Property Tax Assessment Appeals

Sumner County Assessor of Property John Isbell explains the property tax assessment appeals process after an assessment cycle many homeowners have found lacking in accurate information.

According to Isbell in the Hendersonville Standard:

Now that all assessment change notices have been mailed to citizens, the next step towards setting the certified property tax rate is the appeals process.

The appeals process allows anyone who disagrees with the new valuation of their property to have their situation re-evaluated.

Informal appeals can be filed until June 4 by calling the assessor’s office at 615-452-2412 or by filling out an e-form at wevaluesumner.com. The site also gives the date and time that members of the assessor’s office will be offsite to answer property valuation questions.

Isbell has faced questions in recent years regarding the way his office conducts assessments.

In 2016, delayed billing was noted as a problem:

Tennessee's Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury weighed-in recently and noted:


“We know of no other counties that have had this magnitude of a problem as it relates to the tax freeze and tax billing,” Mumpower (of the Comproller's Office) said. “And certainly not a reoccurring problem as you have seen here, which have included five consecutive years of delayed tax billing.”

Isbell also faced complaints about his use of a publicly-funded website for political purposes:

Log on to the Sumner County web page for Assessor of Property John Isbell and you'll find a link for more information about the recent property tax reappraisal.
That page is attracting criticism from Sumner County residents like Dan Wright who feel its content amounts to a political attack on the public's dime.
"Absolutely it's political yeah. From what I see it's political defense," said Wright.
The part Wright believes is political involves direct attacks towards County Executive Anthony Holt calling him a "Pro-Tax Increase Bureaucrat."
The page also accuses Holt of holding "secret meetings" and "wasting taxpayer dollars" and towards the end of the page accuses him of conduct that's akin to "the worst kind of public servant."

In the face of concerns over Isbell's inability to accurately conduct assessments, residents are encouraged to appeal in order to receive a fair assessment.

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Sumner's Garrett Won't Call for Casada Resignation

45th district state representative Johnny Garrett, who serves Hendersonville, Goodlettsville, and White House in the Tennessee General Assembly, is refusing to call on embattled Speaker Glen Casada to resign. Casada has not denied that he and his former top staffer engaged in racist texts and also exchanged lewd, sexually explicit texts including one in which Speaker Casada inquired if a certain female was "legal."

While Garret calls the behavior "disturbing" he suggests he needs more information before making a decision and indicates he supports the investigation called by Casada into Casada's own behavior.

Here's Garrett's full statement:

I am disappointed and disturbed by the recent news reports from our Speaker’s office. Racism and vulgar text messages between our Speaker and his former chief of staff are regrettable and beneath the office of any public official. In fact, this is behavior should not be tolerated in any setting.

Public officials are held to a higher standard and we should, in every case, treat everyone with respect and dignity as we represent Tennesseans.

I am proud of the legislative achievements the House accomplished. The lawyer in me wants to make sure that we do not make a snap decision before all facts are known. The Speaker has called for an independent investigation into his actions and I fully support the investigation. I believe these actions are a necessary first step by the Speaker to retain order in the House.

This task will be difficult however; it is my hope that the Speaker and all parties will cooperate fully with the investigation so that the public’s trust will be restored and the caucus will decide how to proceed going forward.

Thanks district 45 for your confidence and, as always, it's an honor to serve you!

For more on news related to Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Budget Games

Alderman Scott Sprouse reports on the budget situation as the Board of Mayor and Aldermen begin the budgeting process through workshops. Here's what he posted on his Aldermanic Facebook page:

We had our first budget workshop Tuesday night. Traditionally, this is when aldermen and the public get first look at a mayor’s proposed budget. This year, this mayor did not prepare a full budget. He gave us one page summaries for each department. He did not provide the usual details. Some sections were left out completely. The mayor provided absolutely no revenue estimates. We don’t know what tax rate he is proposing. We don’t know what garbage fee he is proposing. (But we do know he is yet again wanting to jack it up unfairly on the backs of homeowners.) We don’t know how much would be left in the general fund. This situation is completely unacceptable.


