Our penultimate field trip was a return to the Community Center to the Tax Collector’s office. While the Tax Collector himself, Doug Belden, came in and greeted us momentarily, our learning session was conducted by Preston Trigg, who, like J.D. Callaway, once worked for the Tampa Tribune.
One notable thing about Mr. Belden was that he prefers not to have a spokesperson for his office, but rather conducts interviews personally as much as possible, while Trigg and the media relations staff handled other press inquiries.
Being a former reporter really gave Trigg an advantage in his presentation to us. He started with a brief review on the definition of public records and the various types that were available. He also mentioned what the costs of copies were, but noted that as much as possible, the Tax Collector’s office tried not to charge for copies, believing that the taxpayers already put enough of their own money into the office. We also discussed exemptions. Auto tag and driver’s licenses are among the records the Tax Collector keeps that are exempt. One interesting fact I learned was how the death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. led to the exemption of autopsy photographs as a public record.
He then discussed some of the tricks of the trade. Working on both sides really helped him put it into perspective for us. For example, although it is not required to put a request in writing, it helps the agency know exactly what you are looking for, and also helps if you have a dispute with the agency over a request. He also said that inspecting a record and taking notes on it, instead of obtaining a copy may help reduce costs, which he reinforced Ms. Harper’s caution that we should get an estimate of all costs up front.
When it came to investigating an agency, he provided us very useful things to look for, so we don’t go blindly into our projects. Records like their budget, an organizational chart, gift disclosures, payroll records, travel records and auto stipends, al things that may help us “follow the money” and see if anything suspicious may turn up. Another useful request is for all the other 119 (public record) requests that have been made in the last year, to see what other people may have been looking at.
We then learned a little about what the tax collector’s office does, and how it works. You can pay your property tax directly (as you would when you renew your auto tag), or you can have it escrowed out of your mortgage payment, a more common option. Those who pay their taxes before November 1 get a discount, and those who pay after April 1 are late. We learned the Property Appraiser’s role in setting the value of the home, and the Board of County Commissioners and City Councils role in determining the amount of tax to be levied. We discussed the information that can be found on hillstax.org and how to link from there to the Property Apparaisers Website and from there to the Clerk of the Court.
We also discussed how to “follow the money” by looking at buildings that may be co-owned by politicians and cross-referencing those properties with Occupational licenses, to see if they have any business dealings worth looking into. Then we started to discuss how to search campaign contributions, but in my opinion these subjects could have been better covered the previous week by William March.
Between Mr. Trigg and Ms. Frank, I think we got a very good understand of both how local government works, and how to obtain the best information for researching these officials.
Meet you further up the road,
Brentin
November 6th, 2008 at 11:39 am
As always Brentin, spectacular.
Brentin has the visual, a serious, professional-looking blog and the writing to make his blogs always interesting to read.