PVA WINTERS' POSITION ON APPEALS IS WRONG

Ron Winters, the Oldham County Property Valuation Administrator (PVA) recently placed an ad in the Oldham Era that I found to be incorrect and totally out of line.

It appears that Winters is trying to discourage people from appealing their property assessments. What is worse is that he has already made up his mind regarding any appeals that might be made. In essence he has said that people are wasting their time should they decide to appeal their assessments.

First, Winters states that the value of homes in Florida and a couple of other states has decreased by as much as 20%. I am sitting here in Florida as I write this and I can tell you that the values have easily decreased by 40%. Further, Winters uses a newspaper article from the Oldham Era to justify his position but wants to limit what the taxpayer can use for evidence. I believe that higher authority would see it differently. As a member of the Kentucky Attorney General’s office recently said to me, “Local officials often do not understand the limits of their authority.”

Winters states that comparable sales do not include foreclosures and short sales. I have read the Kentucky constitution that Winters frequently referred to when he was defending his decisions of the developers’ appeals last year and I don’t recall those terms being used. Section 172 states that property should be assessed at the price that it would bring at a voluntary sale. If houses around your home are being sold at foreclosure sales, it will certainly affect the price you will receive for your home should you decide to sell it. That is simple common sense. The effect of “short sales” and "foreclosure sales” on surrounding housing is clearly visible in Florida.

Last year developers successfully received 25% reductions in their appeals before the appeals board by claiming that everyone was aware that the prices of homes and lots had fallen. To my knowledge that decision has not been overturned. Considering that, I believe that everyone should appeal their assessments. I know that means a lot of work for the office of the PVA but that comes with the position.

Hopefully Winters will reconsider his unreasonable and prejudicial position. If he doesn’t, people will be forced to appeal his decisions. That would be inconsiderate on the part of any elected official. That would also likely have repercussions for Winters when he runs for reelection.

TWO NEW ORDINANCES AND TWO NEW FEES

Two new ordinances were passed at the Fiscal Court meeting held on March 17, 2009. One is known as the “Alarm Ordinance” and the other one is known as the “Peddler’s Ordinance.”

The alarm ordinance essentially provides for a fine for false alarms received by the Oldham County Police Department. Each person would be allowed two false alarms each year before being subject to the fine. Although supporters of the ordinance claimed that the police department was receiving so many false alarms that it was affecting its ability to perform other duties, no statistics were provided to support this allegation. The finance committee was asked if it had the statistics.

What was more surprising about the ordinance was that it provided for an annual registration fee of twenty dollars for registering alarms with the Oldham County Police Department. The fee only applies to those alarms that alert the police department. This is just another way for the county to raise money. It seems that every time the Fiscal Court meets there is some new fee or tax. Magistrates Scott Davis, David Voegele and Steve Church voted against the alarm ordinance. The remaining magistrates and the judge voted for the ordinance.

Then there was the peddler ordinance. The alleged purpose of this ordinance was to keep peddlers from scaring people and to keep unwanted solicitors away from people’s homes. It does neither. It only requires peddlers to obtain a permit in order to peddle their wares. It does not stop them from coming to your house. There will be a background check done on each applicant. However, after reading the ordinance, it does not appear to me that any real grounds for denial of the permit are contained in it. And then there is another fee. The permit, which will cost one hundred dollars, will be valid for a maximum of six months. As originally written, the permit would have prevented salespersons from calling on businesses. Thanks to Magistrate David Voegele that provision was removed from the ordinance.

The peddler ordinance does give police a basis for questioning salespersons and to know who is selling things in the neighborhoods. However, I don’t believe that we needed an ordinance for them to do that.

Magistrates Scott Davis, Bob Leslie and Rick Rash voted against the peddler ordinance while the remaining magistrates and the judge voted for the ordinance.

MAGISTRATE VOEGELE WANTS DEAL WITH SCHOOL BOARD RECONSIDERED

Magistrate David Voegele wants the Oldham County School Board to consider relinquishing all or part of the two hundred thousand dollar payment that the Fiscal Court gives to it each year as a result of an agreement reached with it several years ago.

As many of you may recall the Dynegy Company, located on Commerce Parkway wanted to build a plant to generate electricity. The county agreed to lease the property to Dynegy for twenty years which meant that Dynegy would not have to pay any property taxes. At the end of the twenty years the property would be turned over to Dynegy and they would pay regular property taxes. As part of the deal Dynegy agreed to pay the county several hundred thousand dollars each year. The school board felt that the agreement would preclude it from collecting property taxes for the twenty year period. Therefore, the county agreed to pay 200 thousand dollars annually to the school board.

