1 clerk of the board of county commissioners stephen p. clark, metro … · 2015-03-12 ·...

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MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURT REPORTERS, INC. (305) 373-5600

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CLERK OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERSSTEPHEN P. CLARK, METRO DADE GOVERNMENT CENTER

111 N.W. 1st Street, 2nd FloorConference Room

Wednesday, October 23, 2014 @ 11:00 a.m.

VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARDINTERGOVERNMENTAL SERVICES DIVISION

BOARD MEMBERS(Present)

Lynda Bell, ChairwomanCarlos Curbelo, School Board

Hani Jardack

VAB ATTORNEY

Manuel A. Blanco, Esq.

COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

Jorge Martinez-EsteveAssistant County Attorney

STAFF

Honorable Lazaro Solis, Property AppraiserRobert Alfaro, VAB Manager

VAB Staff

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A G E N D A

Page

I. Convene the 2014 VAB and implement 3Department of Revenue (DOR) RULESgoverning VAB organizational meetings

II. Discussion of prehearing checklist 11pursuant to DOR Rule 12D-9.014

III. Authorization and approval of initial 12certification of the 2014 unadjustedTax Rolls pursuant to F.S.Sec.193.122.

IV. Approval of VAB Forms for Tax Year 132014

V. Approve administrative procedures, 14filing fees and reschedulingguidelines for the 2014 Tax Year

VI Employment of Special Magistrates 16

VII Other Business --

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COMMISSIONER BELL: Good morning,

everybody. And thank you. And welcome to

the Value Adjustment Board organizational

meeting of October 23, 2014.

And we have to convene this meeting,

and we have to abide by the Department of

Revenue rules governing the VAB

organizational meetings. And this is that

meeting of the year, the exciting meeting.

But, you know, before I get started,

since we're in chambers, let's go ahead

and do the pledge. Would you join me.

(Pledge of Allegiance).

COMMISSIONER BELL: Thank you so

much.

At this time, I'm going to turn it

over to Mr. Alfaro and then the attorney

for the discussion of the pre-hearing

checklist pursuant to Department of

Revenue Rules 12D-9090014. Thank you.

MR. ALFARO: Thank you, Madam Chair.

Like I said, we have a quorum.

Mr. Manny Blanco, our new attorney,

will take over at this point.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Thank you.

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MR. BLANCO: Good morning, Madam

Chair.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Good morning.

MR. BLANCO: Members of the Board,

members of the Property Appraiser's

Office, Mr. Assistant County Attorney, we

have a quorum.

As Robert stated, in attendance, it's

Mr. Carlos Curbelo on behalf of the School

Board; yourself, as the Commissioner, and

Mr. Hani Jardack, as a member, citizen

member.

This is the 2014 Annual Value

Adjustment Board, as you earlier stated,

organizational meeting. At which time

we'd like to adopt various resolutions and

take certain action that are prescribed by

the Department of Revenue under the rules

in Chapter 12D9 of the administrative

code.

I am looking at the agenda in your

kit, that's in your kit at this moment,

and I'm going to follow it for the

purposes of this meeting.

Under I, there are nine items listed,

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which are DOR requirements for us to do

one by one, with three of them requiring

resolutions. These will be items 1, 3 and

8.

Item No. 1, the first order of

business, is the appointment and

ratification of me, Manuel Blanco, as

attorney for the Value Adjustment Board,

for the tax year of 2014 through 2015.

As you recall, we had a rather

lengthy process, which extends for

actually more than a year.

My contact information is provided in

your kits and additional copies may be

obtained from Mr. Alfaro, if needed.

We will need a resolution ratifying

me as counsel, if you may.

COMMISSIONER BELL: I'd like to move

that at this time. Is there -- actually,

let me ask for a motion to ratify the

appointment of Manny Blanco as the VAB's

legal counsel.

It's been properly moved.

Is there a second? I can second it.

It's been properly moved and seconded.

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Anybody wish to be recorded no?

Seeing none, welcome aboard, Mr.

Blanco.

MR. BLANCO: Thank you, Madam Chair.

Item No. 2, I earlier stated that the

members of the Board, which were currently

present and the respective contact

information are also provided in your

kits. Additional copies may also be

obtained from Mr. Alfaro.

