Board of Equalization Meeting   6/1/2021

We'll call the meeting to order.

Are there other ways they can join Mr. Lynch?

Through this meeting itself.

Would you like to introduce him or would you like to introduce yourself?

So if you want to go through each of you and do that.

I'm at my home in Albemarle County.

David Ferrell, present at my home in Albemarle County.

Mr. Arsali?

Ms. Pape?

I'm Karen Pape and I'm present at my home in Albemarle County.

Mr. Cromwell?

Bill Cromwell, I'm present at my home in Albemarle County.

Waki Wynn, I am present at my home in Albemarle County.

Do we have a motion on the minutes of the last meeting?

Did everyone get them?

Yeah.

Yes.

I move to approve them.

All in favor?

Aye.

Let's see.

Hi, I'm Sheila Conrad.

My audience is that anybody else?

We've got one road looking at it over a bridge.

Oh, Billy.

Hi, I'm Billy Taylor.

Do you wanna move to something else, Mr. Lynch, or would you rather do that?

I think we lost.

Yeah, let's just wait a second, see if you can come back on.

All right.

But I think this is the next item up.

There are six?

Oh, yeah.

I'm not counting myself.

Yeah, there you go.

Well, I'm going to step next door to check on Pete because we're both OK.

I don't know who the vice chair was and I was the secretary.

Right.

Yes.

Who wants to do what?

And I think we should just keep it as it is, if that's possible.

David, I don't know if you want to stay secretary.

I have no problem doing that.

All right, do we have a motion?

I mean, are you?

I'm fine, I'm not doing anything different.

Okay, I'll move that we keep the officers as they were last year with David as president.

Oh, okay.

Should we wait?

We should wait.

Well, I think we can maybe just take a note of it and then just tell them what it is.

So, Karen, go ahead.

OK, I move that David remain as president, Anthony as vice president, chair, vice chair, vice chair, excuse me, and David as secretary.

I'll second that.

All in favor.

Hi.

All right.

Hey, we did sort of bounce over number three, though, didn't we?

Would you like to tell us something about yourself?

Yeah, tell us about how you got here and why you're here.

So thank you all so much, thank you.

Peter, can you hear us?

Can we go through the process of how these hearings go for Mr. Wynn's sake?

Peter, do you want to make a note of that?

You wanted to keep it the same as last year.

Karen Pape made that movement and I seconded it.

OK, so one movement for all three positions.

Correct.

and everybody voted yes to that.

Correct.

I had to switch the phone audio to be able to hear, otherwise it was just garbled.

I guess we're at number seven, which is the overview of the process.

Okay.

Is that correct, Mr. Lynch?

So Sheila's here to make sure that she's up to speed on how that happens.

Did everybody receive a copy of it?

We haven't made it yet.

I don't know how everybody else feels.

We have more this year.

Mr. Lynch did something wrong.

But that would be my input.

I just find that, you know, at the end of that last, or at that last hearing, everybody's about pride.

David, you were thinking about two in the morning and two in the afternoon?

Yeah, I'm for that.

I mean just grind through it and we need to add some extra days just to be in case somebody wants to postpone or unfortunately, you know, we need to give people a right to do that.

That's what... Yeah, 23.

Yeah, that's what the... Are they residential or commercial or what do we have?

And if I were to guess right now, I would say it's about half and half, but I can probably tell you.

Are there any that we've seen before?

I kind of delayed just to see what was happening there.

Requirement to advertise the hearings, the dates.

And it will take us at least a week to do the advertisement.

Would that be about the earliest?

Of June?

We can start looking at this.

It's the 28th, 29th.

And there's no rhyme or reason to that, but that's what we do.

Mr. Wynn, do you have any opinions or feelings about when you'd like to meet?

I'm looking at my calendar and it all works for me.

All right, so if we start, if we do Tuesday the 29th from 9 to 1 and Thursday, July 1st from 1 to 5, is that okay for everyone?

Sounds good.

That would be week one.

I would say at least eight.

OK. Are these first two OK with everyone?

Yeah, first two are fine.

But I don't think we want to make it.

Yeah.

So if you guys can do the same thing this year, that would be great.

We can.

But that's the second week, the week after the one you're just at.

