MURNER STUMBLES WITH NOMINATION OF VAN NAGELL TO BOARD OF TAX APPEALS

On April 21, 2009 Judge Duane Murner nominated Ellen Van Nagell for a position on the Board of Tax Appeals. The Board consists of three members; one nominated by the Fiscal court, one by the Judge Executive and one by the Mayor of LaGrange. There are two vacancies on the Board at the present time – one is to be filled by the Mayor and the other is to be filled by Fiscal Court. The third member of the Board, Rusty Davis, was placed on the Board by Judge Murner.

Despite the fact that the Fiscal Court was supposed to fill the vacancy Judge Murner took it upon himself to nominate a person to the position. Moreover, he nominated a person with extremely close ties to developer Bob Jones who in the past year appealed the assessment of most of his vacant lots to that Board. He is expected to do the same thing this year. Jones is also a close friend and political supporter of Judge Murner.

According to the Property Valuation Administrator (PVA), Judge Murner at the time of the nomination of Van Nagell, advised the Fiscal Court that the PVA had recommended her for the position. The office of the PVA subsequently advised Judge Murner that he had misinformed the Court, as that office did NOT recommend her. The office of the PVA has also advised all of the members of the Court that her appointment would present a conflict of interest due to her ties with developer Bob Jones.

Subsequent to the PVA speaking out, Judge Murner sent a letter to all members of the Court advising them that he was going to pull the nomination of Van Nagell. He gave three reasons for pulling the nomination. The first reason was that if Bob Jones decided to appeal his assessments again this year and Van Nagell chose to refrain from voting, then that would leave only two members of the Appeals Board to vote which could result in a tie vote. His second reason was that he did not want Van Nagell to get caught in a cross-fire having to do with attacks on Bob Jones or his friendship with Jones. The third reason was that the appointment really belonged to the Fiscal Court instead of him.

Judge Murner was aware of all of these facts before he nominated Van Nagell. He obviously tried to slip her onto the Board. Nothing has changed since he nominated her. Murner continues to want to be in TOTAL control of everything in the county. This time he was taken to task for his actions by the PVA. Congratulations are in order for the PVA. More public officials need to stand up to Judge Murner, including members of the Fiscal Court.