Item No. 3, which will require a

resolution. Mr. Robert Alfaro was also

present as the designee of the Clerk, the

Honorable Harvey Ruvin, for the Value

Adjustment Board. His contact information

is also in your kits.

We will need a resolution for this as

well, appointing Mr. Alfaro as designee of

the VAB.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Is there a motion

to approve Mr. Alfaro?

It's been properly moved.

BOARD MEMBER CURBELO: Second.

COMMISSIONER BELL: And seconded.

Any discussion? Anybody wish to be

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recorded no?

Thank you very much.

Mr. Alfaro, thank you.

MR. ALFARO: Thank you.

MR. BLANCO: Item No. 4, Chapter

12D-9, 12D-10, Florida Administrative Code

containing the uniform rules of procedures

for hearings before the adjustment boards,

and special magistrates and the associated

forms adopted by the DOR are available in

Mr. Alfaro's office as well as on the web.


MR. BLANCO: Item No. 5, the Florida

Government in the Sunshine manual must be

made available to the public, to special

magistrates and to the VAB members and may

be obtained in Mr. Alfaro's office as well

as on the web.


MR. BLANCO: Number 6, the DOR rules

12D-51, as well as the Florida Statutes

192 through 195 are also available in Mr.

Alfaro's office as well as on the web.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Okay.

MR. BLANCO: Number 7, the next item

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is to discuss the general information,

Florida's property tax system. The

respective roles within the system,

taxpayer's opportunities to participate in

the system and the property taxpayer's

rights.

Generally, the Florida tax system is

an ad valorem tax system, meaning, it's a

tax that's levied based on property on the

value of property both real and personal.

Initially, the property appraiser, in

this case Mr. Lazaro Solis, his department

makes the original assessment, meaning the

values, the property based on fair market

value as of January 1st of the tax year.

It then becomes a matter of public

record through the TRIM notice procedure,

which goes out at the end of August of

each year. And I believe that the

deadline for the filing for this year was

on September 16th.

If the taxpayer disagrees with the

TRIM notice and disagrees with the

assessment or lack of an exemption, he or

she feels, deserves, then he or she can

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petition the VAB for us to look at their

case through hearing process.

Our special magistrate, who you have

appointed in order to hear these cases,

may recommend a reduction or grant an

exception -- an exemption, which wasn't

granted, if he or she is impressed and

satisfied with the evidence presented.

If either party is not happy with the

decision, the taxpayer or the property

appraiser may appeal with the circuit

court.

Number 8, it's to adopt or ratify by

resolution any filing fees from petitions

filed for the tax year 2014, not to exceed

$15 per parcel. As you know, this has

been the fee for many years now and we

need a resolution to continue charging a

max of $15 per parcel.


to approve the $15 max?

It's been properly moved, and I'll

second it.

Anybody wishing to discuss this item?

This is set by state law.

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MR. BLANCO: That's right.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Anyone wish to be

recorded no? The item carries.

Thank you.

MR. BLANCO: Number 9, Mr. Alfaro has

advised me that the tangible personal

property of the legal hearings of the 2014

tax year should be starting at the end of

this year. The real property hearings

will not begin until some time next year

due to the high volume of petitions, but

an effort is being made to expedite these

hearings.


MR. BLANCO: Thank you.

The following item, II, must be fully

read as regard by the auditor general's

report, so I just got to read this, so

bear with me.

COMMISSIONER BELL: You have to bear

with us. These are housekeeping items

that we have to do to comply.

MR. BLANCO: II, discussion of

pre-hearing checklist pursuant to the DOR

rule 12D-9.014.

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Number 1, the Board is composed as

provided by law.

Number 2, the Board legal counsel is

appointed as provided by law.

Number 3, the Board legal counsel

meets the requirements of Florida Statute

Section 194.015.

Number 4, no Board members represent

government entities or taxpayers in any

administrative or judicial review of

property taxes and no citizen member of

the Board are members or employees of

taxing authority during their membership

on the Board.

Number 5, the organizational meeting

was noticed in accordance with Florida

Statute Section 286.011, and is being held

in accordance with law.

Number 6, the DOR's rules, procedures

and laws for Value Adjustment Boards are

being provided per paragraph 1, 3 --

paragraph 1, 3, 4 and 5 above.

Number 7, the DOR's rules, procedures

and laws are available on the clerk's web

site.

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Number 8, the qualifications,

training and certification of special

magistrates were verified.

