Questions on property appraiser’s statements
Editor, The Sun:
Re: “State questions Wakulla tax rolls” appearing in the Sun on July 11, and “Brimner response to last week’s story on DOR letters” that appeared in the Sun on July 18:
My name is James Burke and I have served as Assistant Property under the past four Property Appraisers and as a consultant to Ed Brimner, the current Property Appraiser. My duties from the time I began my employment with the Property Appraiser’s Office was primarily for the analysis and supervision of the production of the tax roll.
Prior to beginning my employment with the office, I held a professional designation with American Society of Appraisers as Senior Appraiser specializing in property tax assessments.
I humbly submit the following statement in order to add some additional facts and shed more light on Mr. Brimner’s response to his practice of “selective reappraisal” as cited by the Department of Revenue.
Just a couple of observations:
1) Mr. Brimner notes the 2021 assessment roll met all standards. Mr. Brimner fails to inform the citizens the 2021 assessment roll was produced by the staff who were present upon his taking office and under my supervision as a consultant to Mr. Brimner.
2) Mr. Brimner stated that, upon taking office he found bags of shredded materials in Mr. Harvey’s office (former Property Appraiser Brad Harvey, who was removed from office by Gov. DeSantis after his arrest on felony embezzlement charges). Mr. Brimner claimed the shredded materials deprived him of the historical record, which in turn required him to begin his “term from ground zero.”
In the following paragraphs of Mr. Brimner’s statement he makes reference to historical records dating back as far as 2012. This is an obvious contradiction to his previous comments and serves to indict his own honesty and integrity.
In fact, the property ownership and appraisal data had been and was being recorded digitally.
In addition, in case of a fire or other catastrophe, this historical information was backed up daily to an in-house and off-site server. The data was stored on servers since the early 1990s and was completely intact.
Mr. Brimner’s assertion that he was deprived of historical records which required him to begin his term from ground zero is absurd and flatly disingenuous.
As stated in the opening sentence, having served as a consultant to Mr. Brimner and the four previous Property Appraisers, including Mr. Donnie Sparkman, I, having held credentials as a professional appraiser and 40 years of experience and having worked with both candidates, find myself in somewhat of a unique position to make an informed choice in this election.
It is a matter of fact that Mr. Sparkman has vastly more experience in the office and served as Property Appraiser for nearly 10 years. Mr. Sparkman has served our country with distinction as a combat veteran, has served the citizens of Wakulla County with distinction for over 20 years, and is known by all who know him, for his honesty and integrity. I unequivocally give my full support and endorsement to Mr. Donnie Sparkman. I pray this helps others as they make their decision for Property Appraiser.
Please remember to vote Aug. 20, as this election day will decide all of our local candidates.
Sincerely,
James Burke
Editor’s Note: The author of the letter served under property appraisers Ronnie Kilgore, Anne Ahrendt, Donnie Sparkman, Brad Harvey and Ed Brimner, and was Wakulla’s interim appraiser after Harvey’s removal from office.
