LUCAS COUNTY AUDITOR - THE BLADE HAS THROWN US UNDER THE BUS

The Blade has thrown the residents of Toledo under the bus with their endorsement of Kaczala for Lucas County Auditor. During the reign of the Kaczalas in the Lucas County Auditors office, in 1998 a Blade Editorial commented, “So extensive is the nepotism, so pervasive in Larry Kaczala’s domain is the hiring of friends, relatives of friends, and in-laws, that every week is old-home week… The stink emanating from the auditor’s office is of government jobs being doled out as favors and paybacks to family and Republican insiders. … No wonder minority employment is so low there.”

When Kaczala was defeated in 2006, the transition was stymied by his demand that his wife, the current Republican Candidate, and his brother-in-law be guaranteed continued positions in the office. When Lopez stated, “she will not make deals to ensure staff are guaranteed positions”, the Kaczala response was "She can have the keys March 13”, (Blade article 1/9/07). Rather than assist in the transition, the Kaczalas unionized the 20 mid-management employees to protect employee jobs; hired additional relatives to temporary positions; and granted pay increases. This took place after the election between December 2006 and March 2007.

Quoted from the Blade endorsement 10/4/10, “Ms. Kaczala has a deep knowledge of the auditor’s office; she worked there for more than two decades”. But when it was time for the transition of the office beginning March 13, 2007, Ms.Kaczala refused to report to work to use her expertise to the benefit of the residents of Toledo to assist in a smooth transition. And, finally, after a couple weeks of absence, left a voice mail message that she quit.

These actions were vindictive, unprofessional and harmful to the residents of Toledo. A person who considers herself an integral member of the office has a responsibility to assist in any way to transition the staff and help maintain consistency rather than unceremoniously desert her position. It speaks poorly of her character and work ethic.

Toledo deserves better. In the two years since Lopez took office, fiscal and administrative responsibility and management have improved and we have witnessed the transition of the Lucas County Auditor’s office from a hostile environment to a advocate for citizen’s rights.

For supporting reference material go to: Lucas County Auditor Info

Ineffective Auditor

In watching the interview today on Conklin & Co. with Anita Lopez, Anita focused heavily on the reevaluation process for homes in Lucas County commenting that it is up to the homeowner to prove the evaluation is incorrect. She is absolutely right in this assessment. When the homes were reevaluated for 2003, I was ill and not able to deal with the evaluation. There are 22 homes on our street, all brick ranches built in the mid-50s by the same contractor with the same general floor plan and amenities. Not including our home in the valuations for 2003, the average appraised value is $136,543. Our home was appraised at $155,400 and the assessment is $160,400.

When the documents came out this year, the assessment was raised to $169,000. I could locate 9 homes sold since 2002 with an average selling price of $131,622. So I have gone through a lengthy process of researching all this information, filling out a form on the web page requesting a review and filling out the review form mailed to our home which must be at the Auditor’s office on Monday, Oct. 2 requesting an adjustment in the tax base for the home. In all, I’ve spent more than 10 hours so far and will probably be called downtown for a review meeting in the auditor’s office. Since I work M-F, 8 to 5, I’ll have to take time off work to attend the meeting.

I’ve heard Larry Kaczala say the system works because of the number of citizens who have requested the review, indicating the Auditor’s Office is responsive to the homeowner. I don’t think this works, how many homeowners would have the knowledge to search for recently sold homes, look up the information on the web, submit the request for audit and go through this process. Lack of knowledge, resources and time prevents homeowners from receiving due process. As Anita said, the system needs to be fixed.