Questions/Opinion by Linda Dean Cooper
I never paid much attention to the property appraiser’s duties until the sand mine controversy. Those of us who have lived here for generations could not figure out why all the fuss about the sand-digging process. It has been part of the Levy agricultural community forever. But it did expose a lot of information and the underbelly of local politics.
As one of many who followed the entire RT3 sand pit/mining permitting process, I was intrigued by how much the RT3 permitting process exposed.
County websites are a great source of information. I noticed some bizarre changes starting in January of this year. A website can change in a second or stay static depending on the owner. A website cannot be trusted like a hardcopy document or printed book which is why there are disclaimers like this from the Levy Property Appraiser website:
Statement on Levy Property Appraiser Website
The Property Appraiser makes every effort to produce the most accurate information possible. No warranties, expressed or implied are provided for the data herein, its use or interpretation. The assessment information is from the current preliminary tax roll. All data is subject to change.
Chart of Parcel Changes With Farms Operating Sand Pits
Below is a chart with changes captured on the appraiser’s website but only because it was saved. Was this done to appease the sand mine opponents that the farmers’ sand mines are paying their fair share? Was it to make the sand mine opponents happy but just for show? Farmers are too busy farming so they would not notice any subtle changes on a website. The tax bill that arrives in the mail from the tax collector is what matters.
The market values for the listed farms were reduced and the taxable value increased. The CAP Differential amounts have been adjusted. The bottom line is that this website manipulation appears to be only for show. Is it smoke and mirrors for the sand mine opponents? I don’t know. The website adjustments make no sense to me.
CAP Differential Definition
Q. How is the Save Our Home CAP Calculated?
A. the amount of CAP is the difference between your Just (Market) Value and your Assessed Value. The difference between the market value and your assessed value is often called the “CAP differential” or CAP savings”. The amount of the CAP can vary from year to year depending on the value of your property.
The appraiser’s website is not the source document for generating our tax bills. It is only a service website subject to “garbage in, garbage out”. Why does Whistler continue to change the website for the farms digging sand?
One reason could be competition. Dale Hart is a latecomer into the property appraiser’s race. Hart qualified to run for office in April. Since then, changes on the website have been taking place in the farms with sand mine operations. Why the multiple changes?
Whistler claims to have 24 years of experience. He was mostly a field appraiser until he won the vacant seat in 2022.
2022 DOR Report Exposes 10 Ag Properties the Property Appraiser Classified Wrong
The Department of Revenue provides oversight and assistance to local government officials, including property appraisers, tax collectors, and value adjustment boards.
According to the 2022 In-Depth Study of Levy report, ten agricultural properties were randomly selected and compared to the property appraiser classifications, and all ten were classified incorrectly by Levy County property appraiser staff.
This report was conducted in May 2022 and at the time of this writing the website does not reflect the classification corrections. Perhaps the DOR classifications have been corrected but the website did not reflect any changes.
Whistler Requests $11,897 Budget Amendment for His Pay Raise
Appraiser Whistler was on the agenda on June 18 requesting $11,897 for a budget amendment to be taken from the reserve for contingencies account. I asked Whistler during his request what was this budget amendment for and why the county was taking out of the reserve fund for contingencies.
He would not answer my question and deferred to the new finance director to explain. Why could he not explain his budget request? Simply put, it was a pay raise for Whistler. According to the supporting documents, it seems there was additional information or testimony by Whistler or BoCC provided to DOR to request a change in the 2023-24 budget. A good question to ask Whistler or a commissioner is why he was entitled to an additional $11,897 to his salary.
Levy Citizen Newspaper Failed to Print in Full Candidate Dale Hart Profile
It appears the Levy Citizen failed to run Dale Harts’ complete candidate profile but was able to print Whistler’s. The online version could have been updated but it was not. I’ve worked for a newspaper, and this is egregious and tragically unprofessional. Because the Levy Citizen failed Mr. Hart so miserably here is a link to Hart’s website: https://www.hartforlevypropertyappraiser.com/
City of Chiefland Town Hall Candidate Event Scheduled for July 11
The City of Chiefland is in the process of a town hall meeting that will be held on Thursday, July 11th from 6-9 PM at the Tommy Usher Center for a Q&A for each seat. Or possibly introduce each candidate and allow them to speak for themselves.
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Posted July 7, 2024
