Loading...
VAB Minutes 03/17/2025 (Draft)March 17, 2025 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD Naples, Florida, March 17, 2025 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Value Adjustment Board, in and for the County of Collier, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Burt Saunders, BCC, District 3 Rebecca Earney, Homestead Citizen Member Erick Carter, School Board Member Jill Rosenfeld, Homestead Citizen Member Ron Kezeske, Business Citizen Member Dan Kowal, BCC, District 4 (Absent) COUNSEL TO THE BOARD Holly E. Cosby, Esq. THE PROPERTY APPRAISER'S OFFICE Jennifer Blaje Annabel Ybaceta THE CLERK'S OFFICE Derek Johnssen Marty Rustin March 17, 2025 Page 2 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll go ahead. MS. COSBY: Now we have a hot mic. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We'll go ahead and convene the meeting. By the time we finish the Pledge, it will be the start time. So if you'd please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And if we could go with the roll call. MS. COSBY: We can start with Ms. Rosenfeld. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Hi. Jill Rosenfeld, the alternate homestead member. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Rebecca Earney, homestead member. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Burt Saunders with the County Commission. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Erick Carter, school board. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Ron Kezeske, business member. MS. COSBY: And I'm Holly Cosby, Value Adjustment Board counsel. I will advise for the record that I have reviewed the affidavit of publication for this meeting. I find it sufficient to proceed. I will also advise for the record that we do have quorum here in the room today pursuant to Florida Statute Section 194.015. And in your packets, you have a contact information sheet. If I could get everybody to just peek at that really quick just to make sure that your contact information is correct, I would appreciate that. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: My contact March 17, 2025 Page 3 information is correct. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: So is mine. MS. COSBY: Thank you. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Yeah, that's correct. How about you how, Ron? BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Mine, too. MS. COSBY: Okay. Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We need a motion to approve today's agenda. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: So moved. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a second to approve the agenda. All in favor, signify by saying aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. We need also to approve the minutes from August 19th, 2024. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: So moved. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We have a motion and a second to approve the minutes from August 19th, 2024. All in favor, signify by saying aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. March 17, 2025 Page 4 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. Ms. Cosby, do you want to go ahead and kind of guide us through the general business that we need to conduct? CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Absolutely. Moving on to Item 3A, updates from the Department of Revenue and/or current session of the Florida Legislature affecting the VAB. I had provided Property Tax Oversight Bulletins 24-01 through 24-19 during the organizational meeting. So there was one more that was issued on November 14th after our organizational meeting. That's Property Tax Oversight Bulletin 24-20, which is in your packet. It is entitled "Annual Inflation Adjustment to Homestead Exemption Value." So that is the amendment that passed in the State of Florida that will adjust our homestead exemptions, I guess, according to -- according to just inflation. So that bulletin is in your packet. That is the only thing for Item 3A1A. On to Item 3B, I will advise for the record that during our organizational meeting I compile a compliance checklist. During the organizational meeting, there were two items remaining that I needed to complete after our organizational meeting because they were not ripe at that time. Those two items were that all appointed special magistrates have received the Department of Revenue training, and the other item was that notices have been given to the chief executive officer of each municipality. Both of those were not complete during the organizational March 17, 2025 Page 5 meeting because they were just not able to be completed at that time; however, we did ensure that all special magistrates received the Department of Revenue training and completed that prior to holding hearings here in Collier County, and then once noticed -- once hearings were scheduled, any property that fell within a municipality, the CEO received a notice of hearing for each of those hearings. So at this time, the Value Adjustment Board is in full compliance, and they were -- we were in full compliance during the VAB cycle throughout. Moving on to Item C, 3C, this is an informational item only I'm providing as FYI. There was a records requests from the Department of Revenue for a petition from 2023 VAB cycle. And I am just providing to you the information that that was requested and that we provided all the information that was requested. And they requested quite a bit, so VAB administration had their hands full providing the information. I don't know why this request was made. There was no context other than, "Please provide the information for this petition," and I think it was 2023, I want to say, 0168, but I'm trying to get there just to double-check that. Please bear with me. MR. RUSTIN: 686. MS. COSBY: 686. I was close. Okay. 2023-00686. That was the petition that was requested. And then what was provided to the Department of Revenue is a bulk of this agenda, so we're providing to you what was provided to the Department. That concludes Items 3A, B, and C. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. On Item 4, public comment, obviously, there's no one in the audience. Anyone online, if we know? I'll assume not. March 17, 2025 Page 6 Then we'll move on to Item 5, VAB members or staff comments. Is that where we are now? MS. COSBY: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. We'll start at that end. Any comments or anything for the good of the order? HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: No, thank you. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: No. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Ron? BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: No. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: No comment. