By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
The passing of Property Appraiser Osborne Barker seven months ago left big shoes to fill, but Barker’s second in command, Randy Rutter, temporarily took charge of the appraiser’s office without complaining and continued to work at his same pay rate.
That changed on Tuesday.
Levy County Commissioners endorsed Rutter’s decision to raise his own pay as Acting Property Appraiser to the level Barker was making, $115,000 annually, given that attorneys for the state and county government told him he was the only one who actually could increase the pay of the property appraiser under these unusual circumstances.
Rutter said he applied for Barker’s position in a letter to the governor’s office and explained that while he was willing to take over as the interim property appraiser, he wouldn’t be running for this office in the 2022 election. The governor hasn’t made an appointment.
“I will gladly continue to serve as Acting Property Appraiser until the Governor appoints an interim, or a new property appraiser is elected and sworn in, but I believe it is reasonable that I be compensated appropriately for that service,” Rutter said in a written statement to commissioners.
Rutter appeared before commissioners at their board meeting to explain that while they had no legal authority as a board to approve the pay raise or reject it, he said he would appreciate their blessings for the sake of placing the issue in the public record and for the sake of transparency.
After his boss passed away, Rutter said he knew the property appraiser’s budget was approved by the Florida Department of Revenue and he decided to ask his office’s contact person in DOR, Gavrielle Alday, in the DOR budget office if DOR could approve the pay raise. Rutter said he told her he had two unfilled positions in the appraiser’s office and was doing Barker’s job as well as his own as assistant property appraiser, and consequently, there were ample funds available for him to increase his pay. She told Rutter as long as there were funds available he didn’t need DOR approval for the temporary pay increase, but she suggested also contacting County Attorney Nicolle Shalley for an opinion.
Rutter said Shalley informed him that under state law the county commission has no authority over the property appraiser’s budget – that authority rests with the Property Appraiser and the Department of Revenue.
“After pursing all of these avenues it appears that any temporary pay adjustment made to my salary must be authorized by myself as Acting Property Appraiser. I did not feel comfortable doing this without being fully transparent by informing the Department of Revenue and the County Commission in a public meeting. For this reason, I have placed this item on your agenda,” Rutter said in his written statement.
Commissioners said they appreciated Rutter’s competent handling of the appraiser’s office in the absence of Barker and voted 4-0 to write a letter to Beauchamp and Edwards, that CPA firm that works for the appraiser’s office, letting the company know that commissioners fully endorsed Rutter receiving the additional pay. Rutter said Barker had made arrangements for him, as the assistant property appraiser and senior leader on staff, to take over for him if this type of situation were to occur. Commissioners said they were glad Barker had the vision to see what needed to be done to protect the county’s interests if something happened to him and they were glad Rutter shouldered the responsibility.
“I just want to say I appreciate the job you’re doing as far as the agency; things are operating as they were before and we all miss Oz,” said Commissioner John Meeks. “It’s a difficult position you’ve been put in and I appreciate you taking the reins and doing the job as the assistant and stepping up. Some folks might shy away from the responsibility. With you doing that for the citizens of the county, especially at this time of year when people are trying to renew their exemptions, everything has run smoothly even though you are short-staffed. I don’t see an issue with this. I think if you’re doing the job, you deserve the pay, especially after 32 years working in the property appraiser’s office. I certainly give my blessings.”
Brooks, who made the motion to write a letter endorsing Rutter’s pay raise, said he too appreciated Rutter’s willingness to take charge of the department in the absence of Barker.
“Randy and I spoke about this at length. I have respect, just the honorable person you are, you want to be transparent about the process; it’s been a tough year without Oz, I know. The staff’s been taxed pretty heavily, but you all got a great team at the property appraiser’s office and Oz did a great job of setting everything up – the big what if, Brooks said. “Nobody saw it happening like this. The board won’t object to the adjustment. We don’t have authority to object. I appreciate it but I think it would be a good idea to have the chairman sign a letter that says we support the temporary adjustment of Randy Rutter’s salary and have that sent to the accountant’s office and let them know the board supports this 100 percent. I want to be transparent and let the public know as well.”
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Board of County Commission Regular Meeting March 22, 2022; Posted March 22, 2022
