Jan 21, 2008 By Amy Zalar 5 min read

The three Fayette County commissioners will decide next week if they want to continue to serve as the tax assessment appeals board for the next four years or if they will appoint others to make up the board. The tax assessment appeals board is responsible for hearing and ruling on appeals by property owners regarding the assessed value of their properties, which affects how much they pay in property taxes.

For the past four years, former Commissioner Joseph A. Hardy III and Commissioners Vincent A. Vicites and Angela M. Zimmerlink heard the appeals. When the commissioners voted to take on that role in early 2004, Hardy and Zimmerlink voted in favor of it and Vicites voted against it. Vicites wanted to keep an independent board as had been done when the county undertook a property tax reassessment, the first in decades.

Because Vicites and Zimmerlink are still in office and are of different opinions, commission Chairman Vincent Zapotosky will be the deciding vote on the matter when it comes up at the commissioner’s agenda and regular monthly meetings on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

Zimmerlink said Friday that her position hasn’t changed since she first took office in early 2004.

“Four years ago, I thought this function could be performed by the commissioners and I haven’t changed my mind,” she said.

“Fellow commissioners may look to reverting back to a board which the commissioners appoint, but as many know, just because it is called an independent board does not mean there aren’t political influences,” Zimmerlink said.

“As a commissioner, I’ve heard the tax assessment appeals for the last four years. It is not a difficult task and the commissioners simply have to put in their time. I never had to and never will have to concern myself with politics because my decisions have always been independent and made for the right reasons,” Zimmerlink said. “Also, because I’ve never solicited or accepted campaign donations, favors and the like, that separates me from all of that.”

On the flip side, Vicites said his position hasn’t changed over the past four years either, adding that although he wants to go with an independent board, if the majority of the commissioners vote to take on the role of the assessment appeals board, he would fulfill his duty by attending as many appeals as he can.

In outlining his stance, Vicites said with a new “property valuation” on the horizon, it would make sense to appoint a board now. He said there were 10,000 appeals when the first reassessment was done five years ago. Vicites said there were four auxiliary boards set up to handle all the appeals in addition to the main board.

“We will have a very extensive appeal process ahead and we need to be thinking about this now,” Vicites said. “I think appointing an independent board would be a wise decision, but we’ll see what happens.”

As the swing vote, Zapotosky said Friday that he is undecided whether the commissioners or an independent board should hear assessment appeals.

“I am weighing a couple of options and I haven’t yet made a decision either way. But I have strong reservations about the commissioners doing it,” Zapotosky said. “I want decisions to be made on the credibility of the application. I don’t want it to reek of politics.”

Fayette County Chief Assessor James A. Hercik said the independent board was selected in 2000 and handled the appeals for the first county reassessment in more than 40 years.

He said although the county is in the middle of another reassessment, he doesn’t anticipate as many appeals as last time.

Currently, the county is in the second of a three-year reassessment process, which is being done in-house.

Hercik said the notices would be mailed to property owners next summer about the new assessment going into effect and appeals would be held the following year after the new values go into effect.

Hercik said he anticipates the number of appeals will be “nowhere near” the 10,000 that occurred the first time around. In fact, Hercik said he doesn’t think most property owners will see that much of a difference and some neighborhoods will see their assessments go down instead of up.

If the commissioners opt to appoint an independent board, the board members will have to be paid, and no money has been put in the 2008 budget for such a purpose, Hercik said.

He added, however, that he doesn’t anticipate any more than 10 days of appeals this year, and with a daily rate of $100 per member, the county would surely be able to come up with the $3,000 somewhere in the $21 million budget to pay the appeals board members, if that is what they choose to do.

When the independent board comprised of retired state policeman Jim Killinger, retired educator Lloyd Moser and real estate agent Joe Dorazio was formed, the then-commissioners touted it as a way to remove any appearance of politics from the process.

Hercik said if a board is picked, all three members couldn’t be of the same political party.