Number 9, the selection of special

magistrates was based solely on proper

experience and qualifications. Neither

the property appraiser nor the Petitioner,

any Petitioner influence the selection of

special magistrates.

Number 10, all procedures and forms

of Value Adjustment Board are in

compliance with Florida Statute 194 and

the Board is otherwise in compliance with

Chapter 194.

Number 11, notice has been given to

the Chief Executive Officer of each

municipality in Miami-Dade County as

provided by Florida Statute 193.116.



COMMISSIONER BELL: Next Item.

MR. BLANCO: III is the authorization

and approval of the initial certifications

for the 2014 tax year unadjusted tax

roles, pursuant to Florida Statute

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193.122.

Madam Chair, at this time, Mr.

Alfaro's officers will be providing you

with the certifications for 2014 and

adjusted for your signature.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Thank you, Mr.

Alfaro.

MR. ALFARO: No problem. Thank you.


Okay, the following item, IV,

requires a resolution by the Board

ratifying and approving the forms for the

2014 tax year. A copy of each form has

been provided to all of you in your kits.

These forms have been previously approved

by the DOR and have been used in previous

tax years.

We need a resolution to continue

using these forms.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Sir, is your

motion to continue using the forms?

BOARD MEMBER CURBELO: So moved.

COMMISSIONER BELL: It's been

properly moved and it's been properly

seconded.

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Any discussion?

Seeing none, the item carries. Thank

you.

Any opposition? The item carries.


The following items in V are items

required for the VAB to operate. The

details are very lengthy and are available

to you on your agendas provided.

I'm just going to summarize and read

them. These are, A, the implementation of

the VAB administrative procedures.

B, the authorization for the

retention and/or refund of filing fees

paid on erroneous or duplicate petitions.

Note for these -- for this one, the staff

and I recommend that we retain all

erroneous duplicate fees in order to

offset administrative cost involved in

processing them.

COMMISSIONER BELL: I'd agree with

that.

MR. BLANCO: Okay, C, Rescheduling

Guidelines. These are reasons for

rescheduling, other than the free

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reschedule that everybody is afforded.

And, D, the appeals of decisions

rendered by the special magistrates.

Note, since 1977, the Board has declined

to hear the de novo appeals from any --

from the decisions of special magistrates,

either from taxpayers or the property

appraiser's office, directing all such

appeals to the circuit court, which has

original jurisdiction in all matters

relating to property taxation.

Madam Chair, we need a resolution

adopting all these items listed under V.


for approval?



properly moved and it's been seconded.

Any discussion on this item -- items,

plural?

Seeing none, is anybody opposed?

The item carries.


COMMISSIONER BELL: Next item.

MR. BLANCO: The following item is

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VI, is the employment of special

magistrates.

Okay, A on your agenda is the Board

previously adopted the foregoing special

magistrate compensation schedule on a

continuum schedule, i.e. to be applied in

future years until such time as the Board

may, in its absolute discretion, determine

otherwise.

The Board has also retained the power

to schedule and/or discharge special

magistrates in its absolute discretion

with or without cause.

The clerk requests the Board to

appoint and hire special magistrates to

serve for the 2014 tax year on the

foregoing terms and conditions, including

the payment of compensation for such

service.

The clerk also requests the Board to

consider and determine the procedures to

be followed in appointing special

magistrates for the 2014 tax year,

including the numbers to be appointed and

conduct interviews in the appointment

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process.

Due to the anticipated overlap of

hearings into the tax year 2015, the staff

further requests that all such

appointments be effective during the tax

year 2015, to the extent necessary to

complete the VAB year in process, i.e.

until the next organizational meeting.

B is the employment of replacement

special magistrates for the 2013 tax year.

In a memo sent to all the Board members

last week, all my predecessor Robert

Tischenkel and the staff has informed me

that we have a problem with keeping up

with hearings since the VAB has lost at

least three magistrates, myself included,

and we need to replace them in order to

continue to expedite the hearings for

2013.

We are recommending that three

property magistrates, which applied for,

qualified for and/or interviewed for the

2013 tax year, but were not selected, be

appointed for the remainder of the 2013

tax year. These shall be -- these shall

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help alleviate the absence of the other

magistrates. All three of these

magistrates have served in the past and

have had no issues whatsoever and will not

require any additional training, which is

a plus.

