‘Rusty (Orick) and I are fighting for the same thing, yet fighting each other’-Brandon Partin

By Charlotte Underwood
JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – The Campbell County Commission is expected to vote on the county’s property tax reappraisal plan at tonight’s six o’clock meeting. The plan, which was proposed in January by Campbell County Property Assessor Brandon Partin, is a five-year plan and was set the same as the 2019 reappraisal plan. Partin told the commission that when he addressed it at the January workshop. However, right before the Jan. 22 commission meeting, Partin received correspondence from the commission that the vote on the reappraisal plan was going to be “postponed” until the February meeting.

TOP PHOTO: Assessor of Property Brandon Partin addresses the county commission at the Feb. 12 workshop.

Partin contacted Campbell County Commissioner Dewayne Gibson who was supposed to carry the motion at the full commission meeting. Gibson told Partin the commission had been advised to wait until the law changed later this year, Partin said.

Partin told him he had been “advised wrong” and that the county’s reappraisal plan was supposed to go to the Division of Property Assessments by Feb.19 and the delay was putting the county in a “serious position.”

Partin again addressed the commission at the February workshop and explained that commissioners needed to vote on a plan soon, so the county remained in compliance with state law.

After the reappraisal plan is approved by the commission, then it is sent on to the state and must be approved by the Division of Property Assessments, as well as the State Board of Equalization.

At the February workshop, Campbell County Commissioner Rusty Orick said he wanted to wait and talk to officials at the state level while he and other commissioners were in Nashville at a conference the following week. Orick said he knew the legislature was changing, and the state “is supposed to adopt two-, three- and four-year re-appraisal cycles.” Orick said the county could not experience tax revenue losses to such extremes as had happened due to the county being in a five-year plan and the rapid jump in the housing market in the state. He also said he was concerned once the county was locked into a five-year plan, that even after the law had changed, the county would be stuck with the five-year plan, and that he wanted to speak with the state comptroller in Nashville before voting on anything.

Partin said the bill proposing the reappraisal cycle change is going through the legislative process currently, but that it had not been adopted by law yet and that as “the law currently stands, a five-year plan is the best fit for Campbell County.”

The bill is being pushed by Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower and looks to speed up the reappraisal process throughout the state after 38 counties reported property tax revenue losses, depending upon the growth of property values. According to Orick, Campbell County lost over $800,000 last year and over $400,000 the year before.

Tennessee is currently in a housing shortage due to the influx of people moving into the state and this has driven up real estate prices, with property values skyrocketing in the past two to three years, according to Partin.

“It all boils down to the market ratio. Values set in 2019 do not reflect the sale prices in 2023. It shows we were about 58 percent below market value, and it did cost us tax revenue, but we didn’t have a crystal ball in 2019 to see what the housing market was going to do,” Partin said, adding that it was a huge issue across the whole state and that in his 20 years in the industry, he had “never seen such a huge dip in the market.” Usually, it is a fluctuation of around 15 percent, rather than the 58 percent.

Having shorter reappraisal cycles will allow counties to keep on top of market values and will reduce the loss of revenue.

“As it stands currently, state law says we have to do a four, a five or a six-year reappraisal cycle; six year is the default. I’m just trying to do the right job to the letter of the law,” Partin said. At the February workshop, Partin also told commissioners he planned to write a request to amend the five-year plan to a three-year plan once the state had changed the law. He urged commissioners to vote on the plan and said the county was “running out of time” to get it approved by the state and remain in compliance with the law. At that workshop, he also explained why the county could not choose a four-year plan. Currently, there are too many other counties that are already scheduled to do a four-year plan and the Division of Property Assessments must assist all counties through the process and would not have the manpower to assist Campbell County. That left the county with the five-year option or to go to the six-year default if the property assessor and the commission can’t come to an agreement.

According to Partin, if the bill passes legislation this year, it will not go into effect until July 2025 and in the meantime, Campbell County needs an active reappraisal plan on the books, per state law.