I'm around.

We can start on Thursday if people think they're going to be away on that Tuesday.

Is anyone away that Tuesday or Thursday?

No.

I hope to be.

Tuesday the 13th, Thursday the 15th.

I'll be away that week.

So if we, I mean, we do have, as long as we have five,

See, last year we didn't have Mr. Wynn, so we were a little short.

You have to have four, right.

I'm gonna be away the week after that, so I think we can probably, as long as we have five out of six of us, then we can, then at least if there's another person, if there's an emergency, we can still have it.

So let's do 7-13 from nine to one, and Thursday, July 15, from one to five, all right?

And Mr. Wynn, we're not really hoping that it'll last that long.

So, Anthony, you're away that weekend, the 19th to the 23rd?

Who was somebody?

I'm away this weekend.

OK, I'm going to be away from the 27th through the 4th is my, when I'm away.

Anyone else have problems with the 20th and the 22nd of July?

No.

I'll be away, but I'll be able to get on.

OK, sounds good.

So you're away, Karen?

Yeah, I'll be away the first until the eleventh.

Okay, so you're away on the third, Anthony?

I'm away on the third, yeah.

And then how about circling, Karen, in the event that we even go this long, Thursday 8-12, from 1 to 5.

I'm fine there.

That's fine.

I think they just happen to be.

Where did we come up with these?

I have September 1st as being a Wednesday.

Sorry, but how do we come up with these dates last year?

I'm sorry, Mr. Cromwell.

who was grounding out.

We probably won't, yeah, but we're just putting them down so they're advertised.

Right, I get that, but I'm just taking it.

Any objections at the present at Tuesday, October 5th, 9 to 1?

Mr. Lynch is going to have resolved all of these meetings, so we'll have to pull the meeting twice this year.

We'll try.

I cannot do October 5th.

All right, well, I mean, how about the 7th, Karen?

I'll be gone all week.

Sure, 12th?

That's a Sunday.

I was thinking ahead.

No, I was thinking a Tuesday.

So, we had 9-2.

I have October 12th as being a Tuesday.

Karen was suggesting I think another September date.

So Karen, 9-2, you can't do, is that what you're saying?

No, I cannot do October.

So, because you're out all week.

Right.

So I thought I said, can you do October 12th?

Okay, so let's say October 12th, 9 to 1.

Let's do Tuesday the ninth.

Okay.

The fourth is my birthday, so I don't want to be at the board on the fourth.

And as David says, this is all going to be resolved way before then.

Absolutely.

And the last appeal meeting will be Thursday, December 2nd from 1 to 5.

And obviously, we would do our best to try to figure out and resolve those issues.

Yep.

I'll get those from Billy.

Was somebody else out that week?

Me.

So do we need to pick an alternate date on that?

Yes.

Okay.

Like say the end of this month or early July, what were the conflicts there?

We're adding Tuesday, August 17th from 9 to 1.

Absolutely.

Is that the next item?

So that's why there's a difference this year.

So- On the tax bill, I guess, there's a notification telling everybody the date at which they should appeal, correct?

The county code says, you know, that it's a due date of the, you know, the 20, well, according to the calculation, the 26th.

But when you responded to his initial request, what date was that?

And there was none.

I mean, unless I'm missing something, this is a late application.

Or does it say we have to meet some criteria?

I think the county attorney is pushing it on us.

So there's no reason why we would have or you would have any leeway to allow it late submission.

So how does everybody feel about that?

So I wanted to make sure that that was on there, and it was.

There was.

There was about three weeks or a month

I don't see any question here other than this being denied.

On the other hand, there's always next year because Mr. Lynch isn't changing his assessment.

and then I don't know if we have discretion to do it like that's that's the thing I don't know if we can just anybody comes in and says hey I was late can can you hear us I don't know if we actually have this that's that's if the code says this is the this is it I don't know if we have the discretion for that and why would we want to set a precedent of bringing it to your application anytime you want that's my point you don't want to set a precedent there's there's no real reason why we should we should approve it did he give a reason Mr. Lynch

I would say that would be a good idea.

You can go ahead and give us your thoughts.

So what have we done in the past?

All right, that's what it is.