COMMISSIONER BELL: I appreciate

that. And I think in light of efficiency

and being expeditious, I think that was

wise.

Do you need a motion for that?

MR. BLANCO: Yes, we should get a

resolution for that, Madam Chair.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Certainly.

Is there a motion to approve the

three?

It's been properly moved and --

BOARD MEMBER CURBELO: Second.

COMMISSIONER BELL: -- seconded by

Mr. Curbelo.

Any discussion on these items?

Anyone wish to be recorded no? They

carry.

Thank you.


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For the 2014 tax year, the staff is

reporting that there is no need to hire

any additional attorney magistrates. So

are we are recommending that you retain

the same 10 magistrates currently serving

in the 2014 tax year, all of them which

were checked and verified by my

predecessor and were also verified by me

and remain qualified.

COMMISSIONER BELL: And also went

through a lengthy process last year.

MR. BLANCO: That is correct.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Right.

MR. BLANCO: As for the appraiser

magistrates, in order to expedite the

hearings for the 2014 tax year and try to

complete them within the year, we are

recommending that all the appraiser

magistrates currently serving for the 2013

tax year be rehired. And, in addition,

that we hire five more for a total of 30.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Under the

appraiser magistrate.

MR. BLANCO: Under the appraiser

magistrates, that is correct.

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COMMISSIONER BELL: And the five are

from the pool of last year or there's

going to be a new pool?

MR. BLANCO: There's going to be a

new pool. They're all here present.

They've been noticed and --

COMMISSIONER BELL: So we're going to

hear from them this morning.

MR. BLANCO: We're going to hear from

them this morning.

COMMISSIONER BELL: That's what I

would like. Very good.

MR. BLANCO: We had about

63,000 cases last year, which is less than

last year, but in order to expedite the

hearings, we will need these additional

magistrates.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Absolutely.

Ready to proceed?

MR. ALFARO: Madam Chair, at this

point I'm going to call the candidates, so

they can come and give you a small

presentation.

And the clerk has given you the

ballot sheet, which contains the 12

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candidates that will be coming up for the

interview.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Perfect. Thank

you. I think we should give them, I

think, two minutes, two, three minutes.

MR. ALFARO: That's fine.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Does that sound

good? Two minutes? Okay, okay, let's

give everybody two minutes.

And this Board has the ability to

call somebody back up, if they have any

questions, or if there's anything left

unsaid. I know we can say a lot in a

couple of minutes, so let's continue.

MR. ALFARO: First person will be Ted

Allen and Kevin Dalton.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Queue up on each

podium. And then after you introduce

yourself, then we'll start the clock.

There's supposed to be another person up

here.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Yes.

MR. ALFARO: Kevin Dalton. He's not

here.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Is Kevin Dalton

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here? No.

Welcome.

MR. ALLEN: Thank you. Good morning.

My name is Ted Allen. I have been trained

as an appraiser for a number of years.

With regards to my educational background,

which you should have in the package, my

college, formal education was from the

University of Texas at Austin. There I

have a BBA, Business. My concentration of

studies is real estate as well as

accounting.

I started my real estate career in

January of 1979, in Dallas. Worked there

for five years, obtained my MAI

designation, moved to Miami, have been an

appraiser in Miami since 1984.

My practice is primarily commercial.

We do residential, but generally large

condominium projects, and as such.

I'm the managing partner of the Miami

office as well as one of the managing

partners of the firm. The firm itself,

just like an associates, which I am

employed with or partnered with, was

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formed in 1947. In New York, we have 10

offices around the country, roughly 100

employees, primarily engaged all in

commercial real estate appraisal.

One might ask me why I would want to

do this. I will say that we've done work

for the County as well as worked for the

City of Miami. Appraisers, very rarely,

ever get an opportunity or a chance to put

anything back into the community or do any

community service or anything such as

that.

Unlike attorneys, who pro bono, so on

and so forth, I'm not saying it's pro

bono, but we do very seldom get the

opportunity to put something back. And

this is one of the things that the other

two partners in the Miami office and I

discussed and decided it might be a good

thing to actually do. So thank you.

Do you have any questions?

COMMISSIONER BELL: Thank you. Thank

you very much. Any questions? Thank you.

MR. ALFARO: Ivan Guerra, Ezekiel

Michael. I apologize if I mispronounced

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your name.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Welcome. Ivan,

start first please.

