09/27/1995 Organizational Hearing 95/1
MINUTES
OF THE MONROE COUNTY
VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD
Organizational Meeting
Value Adjustment Board
Wednesday, September 27 , 1995
The Organizational Meeting of the Monroe County Value
Adjustment Board convened at 10: 20 a.m. , on the above date, at
the County Attorney' s Law Library, 310 Fleming Street, Key West.
Present and answering to roll call were County Commissioners
Wilhelmina Harvey and Mary Kay Reich; Monroe County School Board
members Anne Kelly Cohan and Dr. Debra Walker. Commissioner
Keith Douglass arrived later in the meeting. Also present were
Danny L. Kolhage, Clerk; Ruth Ann Jantzen, Deputy Clerk; Ervin
Higgs, Property Appraiser; Randy Ludacer, County Attorney; John
Dent, Attorney, representing the Property Appraiser; and County
Staff.
Motion was made by Commissioner Harvey and seconded by
Dr. Walker to elect Commissioner Mary Kay Reich as Chairman of
the 1995-96 Value Adjustment Board. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion was made by Commissioner Harvey and seconded by
Chairman Reich to elect Dr. Debra Walker as Vice-Chairman of the
1995-96 Value Adjustment Board. Motion carried unanimously.
Danny L. Kolhage, Clerk to the Value Adjustment Board,
gave a report on petitions filed. There are a total of fourteen
Homestead Petitions and one hundred fifty nine Real Property
Petitions to be heard by Special Masters, broken down as follows:
Eighty six in the Upper Keys, twenty seven in the Middle Keys,
and sixty in the Lower Keys/Key West.
Mr. Kolhage informed the Board that an unknown number
of tax notices were mailed to property owners that did not have
the cut-off date for filing printed on them. Motion was made by
Dr. Walker and seconded by Commissioner Harvey to accept those
petitions filed late due to no filing cut-off date printed on
their tax notices, up to two weeks prior to the first Special
Master Hearing. Said cut-off date to be October 16 , 1995 .
Motion carried unanimously.
Commissioner Keith Douglass entered the meeting.
Motion was made by Commissioner Harvey and seconded by
Dr. Walker to adopt the General Information and Requirements
pamphlet submitted by the Clerk for distribution to each
petitioner. Motion carried unanimously.
95/2
Motion was made by Dr. Walker and seconded by Mrs.
Cohan to adopt the following Resolution of the Value Adjustment
Board of Monroe County, implementing the authorization provided
for in Section 194 . 013 , Florida Statutes, to require a Filing Fee
of $15 . 00 for certain petitions filed with the Board.
Roll call vote was unanimous.
RESOLUTION NO. VAB001-1995
See Res. Book No. 127 , which is incorporated herein by reference.
The Board reviewed the applications for Special Master
positions. Motion was made by Commissioner Douglass and seconded
by Commissioner Harvey to appoint Raymond Bishop as Special
Master for the Upper Keys; Thomas D. Wright, Esq. , as Special
Master for the Middle Keys; and James A. Flenner as Special
Master for the Lower Keys and Key West. Roll call vote was
unanimous.
Motion was made by Commissioner Douglass and seconded
by Dr. Walker to approve a Special Master Fee of $125 . 00 per
hour, for time served in hearings only. Roll call vote was
unanimous.
Motion was made by Dr. Walker and seconded by
Commissioner Douglass to approve the Special Master ' s Hearing
Schedule:
Upper Keys - Key Largo Library - Tuesday, October 31st;
Wednesday, November 1st; Thursday, November 2nd.
Middle Keys - Marathon Government Center - Wednesday,
November 15th; Thursday, November 16th.
Lower Keys/Key West - Courtroom A, Courthouse, Key West -
Monday, December 4th; Tuesday, December 5th.
Motion carried unanimously.
The Board discussed a final hearing date and
unanimously agreed to Wednesday, January 3 , 1996, 10 a.m. The
Clerk will arrange the appropriate location and notify the VAB
members.
Motion was made by Commissioner Douglass and seconded
by Dr. Walker to use the Department of Revenue Special Master
Guide as the reference guide to be used by the Special Masters.
Motion carried unanimously.
The Board adopted the Special Master' s Report forms to
be used this year by the Special Masters.
95/3
The Board unanimously approved the Special Master ' s
Opening Statement with the following amendments:
Page 2 , third paragraph to read: As Special Master, I
will listen fully to each side ' s presentation.
However, I will advise you when your material is either
irrelevant to the Hearing, or excessively redundant.
Page 3 , first paragraph: Please note: The only data
the Special Master is required to consider is that
which has been presented in a timely basis and
submitted into evidence today.
There being no further business to come before the
Board, the Meeting of the Value Adjustment Board was adjourned.
Clerk to the Value Adjustment Board
of Monroe County
Ruth Ann Jantzen
Deputy Clerk