Are we talking about one here or are we doing one and then there's another one, right?

I can tell you the details on the second one if you want first or you can handle this one first.

Anyone have a thought on that?

Karen?

Didn't you say that when it comes to the Assessor's Office, you have no leeway to grant an extension?

Correct.

Are you saying that we have leeway?

No details were given to me as to why it's up to you to decide or if there's any leeway for you to decide any differently.

Right, okay.

I mean, it's a good point.

I mean, Peter, why aren't you just saying these are like...

Yeah it's almost like if we're going to discuss this there is there would be a situation we would approve a late application yeah but it's clear by law they got to get in on a certain date so we really

I think we can make that I mean we can also just make that our position so to the extent it is coming to us we don't think that we have leeway and so we're denying for that reason kind of thing just so there is a vote I guess they want to if they need to vote from us.

So the vote is maybe the motion isn't to deny it just

It's more a procedural thing.

We could just simply say we're denying it.

I would play a game and throw it back to the county attorney and say, we'll let you have the leeway.

If so, that's my motion.

And now that allows us to be consistent moving forward.

I agree.

Is there anything else different in that one that's like something crazy that they had COVID?

It was due on the 26th, the application was signed on the 26th, and it was returned to us on the 27th.

And did they give a reason for the delay?

No, there was no, no reason given.

Okay.

I think in either case, they've proved there's no reason.

I don't know if they've had the platform or where that they could tell us that, but it should be up to them to tell us, hey, we have this discretion.

Can they apply for a supplemental hearing?

Only if we did new construction, you know, they built a new house on the same property, would they be able to do a supplemental hearing.

Is that part of your process?

There was no contesting those dates.

Okay.

Do we even have the right to,

except one late we don't know we don't know i would think not i don't think i don't think that's our duty i think i would just move forward and wait and see if we hear anything further do we don't have to make a determination do we well personally i would like to just reaffirm that we're not going to accept late applications because

Yes, I just would prefer not to- It's not up to us.

It's not up to the Board of Equalization, because then it's going to come back before us every time, too.

You've said we're not accepting these, we're not hearing them.

No, it was a county attorney.

Do we send a letter from the board from Mr. Van Roijen saying we're not going to hear your case or do we just leave it and say, no, we're not going to?

And I'm fine with that.

I just thought if it had to be decided by the board, did a communication need to come from the board?

Well, I guess I'm happy to tell them that they can appeal next year.

Let's just cover him and say the board refuses to hear.

Correct.

I think that's perfect.

Yeah, that's true.

I second the motion.

Was that everyone?

Denying the appeal.

We're just simply saying as a blanket, we're making a statement.

Thatcher what?

and Mr. Patel for NCAM Jefferson Lake Incorporated was the other one.

It seems to me everybody else seems to be able to get their applications in in time.

That item is complete.

Is there anything else before the board?

I don't know who the person is and doesn't appear to be anybody at the county, at least that has a county email address.

Neal is with the name of it.

Pre-enterprise.

Pre-enterprise form, correct.

Yeah.

Correct.

He tries to attend a lot of the Board of Supervisors meetings to report on.

He does.

Goings on, so.

Has he asked any questions, Billy, or?

No, he's just an attendee until I move him to a panelist, which I've not done until I brought it to your attention first, for the board's attention first.

Are we supposed to let him in?

That's up to you if you want to let people speak.

I mean if this was downtown, someone could open the door and come in and sit down, right?

She's the one who monitors the situation.

It's up to the board to allow that because there were issues in the past where someone would try to talk in the middle of a hearing.

Do you remember that?

Yes.

There are a lot of chat issues, yes.

Was there any other business other than that that anyone has?

I make a motion that we adjourn.

I second it.

All in favor.

Hi.

We'll have fun.

That's the first step.

You know, all the commercial ones.

three or four properties, and he's gonna want to do them all in a row.

No, and I understand that, but when we have three or four lawyers coming in trying to explain, or accountants trying to explain why they're right.

We can try to break them up as best we can.

So David, which ones do you think are not very interesting?

Hideous, maybe.

Well see, Karen and I just eat that up.

I know.

That's our handicraft.

All right.

Thank you.

Signing out.

Thank you.