Voegele’s assertion now is that since the school board seems to be “flush” with money, at least in the building fund, and times are “tough” for the county, the Board of Education should consider relinquishing all or part of the money each year. County Attorney John Fendley stated that Fiscal Court had a contract with the school board and that we were bound by that contract. However, the court passed a resolution calling for the finance committee to attempt to reach a new agreement with the Board of Education.

I agree with Voegele’s contention although I don’t know that the county is financially strapped for money. Therefore the county may not be able to make a good argument for their position. As for honoring the contract, I do not remember a contract being entered into. Several years ago I read the minutes of the Fiscal Court meeting during which the resolution was passed to give the money to the schools. I do not remember any contract being mentioned. However, that has been a few years ago and it is possible that a contract does exist. Certainly some simple record checking would resolve that question.

Voegele also argued that the Board of Education did not put up any money in the effort to have Dynegy come to the county but was receiving some of the profits. It is certainly true that had Dynegy not come to the county, the schools would not have received any of the money that it has received. Further, the Board of Education did not suffer from any of the political fallout that was the result of the Dynegy agreement. Simply put, the Board of Education was the beneficiary of a deal that did not cost them anything.

KEVIN ELDRIDGE TRIES TO DEFLECT HEAT FROM UNHAPPY STORM WATER VICTIMS

Kevin Eldridge sounds and appears more like a candidate for County Judge every day. I have predicted that he will run and that Duane Murner will support him. Murner has been grooming him for the job for a long time. He helped him stay on the Planning & Zoning Commission, appointed him to lead his Vision Council, and has now appointed him to lead the Storm Water District. I thought that he was a complete failure as the chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Vision Council is just a bad memory to most people. The Vision Council never seemed to accomplish anything other than trying to tell people, and justify the fact, that Murner was going to want a lot of additional taxes.

However, Eldridge’s new position as chairman of the Storm Water District may be the position that brings him the most heat. After reading the article in the Oldham Era last week it was apparent that Murner and Eldridge were taking some heat over the recent bills people received from the Storm Water District. In fact, Eldridge seemed to be trying to deflect some of the heat to the politicians. He was obviously blaming everyone except himself. It is true that he did not force the county to form a Storm Water district and he did not vote for the fee. However, he accepted the position as director which indicates that he supports the program. Further, while Eldridge is telling everyone that they should complain to their elected officials, including the local officials, we must all remember that he wanted the fee to be much higher than the final figure that was set.

Eldridge begins his article by telling everyone what a great guy he is by making sure that they know his position is as a volunteer. He continues by trying to make it look as though he did such a great job by keeping the rate lower than Jefferson County. What he doesn’t tell people is that most counties in Kentucky don’t have a Storm Water district. He also doesn’t tell the people that, according to an email that he sent to Judge Murner, just over 13 percent of the people in the county should be covered by the Storm Water District. Wonder why all of the other people have to pay the bill also?

If the Storm Water fee is such a bad thing, then why is he a part of it and why did he want the fee to be higher. Why is he trying to deflect the criticism to the magistrates? Can he not take the heat? Is he afraid that the unpopularity of the Storm Water fee is going to hurt his image and his chances of becoming the next County Judge? He is really beginning to sound like a politician. He is trying to place the blame for the Storm Water fee on everyone else while trying to convince them that he is trying to be their savior. Just remember, he wanted the fee to be much higher and he was willing to include the entire county even though he did not believe that the entire county was required to be a part of the Storm Water District.

I would suspect that Judge Murner will be indebted to Mr. Eldridge for “falling on the sword” for him and taking some of the heat for the Storm Water Fee. I would also expect that Eldridge will expect Judge Murner’s total support should he decide to seek the office of County Judge, even if other people close to Murner are disappointed at not receiving his support. Anyone can see that Eldridge is likely to follow the same path as Murner in campaigning for County Judge, should he enter the race. That path includes gathering as much funding as possible from developers, real estate agents, and those involved in the construction industry. We clearly see where Murner’s allegiances fall and if Eldridge were elected County Judge, it is likely that little or no change would be coming to Oldham County. Can the people of this county afford a second term of Duane Murner or his groomed replacement?

MAGISTRATE CHURCH WANTS RESPECT FOR THE FISCAL COURT

During the “public comment” portion the of the Fiscal Court meeting on Tuesday, March 18, 2009 Magistrate Steve Church took the opportunity to address the court from the podium. He stated that he had heard one person say that they would not allow their nine year old child to watch the court meetings on television due to the disrespect shown to members of the court. He stated that he thought that people making public comments should show more respect for the members of the court.

