Property appraiser audited by state
Calls Dept. of Revenue's measures 'punitive' and 'unusual'
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.

Brown

Santa Rosa Property Appraiser Greg Brown was in Tallahassee last week meeting with state representatives regarding what he called an "unusual demand" to conduct an in-depth study of the county's 2008 tax roles.

Brown called the measure unusual and punitive because he said this is the second year in a row his tax rolls have had such a review. Brown added that the Florida Department of Revenue singled out Santa Rosa County as the only county in Florida to have back-to-back in-depth audits.

"This is simply retaliation against the citizens of Santa Rosa County," Brown said. "lowered assessments because it was the right thing to do in these market conditions. Now, the Department of Revenue is trying to punish me for doing what is right. In a time when citizen's personal costs are skyrocketing out of control, I will do everything I can to keep property assessments low. I will fight them every step of the way."

Department of Revenue Media Liaison Renee Watters said the state is conducting the study order to better understand the market conditions in Santa Rosa County and added that it was not unusual for a county to have back-to-back audits.

In response to Brown's allegations that the study was a punitive measure, Watters replied: "I'm not sure why he thinks that."

Watters explained the state's decision for the study, saying: "Mr. Brown and the property appraiser from Escambia County [Chris Jones] came to us with concerns this year about market changes in their areas and we want to get back over there and look at the market changes that Greg Brown told us are going on over there and listen to their concerns."

According to Watters, the state is paying roughly $100,000 to conduct the study, which involves sending state employees to Santa Rosa County to research the issue.

Since the double whammy of Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis, the real estate market has seen unprecedented price increases. Now, the market is falling and sluggish home sales require incentives such as seller paid closing costs, and upgrades in appliances and flooring in order to close deals. Brown and Jones feel these incentives should not be part of the base assessments. Even though the Department of Revenue generally agrees Brown said after 30 years of Santa Rosa County is in a declining market, it initially rejected the tax rolls of Brown and Jones in 2007. The state later accepted Brown's tax rolls, allowing him to decrease his assessments by 20 percent when compared last year's figures. assessment experience and seven years as Santa Rosa County's Property Appraiser, he has never been subject to back-to-back in-depth studies.

Watters said Florida law allows back-to-back reviews and that it has happened in the past.