For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Sumner's Haile Votes for Destructive Voucher Scheme

Despite a resolution from the Sumner County School Board unanimously opposing Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher scheme, Senator Ferrell Haile voted for the plan in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.

Haile supported an expanded version of the plan, one with a projected cost at full implementation of $219 million a year.

That's money that won't be available for the state to distribute to local school districts like Sumner County Schools.

In fact, this year alone, the state's funding formula loses around $25 million in funds that would typically go to salary increases for teachers.

Haile has consistently supported voucher plans and has received more than $20,000 in funding from pro-voucher groups from outside Tennessee.

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

A Dangerous Man

Reliable community watchdogs at the Sumner County Republican Assembly have identified a Hendersonville resident of concern. According to the SCRA, this man is incredibly dangerous and poses a serious threat to our way of life.

The man, identified as Andy Spears, lives in Hendersonville and has for the past 19 years. He's a homeowner who is married (19 years), has a child in Sumner County Schools, and is fond of talking about his two cats.

As evidence of Spears' danger to Hendersonville and Sumner County, the SCRA shared an article (see screenshot below) which Spears has also featured on his own personal Facebook page.

The article claims that Spears is employed (true) and also has helped lead a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to improving schools in Sumner County (also true).

The investigative journalist who wrote the piece exposing Spears uncovered evidence of his nefarious conduct including the tweets found on his publicly accessible Twitter feed.

While not included in the SCRA's warning, it has been noted that Spears sometimes shops at both Kroger and Wal-Mart in Hendersonville and is known to enjoy cheeseburgers at Culver's.

Residents should be on the lookout for this man, dressed in typical middle class Hendersonville attire, who seeks to provide excellent schools and access to healthcare for all his neighbors through improved public policy.

It is suspected he mows his yard on Saturdays and sometimes enjoys a Mt. Dew or Ale81 following the exertion.

It's very possible your child attends school with his or that you have shopped at Kroger or had a margarita at Dos Margaritas while he was there.

Here's a screenshot of the dire warning from a group that can only be described as the core of the Sumner County Republican Party:

Meme the Mayor

Hendersonville's Facebook Mayor likes to get in social media spats and then block those who disagree with him. Some of the "blocked" have taken to making memes to highlight their displeasure.

So, since today is April Fool's Day, let's #MemeTheMayor -- show us your meme and we'll post/tweet it!

email here: newshendersonville@gmail.com

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

The Meeting that Was then Wasn't then Was

Are you confused by Hendersonville City government? So is our Facebook Mayor!

He cancelled a meeting because it was Spring Break. Then, he was informed at least 8 aldermen could attend, meaning there'd be a quorum and that Vice Mayor Arlene Cunningham could chair.

Still, he cancelled the meeting and began searching for special meeting dates.

Turns out, almost the entire BOMA was present for the March 26th regularly scheduled meeting. Also in attendance: Clary, the very person who had attempted to cancel the meeting and find an alternate date.

The Hendersonville Standard has more on the circus that has become the day-to-day of city government in this town:

Although Hendersonville Mayor Jamie Clary cancelled Tuesday’s regularly scheduled Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, board members met anyway at the behest of Vice Mayor Arlene Cunningham. 

Clary, who cancelled the meeting because it fell during Sumner County Schools’ spring break, ended up attending and chairing the meeting. Eleven aldermen were also present.  

Clary cancelled the March 26 meeting on March 13 “due to spring break and activities around that” even though at least eight aldermen told him via email that they could attend the meeting. The eight who could attend included Cunningham who volunteered to chair the meeting in case Clary couldn’t attend.

At least one speaker at the meeting addressed Clary's Facebook antics:

During Tuesday’s meeting, Mary’s Magical Place co-founder Rachel McAuley tearfully addressed the board.

“I feel like tonight I am here after a verbal flood that occurred on March 18 by a source,” she said. “Normally you would see me with tears of joy and a big smile like my daughter’s, but that smile has disappeared. Now I’m just mad. I’m upset.

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews