Challenger suggests Assessor unprepared for hearings

Feb. 12—During closing statements at the Cumberland County Republican Party's candidate's forum last week, Kelli Tipton Buchannon suggested the current Cumberland County Property Assessor Sandy Gilbert was unprepared for state assessment appeals hearings in 2022 and in 2023.

She said Gilbert received "feedback" from State Board of Equalization Assessment Appeals member Van Boles during a Zoom online appeals hearing.

Buchannon is challenging Gilbert in the county's Republican primary. She said she has prepared for the office and reviewed the hearings which are recorded and posted online.

During the assessment commission appeals hearing, which is dated June 13, 2023, and posted on the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury's website, Boles was asking Gilbert questions regarding a property owner's case that was appealed to state level. The property owner did not believe his property was evaluated correctly and had increased in value too much.

Boles said, "These comparables that were sent in by the state look to me like nothing more than tax cards of properties that were chosen to be used as comparable. This is a product put out by the assessor's office to describe the property. There's nothing about these forms that reflect an appraisal. It's just the product of the office and ... generated I suppose. Mrs. [Gilbert], did you appraise any of these properties at all?"...

Gilbert answered "No, sir."

Boles continued, "That's what I thought. It came through the regression analysis of the state. Didn't they?"

"Yes, sir, that is correct," Gilbert responds.

Regression analysis is one method that real estate appraisers use to determine value adjustments. Regression analysis compares the sale price, dependent variable, to many independent variables. Appraisers can use statistical data and analyze it.

"Boles continued, "[the property owner] also submitted data supplied by the state data base ... Neither one of these propositions has anything to do with appraisal really ... I wanted to be clear before I make my decision if that's the case here."

During the candidate forum, Buchannon stated, "This value is simply less added because the property owner did not meet the burden of proof. But it was very clear that the Cumberland County Property Assessor was not prepared. In another case in February of 2023, Mrs. Gilbert did not defend the values that were set as a property owner did receive a ruling in their favor by the administrative judge and the value was lowered by over $30,000."

In the February 2023 case the administrative judge ordered the condition of a mobile home was fair rather than average and the valuation of $62,630 should be reduced to $32,330 for the contested mobile home.

Buchannon said, "I can promise I will not go into board hearings unprepared. If the property owner believes their assessment is so inaccurate that they contest it at the state level I will have at least looked at it before I get up there and testify."

Gilbert told the Chronicle that the 2022 case was during a countywide mass appraisal in 2022 and property in the county had all increased overall by 42% to 45%. The property owner's evaluation went up by 48.92% Gilbert said.

Gilbert said the property owner wanted an appraisal that was lower than what they had paid for the property years earlier.

"I couldn't justify that and neither did the state," Gilbert said.

The property values were not changed or reduced in that case.

Buchannon was the last candidate to give closing remarks during the forum as Gilbert gave her closing remarks prior. Gilbert was not offered an opportunity to respond to the remarks as it was the end of the forum.

In the February 2023 case, the property owner appealed that ruling, and it was ultimately reversed.

Gilbert said to the Chronicle, "She did not do her research. That case was continued and appealed to the assessment appeals board and the administrative judge reversed the order and remanded the case so they were ordered to adopt the Cumberland County Board of Equalization's value of 2022. As far as I know that's not online.

"I think she's [Buchannon] grabbing for straws. I don't play dirty politics, and I am running my campaign the same way I run the assessor's office — with integrity, honesty, experience and dedication."

R.J. Crawford, Crossville mayor and chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Party, served as moderator of the forum and said the order of candidates answering questions and presenting their closing remarks was chosen by a random draw.

He said he can't predict what a candidate will say, or what one would want to respond to.

Crawford said, "If we get into allowing one person to respond, then this person is going to want to respond and this person is going to want to respond to that. If we allow that, then it opens up the flood gates, and I just wanted to keep it clean ... it's the same way we ran it for the school board and other candidates."

Gary Nelson may be reached at gnelson@crossville-chronicle.com