MR. GUERRA: Hi, my name is Ivan

Guerra. I've been appraising for a little

over 12 years. The last eight years

mainly focused on commercial properties.

I'm a candidate for my designation, my MAI

designation with the Appraisal Institute.

The last few years, like I said,

mostly focused on all types of commercial

property, from land, retail to office to

industrial.

Any questions?

COMMISSIONER BELL: I like brevity.

It's wonderful. Thank you very much.

Yes.

MR. MICHAEL: Yes. My name Ezekiel

Jeff Michael. I have a bachelor's in

business administration from the

University of Oregon. I've lived in Miami

since 2000, and I've been a commercial

real estate appraiser since then.

My background is primarily

commercial. And I'm bilingual. And I'm

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familiar with the VAB procedures as my

partner has been a magistrate for some

years, so I'm familiar with the process.

COMMISSIONER BELL: So you said

you're familiar with VAB procedures?

MR. MICHAEL: Yes.

COMMISSIONER BELL: You've said --

excuse me one second. So you've been an

appraiser for 12 years?

MR. MICHAEL: Yes.

COMMISSIONER BELL: But you said

you're a candidate?

MR. MICHAEL: For my MIA designation.

COMMISSIONER BELL: For your MIA

designation. Perfect.

And you are primarily commercial?

MR. MICHAEL: Yes.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Okay. Thank you.

Thank you very much, both of you.

MR. ALFARO: Chad Sites and Ralph

Abraham.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Welcome,

Gentlemen. We'll hear from Chad first.

Then Ralph Abraham.

MR. ABRAHAM: Yes, my name is Ralph

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Abraham. I reside in Aventura, Florida.

I have a state certified general real

estate appraiser's license. And I've

served as a special magistrate from 1995

to 2013. I took a break in 2013. I would

appreciate the opportunity to serve again.

Any questions?

COMMISSIONER BELL: No. Thank you.

MR. ABRAHAM: Okay.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Yes, sir.

MR. SITES: My name is Chad Sites.

I'm a certified general appraiser. I hold

an SRA with the Appraisal Institute. I've

been appraising for 37 years. I began my

appraisal career in Oklahoma and relocated

to Florida. I currently reside in Lake

Worth, but I'm relocating to Miramar

within the next 30 days. I sold my house

there.

I've handled a wide variety of

different property types from residential

to commercial. I handle all kinds of

unique properties. I've done psychiatric

hospitals. I've done power plants. I've

done all kinds of unique properties.

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One of my specialties is triple net

properties. I've been a triple net

property owner, both U.S. post office type

properties. Also in the Blockbuster store

and an auto parts store under triple type

ownership.

I've owned and operated a brokerage

company where we owned our own real

estate, single-family, multifamily

condominium and shopping centers. And

we've also managed those types of

properties for other people.

I'm a Miami Dolphins season ticket

holder, which I think it's incredibly

important.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Sure, play the

Dolphins card.

MR. SITES: And in six days, it's go

Miami Heat.


you very much.

Any questions, anybody?

Okay, next.

MR. ALFARO: David Hume. Petrick

Kalle.

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COMMISSIONER BELL: Welcome.

MR. KALLE: Which one first?

COMMISSIONER BELL: Can I have David

first, please?

MR. HUME: Yes, my name is David

Hume. I now have 38 years of real estate

appraisal experience here in Dade County.

I'm a Miami native. I grew up in Coconut

Grove, went through the public school

system, graduated from the University of

Miami with a degree in real estate and

finance. Then went on to be a staff

appraiser at a savings and loan in Miami

Beach, followed by a position as a

commercial review appraiser in a major

bank in downtown Miami.

1983, I obtained my MAI designation.

And in 1984, I started my own appraisal

firm in Coral Gables. And I've been

involved in that activity pretty much ever

since.

Most of my client base has been

lenders. In the good times, as appraisals

have been for exciting new projects,

proposed condominiums, sort of like what's

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going on in Edgewater today, maybe. In

the bad times, foreclosures times,

recessionary times, most of the appraisals

I've prepared were in anticipation of

litigation, which then resulted in me

appearing as an expert witness in

bankruptcy court and circuit court.

That then was a natural segue to

presenting property tax appeals before the

Value Adjustment Board for some or many of

the properties I had appraised that were

in the foreclosure process and in the

court process. And in many of those

cases, in those hearings, those properties

legitimately deserved consideration for

reduction.

