An engaged Board of Supervisors is essential

In January, when Warren County Administrator, Ed Daley, introduced a Code of Conduct, he assured the cautious that it wouldn’t limit questions about “questionable situations.” On March 7, 2023, however, Daley skidded in, telling the Board to stop discussing the reassessment on attorney advice because they lack authority. The intimidated Board clutched their pearls, silenced their phones, and asked two rhetorical questions for the video record.

Jay Butler experienced Project Manager ran on avoiding scandal. He knows the drill: bids, vet, contract, staff up, watch. What could go wrong? Oh, ten percent of residential homeowners could find errors totaling $30.6M. And Butler asked if any under-assessed were corrected higher! Volunteers?

Why wasn’t an unbiased Board of Assessors appointed as voted on November 11, 2022?  A license search confirmed that a one-man band just led that off-key appeals parade through the Government Center. And next up: realtors on a Board of Equalization tasked to reel in self-reporting high-priced outliers.

It’s simple math. Lowering rates on incorrect assessments won’t result in fair, uniform tax bills. This was not an unbiased reassessment of which rates can be “equalized” by self-selection. While the under-assessed snuggle happily undisturbed on their nest eggs, the Over Forty-percent Club is spitting feathers, being forced to supplement the tax difference. Why is Daley attaboying stunned victims and pushing the elected out of the loop? Not Codes of Conduct, attorneys, or domineering personalities should step between engaged elected and 1100 concerned constituents. These assessed values are inconsistent, inequitable, and inaccurate. This Board needs to engage, learn the facts, and act appropriately.

C.A. Wulf
Warren County