Vote No on recall

Dear Editor,

My name is Terra (Dutcher) Riggs. I am currently employed in the Hitchcock County Assessor's Office. Like some of the taxpayers in Hitchcock County, I received the letter from Frank Stehno talking about why voters should vote yes to recall Marlene Bedore. I have copied his letter and responded to all of his reasons with the truth. I encourage everyone to come to the office and ask Marlene to tell you the truth about all of this.

1. "A review of assessment records of the Hitchcock County Assessor's office indicates there are issues with regards to the Hitchcock County Assessor's discharge of her duty to uniformly assess real property in Hitchcock County which violates the Nebraska Constitution and statutes" (per Ruth Sorenson)

Fact: One taxpayer that was receiving reduced values on a rural acreage complained to the State. The State then used biased parcels without any connection to property classifications; only an ad in the newspaper to target taxpayers.

2. In 2015 Marlene spent $35,000 to hire an appraiser to value 2 commercial properties and $3,500 to value 1 other commercial property. All commercial properties were appraised in 2012/2013 at a cost of $44,100.

Fact: There was no response or evidence left in the Assessor's office of select commercial and industrial properties (including a new restaurant) being appraised after the County Attorney requested documentation from the Appraisal Firm that contracted with the County Board for $44,100.00 to complete this work. Two of the properties had building permits for new construction and another was completely renovated.

3. Fired an experienced employee and hired 2 full time and 3 part time employees who had no experience in the Assessor's office.

Fact: The previous employees did not apply when Marlene was taking applications. I (Terra) have FSA experience and was able to read all of the maps to identify CRP, CREP, and EQIP. Trish has worked in a professional medical office setting since 1992.

4. There were no unprocessed deeds when Marlene took office.

Fact: There were 27 unprocessed deeds when Marlene took office.

5. Lowered 2016 county value by $32.7 million.

Fact: Hitchcock County lost $47,347,660.00 in value with the drop in oil.

6. Lowered Value of CRP/CREP without qualified sales.

Fact: Once we identified CRP, CREP, and EQIP (which was not done prior to us) we saw that there was a difference in sale prices. We have 10 sales to show this in 2016. All 10 sales are within the 3 year study period and are sales within Hitchcock County.

7. Residential and rural homes are not being valued using the same process.

Fact: Previous to us taking office, several manufactured houses were being valued as stick built houses. Many houses were also put on override to stop the tables in the computer system from properly calculating a value.

8. Made hundreds of changes to quality, condition and building types.

Fact: Houses were not being reviewed every 6 years like Assessors are required. Some houses hadn't been reviewed since 2006. This also means that some houses had deteriorated and of course some houses had work done to them. MIPS also uses a different grading system on conditions than Orion which is typical of different systems.

9. Lowered 2 employee's values.

Fact: 1 employee had a manufactured house that was being valued as a stick built house. The other employee was a previous employee, and now a current part time employee, in the Assessor's office and her house was set at a good quality and an excellent condition. This house was built in 1933 with no major renovations. Hitchcock County has 37 employees; why is Stehno targeting 2 employees?

10. Has not hired a Deputy County Assessor.

Fact: There is no statute saying Marlene has to hire a Deputy County Assessor. I was going to take the test to be her Deputy Assessor but the more I thought about it, the more discouraged I became. Who would honestly want to deal with being drug through the mud?

11. Refused to prepare and defend values, as set by the Commissioners, at the Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC).

Fact: Marlene chose to not defend 2014 TERC values due to the fact that she was not the Assessor. She also could not find a systematic value on the houses that were being protested because they were on override and not being valued from the tables in the computer system.

12. Marlene refused to use the computer system in place because the State was able to log onto the system.

Fact: Marlene could choose any computer system that she wanted. She chose to go with a computer vendor that was based out of Nebraska at a cost of $2.16 per parcel. The old system was $35.87 per parcel. 50 other Assessors in Nebraska also use the computer system that Marlene switched to.

Terra (Dutcher) Riggs

Stratton, Neb.