“My intention is to set the five-year plan and get us in compliance with the law. At this point the five-year plan is our best option, but when it is appropriate, I fully intend to amend the five-year plan down to a three-year plan,” Partin said.

After the February workshop, Partin contacted the Director of the Tennessee Comptroller’s Division of Property Assessments Bryan Kinsey regarding the time frame the county needed to approve the reappraisal plan to remain in compliance with state law.

Kinsey said the county’s current plan for reappraisal ends on June 30, 2024, the next plan for reappraisal must begin on July 1, 2024. However, the law requires that plans for reappraisal be submitted to the State Board of Equalization, and that the board, with the assistance of the Division of Property Assessments, has the power to approve, modify, or disapprove any proposed plan.

“The board only meets once before July 1, 2024, and that meeting is on April 8, 2024. If your county is to remain in compliance with current law, we at the Division of Property Assessments will need to receive your county’s plan for reappraisal at least three weeks before the board meeting and four to six weeks before the board meeting would be preferred in case there are any complications or differences that we need to resolve before forwarding your county’s plan to the board for final approval,” Kinsey said in an email.

Partin forwarded this email to the commissioners. He also said “additionally, there are currently 12 other counties in the state that are conducting a reappraisal for 2024. I have personally spoken with each of these assessors. All of which have either already passed or have presented a five-year reappraisal plan to their commission with no foreseeable issues,” Partin said.

Orick said he met briefly with Comptroller Jason Mumpower while in Nashville last week and spoke with him about the issue and that “yes, the state wants the county to reset” its re-appraisal plan. According to Orick, the comptroller also indicated he expected the law to change this year once the bill finishes making its way through various committees at the state level.

“There’s going to be a change. This appraisal situation is out of whack and counties are losing money. Once this law passes, it’s going to get better,” Orick said. He also said the comptroller did say Campbell County could go with a four-year plan in the meantime, but the county would need to come up with more funding to assist with the process, as there are no openings for assistance from the state due to so many other counties choosing a four-year plan.

“After the law changes, the state will put more people in position to assist counties with the re-appraisal process. The comptroller is going to have a lot of people doing flyovers and roof top assessments,” Orick said.

Orick had also reached out to Director of Property Assessments Bryan Kinsey regarding the issue and was told via email the county needs to choose a plan under the state’s “current legal framework.”

“I encourage the Campbell County Commission and the Campbell County Assessor of Property to arrive at a plan that works for Campbell County under the current legal framework. The current legal framework contemplates a 4-, 5-, or 6-year cycle in which all properties are visually inspected on a 3-, 4-, or 5-year cycle, with a year of revaluation immediately following the completion of visual inspection,” Kinsey said.
Kinsey further said “For the Director of Property Assessments (DPA) to assist the State Board of Equalization (SBOE) in that approval process, DPA needs to receive a county’s plan four to six weeks before that SBOE meeting.

“Given my understanding of your county’s commission meetings, that suggests that Campbell County needs to arrive at a resolution to adopt a plan for reappraisal by its February 26 commission meeting.” Kinsey said. He also said it would not be “preferable” for the commission to “test the presumption” that the six-year default plan was an acceptable option and that “as a county operating without a reappraisal plan may still be in noncompliance,” Kinsey said.

According to Orick, the issue will be voted on at Monday’s commission meeting. Orick also said it was “nothing personal” against the county property assessor’s office and that he just “wanted what was best for the county.”

Partin said the same thing and that “even if they could not come to an agreement, he would still fight” to get the county’s reappraisal plan amended to a three-year plan once the law was passed by the state.

“The property owners of Campbell County need a three-year plan, but that is not an option at this point in time; the key words are this point in time,” Partin reiterated.

Partin said if the county was in non-compliance, it would be a “black eye” on his office.

“I don’t understand it; Rusty and I are fighting for the same thing, yet we’re fighting each other,” Partin said.

WLAF reached out to Gabe Looney, who is the Property Assessor Consultant for UT’s County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS), to see what would happen if the county were out of compliance.