I did that process for about five

years. Then returned to my normal

practice, mostly in lender work and more

recently in appraisal review work.


you very much.

Mr. Petrick.

MR. PETRICK: Good morning, Madam

Chair, Members of the Board and counsel.

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I'm Kalle Petrick. I'm a certified

general appraisal. I've been appraising

in Miami-Dade for 12 years. I have a

thorough knowledge of all areas of the

County and I'm familiar with appraising

multiple kinds of property, a list of

which has been provided to the Board.

It would be a privilege to serve. I

believe that I have the knowledge and

experience to perform with competency and

fairness. And because I am an independent

fee appraisal, I enjoy great scheduling

and flexibility and can be available as

the Board requires.

In addition to the foregoing, I

consider myself to be technologically very

competent in terms of technology. I teach

other real estate appraisers PC and

advanced Excel skills, so that they can up

their game, if you will.

Thank you for considering me.


you, Gentlemen.

MR. ALFARO: Mr. Gregory Gunter and

Scott Watson. Gregory Gunter, Scott

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Watson.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Next.

MR. ALFARO: Michael Baldwin and

Zilla Tarkoe, Zilla Tarkoe.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Welcome.

MR. BALDWIN: Hello.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Go right ahead.

MR. BALDWIN: Yes, my name is Michael

Baldwin. I am with Salus Valuation Group.

We specialize in health care properties.

And Miami has tons of living facilities.

We mostly deal with investment properties.

I've worked on a couple of tax appeal

cases, not locally, but across the country

that were for commercial properties. So

everything we do is for health care

properties. They're very complex and

specialized properties when we're

valuating the business enterprise as well

as the real estate.

I'm an MAI, also an ASA. And I teach

webinars with the ASA with the health care

special interest group.

I have not ever appraised

single-family homes. I'm strictly in the

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commercial space. We've got a team of

about 12 appraisers all doing health care

work.

And I'm very computer savvy,

everything possible with Excel. I

understand the adjustment board has, you

know, some kind of computer system. On

the requirements, it said where computer

skills were important. I've never seen

it, but I'm very competent in those kinds

of things.


MR. BALDWIN: Thank you.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Thank you very

much.

Next one.

MR. ALFARO: There's nobody else. So

we need you to choose five out of that 12.

Actually, we have --

COMMISSIONER BELL: So --

MR. ALFARO: -- seven that showed up.

COMMISSIONER BELL: So Zilla did not

show up.

MR. ALFARO: Zilla is not here.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Okay. So

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basically 1, 2, 3, 4 were a no show. And

we need to just pick five.

MR. ALFARO: That's correct.


Everybody, go ahead and mark your sheets

and turn them in.

Yes, sir.

MR. AGUIRRE: Was there going to be

an opportunity for public comment on this

process?

COMMISSIONER BELL: There wasn't, but

that you have -- let me give you a minute,

because I don't want to turn anybody away

from public comment.

MR. AGUIRRE: Thank you so much.

COMMISSIONER BELL: My pleasure. I'm

going to give you a minute, okay?

MR. AGUIRRE: Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, distinguished members of the

Board and members of our County

government, I want to thank you for this

opportunity. I did send a letter

yesterday requesting this, and my

apologies if --

COMMISSIONER BELL: May I have your

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name and address for the record, please.

MR. AGUIRRE: Correct, Alejandro

Aguirre.

COMMISSIONER BELL: We'll start the

clock after we get your name and address

to give you your full minute.

MR. AGUIRRE: Alejandro Aguirre, 7504

Southwest 78 Terrace. I'm here on behalf

of Tax Savers, representative for

taxpayers.


MR. AGUIRRE: Thank you very much,

Madam Chair.

I just wanted to make one point.

I've looked over, as you have, the

candidates, and have found that they are

all people who are very accomplished,

excellent people, but I do have to point

out from somebody who has worked with a

company that represents the taxpayers,

that I would wish that special attention

would be paid to those people whose

primary body of work and primary location

has been within our County.

As you know, there's been a backlog

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of cases. And each Board now carries a

load of 60 cases. And it's very important

that we have people who are very, very

familiar with all of the neighborhoods, so

that we can get expediency without

sacrificing quality. And for that reason,

I wanted to address the Board. And I

thank you for this opportunity.


much. I appreciate that. Thank you very

much, everybody. Take a few minutes to

vote.