I wonder if the parent was also concerned with the frequent misstatements that are heard from members of the court. I specifically remember Magistrate Church demonstrating obvious frustration with criticism of the court, some of which, he thought was directed at him. He stated that he didn’t ask to be a magistrate. He also indicated that he thought the people should be glad to have him. I have been told by one person that Magistrate Church asked that person to intervene with Governor Fletcher to help him receive the appointment to the position when Paula Gish resigned. Further, Church paid the filing fee and signed up to run for the position to fill the unexpired term of Gish. I believe he even asked people for their votes. The only thing that Magistrate Church has done to indicate that he doesn’t want the job is to be absent. I have attended most of the court meetings and according to my calculations he has been absent more than all of the other members combined. But I still believe that he wanted the position.

If the members of the court want respect, they must earn it. Respect does not drop out of the sky. Perhaps Magistrate Church needs to learn to accept criticism. On the other hand, if the heat is more than he can bear, he can always quit the job that he didn’t want.

Now if Church was trying to defend Judge Murner, shame on him. I would hope that he would not condone the recent statements of the Judge regarding his willingness to go to jail rather than obey the law. If Church is condoning that, he is the only person that I have talked to who feels that way. The people to whom I have spoken felt as I do. That being, that the statements embarrassed them. However, I believe Church participated in the illegal meeting led by Judge Murner and never complained. Perhaps he does agree with the conduct of the Judge.

SENATOR HARRIS AND REPRESENTATIVE OSBORNE WANT YOUR MONEY

Senator Ernie Harris claims to be the taxpayer’s friend. At least that is what his web site says. However, he recently voted to increase the tax on alcohol and will probably be voting to maintain the current tax rate on gasoline. State representative David Osborne has already voted to maintain the tax rate on gasoline. Both of these politicians claim to be republicans.

The gasoline tax in question is supposed to fluctuate with the wholesale price of gasoline. However, when the wholesale price began to decline the state decided to change the law in order to keep the tax rate at the same level that it would have been had it was designed to do. This action once again enforces the widely held belief that once the government places a tax on something it never wants to give it up.

Perhaps the residents of Oldham County would be better off if our representatives stayed home instead of going to Frankfort. It is difficult to look around the county and see any fruits of their labor but it is easy to see that they want to help the state take our money. Recently it appears that Senator Harris casts his votes to please Senate President David Williams, who supports maintaining the same tax rate, instead of trying to please his constituents. Representative Osborne just wants the state to keep every penny of your money that it can get.

Considering the fact that everybody seems to want “change”, perhaps it is time to consider changing our representatives in Frankfort. After all, they should be representing the people not the local and state politicians.

Another issue to consider is, do we want David Williams representing our state in the United States Senate instead of Jim Bunning? Personally, I don’t.

OLDHAM FISCAL COURT REFUSES TO PASS INCREASE IN FEE REQUESTED BY INDUSTRIAL DISPOSAL

On March 3, 2009 the Oldham County Fiscal Court took a courageous stance and a common sense approach to the question of the proposed garbage fee. They decided by a seven to two vote to send the proposed fee increase back to the Utilities committee for further negotiation. The problem is that the two members of fiscal court who voted against sending the issue back make up the majority of that committee. Hopefully they will understand that they received a “mandate” from the other members of the court to renegotiate the fee downward.

Originally the county signed a five-year contract with Industrial Disposal (ID) to collect the garbage in Oldham County. The contract contained language that allowed ID a fee increase in year four and year five of the contract. No other increases in the fees were provided for. However, at the urging of Magistrate Rick Rash, a recipient of campaign funds from ID, on two different occasions the fiscal court granted fee increases to ID which amounted to a total of six percent. The reason for requesting those increases was to offset the spike in the price of diesel fuel. Both times the increases were granted notwithstanding that the contract did not require them. The court was simply being sensitive to the requests of ID.

This being the fifth year of the contract, a fee increase was provided for and the increase was to be based on the CPI. However, since the cost of diesel fuel has been substantially reduced it was the feeling of the majority of fiscal court that ID should consider giving up their fee increase. This would offset the prior fee increases granted to offset the price increase for fuel.

The two magistrates who voted to give ID the fee increase without further negotiation were Bob Diebel and Rick Rash. Rash appeared to be very distraught when the court voted to send the issue back to the utilities committee for further negotiation. For whatever reason Magistrate Rash always seems to be “carrying the water” for ID. It will be interesting to see his position when the time comes for the county to let the trash contract out for bids. The current contract expires on January 31, 2010.

Frankly, I was extremely pleased to see some meaningful discussion on an issue by members of the court. It seemed as though six magistrates and the judge were looking out for the best interests of the people. I commend them for that.

The county may have to give ID the fee increase in the end but ID will know that the court is aware that ID was not willing to be considerate of their customers. In fairness to ID it did appear that they were willing to continue negotiating the contract.