Bedford leaders probe reassessment
Newfound problems with process could lead to lawsuits against countyBy Wendy McCardle, wmccardle@altoonamirror.com
BEDFORD - The list of problems and inaccuracies with the $2 million Bedford County property revaluation project continued to grow Tuesday.
Before an audience of about 90 people, county commissioners announced they were meeting with the company in charge of the county's first reassessment since 1957 as well as the county's lawyers to discuss their next plan of action and to avoid possible legal action from property owners.
The latest concern is Tyler Technologies' CLT Division's use of GIS - geographic information system - that does not match up with real property lines and leads to inaccurate determination of values.
GIS information is determined by overlaying an aerial photo with a digital rendering of what a particular parcel looks like - whether it is open or wooded acreage, for instance, and the buildings on it.
Tom O'Neal, president of the Bedford County Taxpayers' Association, offered commissioners the property photo on record in the assessment office to compare to a map he created using GPS coordinates on his property. The lines on the two maps did not match up, and the photo on his property record was inaccurate, O'Neal said.
For instance, his barn originally showed up on his neighbor's property, causing the neighbor to be charged for a building he did not own.
"The GIS data is bad," O'Neal said. "It's not accurate."
If one property is misidentified, it affects not only that property owner, but possibly each of the surrounding neighbors, and then maybe their neighbors, resulting in a domino chain of inaccurate assessments, O'Neal said.
"In all honesty, gentlemen, it's just the tip of the iceberg," he told commissioners.
Resident Terry Chalfant had issues with both of his Bedford County properties.
Chalfant's Black Valley property had no photograph to go with the property record card, so he submitted a digital photo he took.
The square footage of his Hopewell Township home, meanwhile, was inaccurate and then guessed at by CLT officials.
"They turn around and do this and say, 'That's close enough,'" Chalfant said. "That, to me, doesn't hold water."
The aerial photo of his property did not show a pond on his property, either.
"Basically, the whole map is so far off, you can't even begin to believe it," he said.
The taxpayers' association said attorneys recommended they remind the commissioners that they, in addition to CLT, could be found guilty of gross negligence and possibly a criminal offense if they complete the reassessment process while aware of inaccuracies.
The only building on O'Neal's property record photograph is his home - missing are a barn, milkhouse, tractor shed, farmhouse and his daughter's house.
"If that's not gross negligence, I don't know what is," O'Neal said.
That was the reason for Tuesday's meeting with lawyers, commissioners Chairman Michael Herline said.
"We're looking into whatever litigation might be necessary," he said. "You're going to have errors in anything, but gross inaccuracies - we can't accept this."
After the two-hour meeting, which also was attended by two local appraisers, Herline said he is not satisfied with how CLT arrived at new property values.
"I'm not convinced that the appraised values are accurate," Herline said. "I have a lot of information to look over."
Final value notices, originally scheduled to be mailed out July 1, first need approval by commissioners.
Herline said he expected a decision over the fate of the reassessment project in time for Tuesday's meeting.
Mirror Staff Writer Wendy McCardle is at 946-7520.
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righty27
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06-25-09 4:10 AM
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Sounds like CLT did a half-a** job of doing these assessments. I guess they didn't want to commit the man hours necessary to do the job properly. They probably had no problems taking the money for the contract though. I hope that if it does go to court a judge makes them redo all the assessments again. These people are messing with peoples lives and property that in some cases has been in some families for generations.
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