SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
September 18, 2015
Sullivan’s
Salvos 9/22/15
In this edition:
*RIP Emma
*Solon Minimum Wage
*Congratulations, Bill Greazel!
*About The Assessor’s Office
*Welcome, Tom Van Buer!
*Did You Know?
*RIP Emma
Our
dog Emma died last week at age 11. It was absolutely heartbreaking. While it
came as a bit of a shock, at least she went quickly and with little pain.
If
you have pets, you get it. Our household is pretty broken up right now. And
this comes at a terrible time; as recent empty nesters, we didn’t need our
faithful pet to go, too.
RIP,
Emma. We miss you!
*Solon Minimum Wage
I
was very disappointed to see Solon become the first municipality in US history
to lower the minimum wage. That sounds kind of bad, doesn’t it? Unfortunately,
I really think this is a black eye for the town.
Though
Solon is extremely wealthy over all (the second wealthiest school district in
Iowa), we know there are poor folks there. The Solon United Methodist Church
has a food pantry. 68 people from Solon used the Crisis Center Food Bank last
year. Solon Schools have kids who get free and reduced lunch. Poverty may not
be big or visible in Solon, but it does exist.
In
addition, a higher minimum wage would have helped the very restaurants that
complained. Poor people tend to spend their money locally. If Solon’s poor
folks had a few more bucks in their pockets, they would be likely to spend it
at those businesses.
I have heard some folks talk about a boycott of Solon. Remember,
readers: not EVERY restaurant owner complained about this! I urge you not to
punish innocent bystanders. Big Grove Brewery, Salt Fork Kitchen, and Frida
Kahlo, to name just a few, pay their people well and did not complain about the
County ordinance. Please patronize them!
The process seemed a bit ugly, too. They held one single reading
of the ordinance, and had no comment from Councilors. They heard from several
restaurant owners, but no restaurant workers.
All that said, Solon enjoys Home Rule Authority. They can pass
anything they want. If folks like the results, they can reelect this council.
If they don’t like the results, they can elect someone else. That is the way
the process works.
*Congratulations, Bill Greazel!
Johnson
County Assessor Bill Greazel is retiring after serving in the Assessor’s Office
since 1973.
As
you probably know, the job of the Assessor is a tough one. You go out and look
at a property – farm, home, business, whatever – and decide how much it is
worth. This is the process of valuing property. Those valuations are then taken
times the levy rates of the various taxing entities to determine how much tax
is owed. As you might imagine, folks often feel that their assessed values (and
therefore their taxes) are too high.
So
the Assessor takes a lot of heat. To do the job well, an individual must be
smart, honest, accurate, uncompromising, and unshakable. Bill Greazel has all
of these attributes in spades!
I
really like Bill. He is intelligent, funny, genuine, caring, and he has served
me as a mentor of sorts. I learned a LOT about county government from Bill!
In
addition, Bill has been the most innovative of Iowa’s 100+ assessors. He went
paperless (everything is done on Ipads) years ago; his office no longer stores
a bunch of paper. And you can go online to the county’s website and look up
properties any time of day. These were both Bill’s doing.
Not only is Bill a great guy and an innovator, but he gets
results. I simply cannot say enough good things about the performance of the
Assessor’s Office under Bill. The Iowa Department of Revenue has a couple
different measures of accuracy for assessors. In my 11 years of reviewing this
data, the Johnson County Assessor’s Office has been third once in one category;
otherwise, we have ranked #1 or #2 in both categories all eleven years.
Basically,
the statistics are clear: the Johnson County Assessor’s Office is the best in
the state. You should be proud of this! This means you are not paying too much
relative to your neighbor, and not paying too little. Things here are fair –
the fairest in Iowa. And the guy to thank is Bill Greazel.
If
you want to stop by and wish Bill good riddance, a retirement reception is
being held Friday, September 25 from 1-4 PM in the Betty Sass Room at the
County Admin Building.
*About The Assessor’s Office
Assessors are appointed to their position by a
Conference Board consisting of the members of the Board of Supervisors, the
Mayors of all incorporated cities and a member from each school district within
the jurisdiction. (A city with a population of ten thousand or more may elect
to have their own assessor Iowa City does this.)
Assessors are required, by statute, to pass a
state examination and complete a Continuing Education Program consisting of 150
hours of formal classroom instruction with 90 hours tested and a passing grade
of 70% attained. The latter requirement must be met in order for the assessor
to be reappointed to the position every six years. The Deputy Assessor also
must pass a state examination as well as successfully complete 90 hours of classroom
instruction of which at least 60 hours are tested. The Conference Board
approves the assessor's budget, including salaries. The assessor is limited, by
statute, depending upon the value of the jurisdiction, to a levy limitation for
the budget.
Filling a vacancy in
the Assessor’s Office is a fairly bizarre process. There is a three-person
panel created called the Examining Board. Each entity appoints a member – the
County appointed State Representative (and former Supervisor) Sally Stutsman.
The cities appointed former Coralville Mayor Jim
Fausett. The schools appointed former ICCSD Board Member Al Leff.
The
Examining Board sent a letter notifying the Iowa Department of Revenue that
there was an opening; the DOR then notifies every person who is up to date with
their Iowa licensure.
Of
that group, six people applied – three Assessors and three Deputy Assessors.
The Examining Board interviewed three people, and forwarded one name to the
Conference Board. The Conference Board came to terms with that individual, and
he begins October 1st.
Seems
like a lot of extra steps, doesn’t it? I must say that while I certainly trust
Sally Stutsman, I would have preferred to be involved in the interviews myself.
We have a strong desire to recruit women and minorities; because of the way
this is done, that was largely out of our hands. (A woman was interviewed,
however.) We do not go through our typical HR processes. And the time frames
are extremely tight; you cannot have a gap, nor can you have overlap.
The
process is pretty goofy. I would suggest that the Iowa Legislature look at the
process, but the Iowa House would just screw it up. So it is what it is.
*Welcome Tom Van Buer!
The
Johnson County Conference Board named Tom Van Buer as the new Johnson County
Assessor, effective October 1.
Tom
comes to the office with over 24 years of experience appraising all types of
real estate. He has worked in both the private and public sectors, most
recently serving as the Deputy Assessor for the City of Dubuque. Tom and his
family live in Clinton, where his wife is a teacher, and they have been very
involved in the community. (Tom has been President of the Jaycees, Lions,
Clinton Band Boosters, and Prince of Peace Parrish! An impressive list of
community activities!)
Tom
has VERY big shoes to fill; we know that. Meanwhile, I am committed to helping
him keep the Johnson County Assessor’s Office at the very top. I welcome Tom and
his family to Johnson County!
*DID YOU KNOW?
Johnson County is home to $7 billion in assessed property, fourth
highest in Iowa. And that does not include any nonprofit or government land and
buildings, all of which is untaxed! (Source: Iowa Department of Management.)
Anyone
interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the
County website-
"Sullivan’s
Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a
brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
These messages
come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the
whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise
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As always,
feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to
serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 4:09 PM
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