“If the county is not in compliance, then it would need to take immediate steps to get back in compliance,” Looney said, encouraging the county to “get the ball rolling.”

“Part of the delay is the pending legislation, but that hasn’t happened yet, and even if it was voted on today, it doesn’t go into effect until next year,” Looney said, likening it to “trying to speed before the speed limit law has been changed.”

“It’s still breaking the law, up until that law is not only approved, but has gone into effect,” Looney said.
He also weighed in his thoughts on whether counties that adopt a five-year reappraisal plan will be able to amend their plans when and if the law changes.

“Ultimately, that is not my decision, but my understanding is there would be an option to amend the plan after the fact, especially for counties that are in the position of Campbell County. Ultimately, it is a decision between the Division of Property Assessments under the comptroller,” Looney said.

Those decisions would be made “individually” and “county specific.”

Looney also said he thought there had been some “misunderstanding or miscommunication that the commission thought they could hold off on approval until the law passed, but that is not the case,” Looney said, adding that “with legislation, it’s never a slam dunk.” He also said that the six-year plan is “technically the default”, but in his opinion, he doesn’t think the assessor, or the commission would want to go with a six-year plan and that as the law stands, the county would want to “try to keep the five-year plan.”

Currently the bill is moving through committees and is back on the agenda for the State and Local Government Senate Committee on Tuesday. It must move through both committees before going to the full Senate and the House.

Looney said at the end of the day, both the commission and the property assessor were “on the same side.”

“Both parties are trying to accomplish the same thing, but the legislation hasn’t changed yet,” Looney said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/26/2024-6AM)

Copy of the email from DPA Director Bryan Kinsey to Commissioner Rusty Orick:

Commissioner Orick,
As you have requested, I am following up on our telephone conversation from Tuesday, February 20. You requested the present and proposed reappraisal plans for Campbell County, so I have attached the present 5-year plan that began in 2019 and concludes in 2024. Campbell County must now develop and adopt a new reappraisal plan for its next cycle, but I have not yet received a copy of a proposed plan; therefore, I have nothing to share on that.

I encourage the Campbell County Commission and the Campbell County Assessor of Property to arrive at a plan that works for Campbell County under the current legal framework. The current legal framework contemplates a 4-, 5-, or 6-year cycle in which all properties are visually inspected on a 3-, 4-, or 5-year cycle, with a year of revaluation immediately following the completion of visual inspection.

The current legal framework also allows for the State Board of Equalization (SBOE) to consider other plans for reappraisal, so long as the frequency does not extend beyond 6 years; however, this alternate path has rarely been pursued. Regardless of the plan submitted from a county, SBOE has a role in approval with the assistance of the Division of Property Assessments (DPA). SBOE’s next meeting (and the only meeting before the current Campbell County plan for reappraisal expires) is April 8, 2024.

For DPA to assist SBOE in that approval process, DPA needs to receive a county’s plan four to six weeks before that SBOE meeting in case there are any complications or differences that need to be resolved before forwarding a county’s plan to SBOE for final approval. Given my understanding of your county’s commission meetings, that suggests that Campbell County needs to arrive at a resolution to adopt a plan for reappraisal by its February 26 commission meeting.

The current legal framework does not require a resolution for a county to choose a 6-year reappraisal plan. Given that understanding, the presumption is that a 6-year cycle is the default should an assessor and commission fail to reach an agreement. It would be preferable not to test that presumption, as a county operating without a reappraisal plan may still be in noncompliance. As we discussed on the phone, a 6-year cycle is subject to an update of values in the third year of the 6-year cycle if the overall level of appraisal (as measured by an appraisal ratio study conducted by DPA) is less than 90% of market value.

I hope I have provided you with the information you need to make an informed decision in collaboration with Assessor of Property Brandon Partin and other members of the Campbell County Commission.

Thank you,
Bryan Kinsey, TMA, AAS
Director
Comptroller of the Treasury
Division of Property Assessments

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