s move to terminate the board of assessors was “clearly an abuse of discretion” and he urged the judge not to condone it.
“Generally under state law the board of tax assessors has the role of hiring and firing staff,” said Leverett. “It just makes sense. If you give a board certain duties, and you give them a staff to perform those duties, you also give them the authority over that staff. Otherwise it does not work.”
Leverett said Madison County is an example of a dysfunctional tax assessment system, thanks to the BOC’s grab for personnel authority on appraisals.
“In Madison County, the board of commissioners runs the staff in that office,” said Leverett. “They employ them. They hire them and they fire them.”
The BOA formerly recommended staff hires to the BOC, but the commissioners recently took away that duty after the assessors offered only one recommendation for a chief appraiser over several months.
The attorney said the power structure is not lawful and does not reflect the way the state intended authority to flow in the assessment process.
The attorney said the state set up protections for the assessors due to the “least favored nation status” of serving on an assessor board.
“In the pantheon of local government, that (the assessor board) is the one position that makes being on the board of education look like a pretty good gig,” said Leverett. “It is a thankless position. The public often doesn’t understand their role. They don’t understand the values being placed on their property … It’s a great political sport for a board of commissioners to attack a board of tax assessors. That’s a great way to rally the troops to your side.”
Leverett said the BOA ultimately never agreed to turn over all personnel reins to the BOC.
“I will submit to you, your honor, that the board of assessors never voted, back when they came under the county personnel policy, to cede all employment decision making authority,” he said.
STEWART TESTIFIES
Several commissioners were on hand Wednesday, but none testified. In fact, the BOC called no witnesses, but two people testified for the BOA — assessor board member Larry Stewart and long-time Athens-Clarke County chief appraiser George Hanson.
Stewart spent roughly two hours in the witness chair Wednesday, responding to questions from both attorneys regarding events at the BOA table in the past three years.
Stewart said he regretted penning passionate letters to the editor regarding conflicts among assessors. But he said he felt the board had gotten beyond their troubles and could work well together in the future, while also showing cooperation with the new chief appraiser.
“There’s nothing like a common enemy (the BOC),” commented Pruett after Stewart’s expression of unity, alluding to the fact that all BOA members face termination at the hands of the commissioners.
“You could say that, but I feel we have all learned a lesson,” said Stewart.
Pruett questioned Stewart about his letters to the editor, including the piece about the appraisal staff’s use of county vehicles. Stewart said the BOA is capable of multi-tasking and that the vehicle discussion had not sidetracked the digest process. He said the vehicle discussion ensued after appraisal staff members were seen eating lunch in Athens in a county vehicle. Stewart said he recalled the BOC’s decision to strip former commission chairman Wesley Nash of his county truck for alleged misuse of the vehicle. He recalled the BOC setting a policy on vehicle use and felt that the BOA should address the appraisal staff’s use of vehicles. He said the BOC failed to back the BOA on the vehicle use policy, even though the assessors felt they were carrying out the BOC’s wishes. That’s when he penned the letter.
“I’m guilty of trying too hard and caring too much,” said Stewart.
Stewart said there were conflicts among BOA members, but he said they didn’t hinder the group in working on the digest.
The BOA member also took issue with the commissioners’ use of the DOR report against the assessors, noting that the BOA members called for the DOR investigation after former chief appraiser James Flynt’s calculations appeared “too perfect” to believe. He said they took their concerns to the DOR, where officials also voiced skepticism over Flynt’s numbers. Stewart said Flynt repeatedly failed to carry out the BOA’s wishes, instead stating on at least two occasions that he worked for the BOC, not the assessors.
“How can we do the job and get what we need done if we don’t have any input?” asked Stewart. “The logic of that escapes me.”
Stewart said he felt pride over the DOR report and acknowledged an irony in its use against the BOA.
“I was very proud of the DOR report because we were the ones who found this (problems),” said Stewart. “Our suspicions were confirmed by the DOR. I felt we were vindicated and now the DOR report is being used as a major instrument against us.”
Stewart also said the BOC’s interference in the personnel process hampered efforts to find a new chief appraiser, adding that people have run from the job, fearing the BOC’s involvement. He said he doesn’t feel the assessors were guilty of micromanaging the assessor staff.
“When you’re charged with the responsibility we’re charged with, you need to know what the people who carry out that responsibility are doing in general,” said Stewart. “I don’t view that as micromanaging.”
HANSON TESTIFIES
After a lunch break Wednesday, Leverett called on Hanson, who offered his expertise on behalf of the BOA.
Hanson said in his opinion, the county board of commissioners should be kept out of the chain of command regarding the tax assessment office.
“It’s not a good idea (to have the BOC involved) because it puts political pressure on the appraisal staff,” he said.
Hanson told the court that he had known several candidates who turned down the opportunity work as chief appraiser in Madison County, because, he said, “nobody wants to work with the BOC.”
He said the county has a certain reputation in the state, and that he’d like to see that turned around.
“At some point, it (tax assessment process) has to start working right in order to be right,” Hanson said.
Hanson noted that probably no more than 20 percent of the counties in the state have their digest complete by the August 1 deadline each year.
He noted that communication between all county officials is key to an effective tax process.
Hanson said it’s important to have people from different sectors of the county who are each able to provide insight, noting that for example, the Athens-Clarke County Board of Assessors is made up of someone from the farm community, a former city treasurer, a former voter registrar and members of the corporate community.
He allowed that a “micro-managing” BOA can chase off good chief appraisal candidates, but said it is “more fearful” for a candidate when the BOC is involved in the tax appraisal office.
He said he feels it is crucial that the BOA have the ability to hire staff in the assessors’ office.
