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| Protesters at Comm. meeting |
Well Duh !! Mr. Fifer, the taxpayers aren't concerned one way or another about the overall success of the "tax sale" And the protesters present at the meeting weren't there to hear the figures on the amounts collected. They (the protesters) wanted to know why a fictitious LLC submitted by Mr. Meyer's daughter was accepted. Why weren't the proper procedures followed. Why were the minutes of a Commissioner's meeting edited by Ed Meyer to omit statements made by Fifer.
Wasn't Fifer the one that tried to fire the Aviation board attorney and threatened to sue him for an alleged mistake in an eminent domain issue that resulted in the County owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a property owner ??? Should Fifer also be fired and sued for his firms alleged mismanagement of this "tax sale" issue ??? Lots of questions to answer Mr. Fifer, unfortunately your "Deflection" didn't work. Hopefully the Indiana SBOC (State Board of Accounts) will answer them. Until then the whole thing smells of Poltical abuse.
VOTE REPUBLICAN IN BOTH CLARK CO. COMMISSIONERS RACES
The plot is thickening
ReplyDeleteThis was posted on the CCC in response to this Post by Greg Fifer
ReplyDeleteHT --
I answered, or at least attempted to answer, every question posed at yesterday's meeting. In response to the additional questions posed on your blog, please be advised as follows:
1. "Why a ficticious LLC submitted by Mr. Meyer's daughter was accepted?"
Not sure what this question means. However, I did not in any manner "accept a ficticious LLC". As we were preparing to close following the acceptance of the bids, we discovered that no limited liability company was listed in that name with the Indiana Secretary of State. We advised the purchaser that we could not prepare a deed in the name of a non-existent entity, and in response were advised to use the purchaser's individual name. As I further advised at yesterday's meeting, I have dealt with lots of real estate purchasers that form LLCs or other entities to shield themselves from individual liability. The fact that we were instructed to prepare the deed in the individual's name, rather than in the LLC name (assuming it was properly organized), would seem to indicate that the purchaser was, in fact, not trying to hide their identity.
2. "Why weren't the proper procedures followed?"
The proper procedures were followed. I would challenge you to demonstrate to the contrary. The memorandum that I distributed at yesterday's meeting included copies of the relevant statutes. I did state that in hindsight I would have done two things differenty: (1) I would have included the 2 properties that initially didn't receive bids with the second published notice advising that the Commissioners were going to hold a public hearing at which anyone could appear and state why they believed that the Commissioners should not accept the bids on the 4 parcels that were for less than 90% of the appraised values, and (2) I would have brought the Walnut Street offer to the Commissioners for approval by vote at a public meeting. I acknowleded that my failure to take these 2 steps was solely my fault, not the fault of the Commissioners. All of the recommendations that I made, and all of the actions that my firm took, in performing this work was done with the objective of either getting the owners of these properties to pay the past due taxes, or get these properties into the hands of new owners that would.
3. "Why were the minutes of a Commissioners meeting edited by Ed Meyer to omit statements that were made by Fifer?"
This did not occur. The minutes of the 3/29/12 meeting accurately state what I said and are identical to the initial draft I received from the Auditor's office by customary e-mail following that meeting and prior to their approval without amendment at the next meeting. The C-J reporter showed me a digital version of the draft that had hand marked revisions of (a) the omitted word "stated" inserted, and (b) the deletion of two redundant clauses consisting of about 6-7 words stricken in a manner that did not materially change what the approved minutes said.
4. "Wasn't Fifer the one that tried to fire the Aviation board attorney and threatened to sue him for an alleged mistake in an eminent domain issue that resulted in the County owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a property owner?"
I sent a letter to the Aviation board attorney at the direction of my client. I just filed an appellate brief trying to relieve the County of this liability. I have also recommended and am taking additional actions I deem appropriate to shield the County treasury from liabilities for which I do not believe it should properly be responsible. Not sure what any of this has to do with the tax sale issues.
5. "Should Fifer also be fired and sued for his firm's alleged mismangement of this "tax sale" issue?"
Respectfully:
Greg Fifer,
Clark County Attorney
Here is last part of Mr. Fifer's post
ReplyDeleteI serve at the pleasure of the Board of Commissioners, and they can discharge me at their collective discretion at any time they choose. The information that I provided at the meeting yesterday demonstrated that the County received net proceeds of $1,544,369 after payment of our fees on the $1,429,215 in delinquent taxes owed on the 48 parcels we handled on behalf of the Commissioners following their failure to sell at the 2010 Tax Sale. Not sure what the grounds would be to sue someone for collecting 108% of the initial amount assigned? In fact, had we achieved the same 62% net recovery rate for 90 other unsold parcels in the alternate Commissioners' Tax Certificate Sale that was conducted by SRI in March 2011, the County would have received $658,255 less). Notwithstanding achieving this excellent result for the benefit of the County, I have no expectation of being thanked for performing the work that we were hired and paid to do, but it would be nice to not be slandered for having done so. As stated in today's News and Tribune article, I am not in any manner ashamed [or apologetic] for the work we performed.
Thank you Mr. Fifer for answering these questions and reading the BatBlog
ReplyDelete