RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A warning to anyone who owns property in Rutherford County: A top state official claims all of the property assessments may be wrong, which means refunds or even surprise tax bills could be coming.
"I am here tonight because this is such a dire situation directly impacting the people of Rutherford County," said Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Jason Mumpower Thursday night. "In Rutherford County, the Assessor’s work is more like a pile of sinking sand."
It's rare for a top state official to issue that direct of a warning, but that's exactly what happened at last Thursday's Rutherford County Commission meeting.
"There is not one property owning taxpayer in Rutherford County that should have any degree of confidence in their property assessment," said Mumpower.
Mumpower is essentially the top auditor for the state.
He said their office has been investigating the Rutherford County Property Assessor's office for two years and found glaring issues which led to several warnings.
Mumpower spoke for nearly an hour about certain problems they found, like wrong measurements causing some residents to be overcharged on their property taxes.
He highlighted a few new structures that weren't taxed at all some years.
"Thousands of new tax bills will need to be sent out or refunds will need to be issued," Mumpower told the crowd.
Mumpower did acknowledge they've only reviewed about 6% of all county parcels, but found about 25% of those parcels had errors. He's now calling on commissioners to hire an outside auditor.
"An independent review be performed of every parcel in Rutherford County," said Mumpower.
If Rutherford County decides to hire an outside auditor, it could cost quite a bit of money. Commissioners plan to consider the move at their November meeting.
Under Tennessee law, Rutherford County does have to pay for all the hours the Comptroller's office spent investigating the matter. Mumpower says that will be just over $230,000. You can watch the full presentation from the Comptroller by clicking here.
Mitchell responds
Assessor Rob Mitchell was there for the meeting, but spoke during the public comment period which was slated for before the Comptroller's presentation. "I wish I had more to say," said Mitchell Thursday night. "At this time I cannot because I have not seen the information that is going to be presented so I have nothing to comment on."
Of course, NewsChannel 5 wanted to hear directly from Assessor Mitchell to get his perspective on all this. He declined our request for an on camera interview, but he did respond to a few of our questions via email.
Mitchell claims he hasn't gotten data from the Comptroller's office, so he won't comment on what he calls "unverified claims which were prematurely presented."
Mitchell did acknowledge his staff has a heavy workload in a growing county.
Here's the email exchange between NewsChannel 5 and Assessor Mitchell:
NC5: Do you acknowledge or can you verify any of the findings Comptroller Mumpower presented last week at the Rutherford County Commission meeting?
Mitchell: I have been denied the data by the Comptroller. I cannot comment on unverified claims which were prematurely presented. Citizens deserve honest answers and not political theater.
NC5: Do you dispute any of the findings Comptroller Mumpower presented last week at the Rutherford County Commission meeting?
Mitchell: The only statement I heard which I cannot deny is his claim that I am the nicest person he has ever met.
NC5: Do Rutherford County property owners have reason to doubt their assessment is accurate?
Mitchell: No. If they have a question they can contact our office, look online, use our Smart Rutherford app to check information. Our office number is 615-898-7750....My email is rmitchell@rutherfordcountytn.gov. To date I have had no calls to my office questioning values.
NC5: The Comptroller mentioned your office over-relied on aerial images for property assessments. Is this true?
Mitchell: The Comptroller apparently uses aerial imagery, Zillow and Redfin as authoritative sources statewide ( per his statements October 16th.) We use aerial imagery to locate changes in property, identical to Davidson, Knox, Williamson, Shelby, Maury and many other counties in Tennessee. Our preference is to conduct field checks after locating a new addition to an existing structure. A brand-new home is always sketched and measured in person. We do not use Zillow, Redfin or any other 3rd party public source as an authoritative tool to tax people and will not.
NC5: The Comptroller mentioned that you acknowledged you and your office did not receive enough training. Is this true?
Mitchell: What I recall is telling him most of my appraisers, 9 residential appraisers and 3 commercial appraisers, have not been through a reappraisal before. I recall telling him that with our workload it is difficult to get people to anything other than the basic necessary training to do their jobs. I told him I rely on my staff to do the work, just as he does, and that I do not key items into our CAMA system.
It took him 22 staff to review 8,000 parcels in about four months and we have 12 field people to review 45,000 parcels every year and all 134,000 every four years in addition to picking up new construction, additions, citizen requested field checks and customer service calls.
NC5: Can issues with people's property assessment be remedied before property taxes become due?
Mitchell: It depends on the date they discover a change. If we are notified of an error on a property (not a value disagreement) we can do that immediately and, in some cases, go back up to two years.
A spokesperson for the Comptroller tells NewsChannel 5 they do not plan to submit a final report on their findings, but they have supplied all the neccessary corrections they found to the assessor's office.
Assessor Mitchell tells NewsChannel 5 he has no plans to resign because he hasn't done anything against the law.
Do you live in Rutherford County and you're concerned about your property assessment? We'd love to hear from you. You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
One of the best things about Tennessee is its beauty. Reporter, Chris Davis, certainly makes the most of it as an avid hunter and fisherman. When he turned the spotlight on the potential funding shortfall the TWRA is facing - it hit a nerve with many of our viewers. To find out more, make sure to watch this story.
- Carrie Sharp