MR. BLANCO: Madam Chair, while you

are -- while the ballots are being

tallied, I just wanted to report under VII

that Value Adjustment Board has received

62,000 applications thus far. And that

satisfies VII. Thank you.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Let's see how

many attempts we have at this, or if we're

all on the same page.

While they're tallying how many

petitions were filed last year? I know

it's decreasing thing. Thank goodness.

MR. BLANCO: I believe there were

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67,000 last year.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Okay. Which had

dropped substantially from prior year?

MR. BLANCO: We're at 62 to 63,000

this year.


you.


MR. ALFARO: Madam Chair, we have six

applicants with the majority of the votes.

It's up to you, if you want to go to a

second ballot, or we hire an extra

magistrate.

COMMISSIONER BELL: There are -- hum,

this is a good question. With 63,000,

what's the total number of magistrates

that we have currently plus the five that

we're hiring?

MR. ALFARO: It's going to be a total

of 30.

COMMISSIONER BELL: For 63,000?

MR. ALFARO: Correct.

COMMISSIONER BELL: I say we hire all

six.

MR. ALFARO: Okay. I'm going to read

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out the names, if you want me to.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Absolutely. Do

we need a motion for that, though, to hire

the six?

MR. BLANCO: I would suggest that we

do a motion.


to hire the extra person to make it six

instead of five?



properly moved and it's been properly

seconded.

Any discussion on this item? Seeing

none, thank you.


MR. ALFARO: The applicants are Ted

Allen, Ivan Guerra, Ezekiel Michael, David

Hume, Kalle Petrick and Michael Baldwin.

Congratulations.


much. Thank you very much for being part

of the process.

MR. BLANCO: Madam Chair, if I may,

just for the record, for the 2013 tax

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year, the replacement magistrates, I just

want to list them for the record.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Please.

MR. BLANCO: There will be Mr. Jose

Ortega, Mr. Adrian Gonzalez and Mr.

Harvell Gray.



COMMISSIONER BELL: Do you need a

motion for that?

MR. BLANCO: No, that already passed.

Those are just the names for the record of

the three.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Any other

business, besides the announcement?

MR. BLANCO: No other business.

COMMISSIONER BELL: I want to thank

everybody for being here today. I want to

thank you very much and everybody that

I've gotten to know their faces, this is

my last Value Adjustment Board meeting.

And I want to thank you for being so

participatory, offering your opinions,

your commentary. Actually, it's had a lot

of weight, and it's carried a lot of

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weight with me. And I just want to thank

you all for your time, for your efforts in

this community. And just all of you be

very well. Thank you.

Can I hear -- one other comment.

I want to compliment also Mr. Solis,

Lazaro. You've been phenomenal. You've

just been superb filling in. And I know

we're about to have an election in a

couple of weeks. And I want to thank you

publicly for your service. And you have

really risen to the occasion. And let me

tell you I've just been proud of your job,

your performance and your accomplishments.

Thank you.

Mr. Curbelo.

BOARD MEMBER CURBELO: Madam Chair, I

just wanted to thank you for your

leadership. It's been quite the privilege

sitting next to you for the last couple of

years. As soon as you came in, you knew

this Board needed reform. You knew it

needed more transparency. And you have

certainly made that happen.

So I want to thank you. This is a

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small board with a callosal task. And I

think we've done our best in the last few

years. And it's been under your

leadership. So thank you very much.

COMMISSIONER BELL: Thank you. I

wanted to make it a little bit more than

just ministerial, and I think we've

accomplished that. And thank you everyone

for your service and thank you.

Good luck, everybody.

(Thereupon, the meeting was

adjourned).

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41

CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

I, Lorena Ramos, National Registered

Professional Reporter and Florida Professional

Reporter, do hereby certify that I was

authorized to and did TRANSCRIBE the foregoing

proceedings, and that the transcript, pages 1

through 40, is a true and correct TRANSCRIPT of

the TAPE RECORDED meeting, to the best of my

ability.

DATED this 29th day of November 2014, at

Miami-Dade County, Florida.

_____________________________

LORENA RAMOS, RPR & FPR

COURT REPORTER

Lorena Ramos

1 clerk of the board of county commissioners stephen p. clark, metro … · 2015-03-12 ·...

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