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I don't have any as well. Then we'll move on to Item 6, adoption of Special Magistrate recommendations. MS. COSBY: Okay. I will advise for the record -- I will give you some stats. In 2022, we had 1,216 petitions filed. 2023, we had 1,299 petitions filed. For 2024, we had 593 filed. So we did a good job in getting our petition filings down. I don't think we had anything to do with it, actually. It's probably the Property Appraiser. But out of those 593 that were filed, 245 went to hearing, 348 were withdrawn, 804 parcels were heard. So that is actually an increase in parcels even though it is a decrease in petitions. There were 14 good-cause denials; two were voided. So at this time, what's in front of you are all of the petitions -- all of the recommended decisions for the petitions and parcels that were heard. I will also advise for the record that I have reviewed every single one of those. They are all sufficient and compliant with law. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: So you need a motion to -- MS. COSBY: To approve all of them. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- to approve all of the March 17, 2025 Page 7 hearings -- MS. COSBY: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: -- all the results that you just outlined? MS. COSBY: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Motion to approve. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a second. Any discussions? Any questions? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor, signify by saying aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. Item 7. MS. COSBY: Item 7 is the adoption of the certification of the Value Adjustment Board for tangible personal property. And you can find that in your agenda packet. Tangible, in the agenda packet, comes after -- for some reason it comes after -- in my mind, anyway, it comes after the real property. So I'm looking at Page 554, but I'm unsure if that's what you-all see. But I can tell you for the record that there is a zero net change in taxable value due to actions of the Board for tangible property. March 17, 2025 Page 8 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, all in favor signify by -- if there's no discussion on the adoption of the certification, all in favor, signify by saying aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And that passed unanimously. We move on to No. 8. MS. COSBY: Number 8 is the adoption of the certification of the Value Adjustment Board for real property, and that does have a net change in value, a net change in taxable value due to Board action of $17,363,512. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any questions? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then we need a motion. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Motion. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We have a motion, and we have a second to approve. All in favor, signify by saying aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Aye. March 17, 2025 Page 9 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: And that passed unanimously. Number 9. MS. COSBY: Number 9 is the adoption of the tax -- the notice of tax impact. For every VAB session, we are required to publish the notice of tax impact in the paper. So we have provided for you the DR-529 form, and what that shows, essentially, is an overview of how many petitions were filed, how many exemptions were filed, how many were granted, how many were requested. Same with assessments, any that were withdrawn or settled. It does finalize with a net change in taxable value that I read to you from the DR-488 form, and then it does show the actual final shift in taxes, and that number is two hundred sixty-six thousand, one hundred -- in this form it says 116. I think the program truncated for cents because the two numbers above it don't match. It -- if you add the two numbers above it, it should be 266,117, but I think something was detracted for cents. So if it was rounded down, the number's 266,116. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Then we need a motion on the adoption of the tax impact of the Value Adjustment Board. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Motion. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and a second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. March 17, 2025 Page 10 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. Number 10. MS. COSBY: We need a motion to permit myself to review the VAB website just ensure compliance and consistency. I do that periodically, because if I don't, the Department of Revenue does, and if they find something broken or a link problematic, they will reach out to VAB administration. So I try to keep on top of it so that you don't get those emails. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Then we need a motion on Item No. 10. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: So moved. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: We have a motion and second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passes unanimously. Number 11. MS. COSBY: We need to set the date for our 2025 organizational meeting. We have the proposed date of Monday, August 18th. And I will advise for the record that in the future we will be looking at Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays as March 17, 2025 Page 11 well, but right now, as far as boardroom availability, school start date, we try to be sensitive to all of those things. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Does that have to be in August? MS. COSBY: It should be. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. "Should" and "have to" are two different things. I'm just curious because a lot of people are on vacation in August. People are getting their kids in school, and everybody's sort of back in September, and that's -- I was just wondering if that's an alternative. There may not be -- HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: I'll be gone. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: You'll be gone in August? HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: August. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Yeah. Just a question. If we have to do it in August, we certainly can. MS. COSBY: We could do it in July. We could look at July dates. It's just going to be tight. But we do try to get it done before the TRIM notices are out and the deadline has hit, because we do have to start looking at good cause, and we have to have a good-cause designee assigned -- that's me -- to review good-cause late-filed items. And so it's helpful if we get it done in August because things really start ramping up. I mean, denial letters from the Property Appraiser are mailed around June 30th, so -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. MS. COSBY: -- you know, we start getting petitions as early as June. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. So we have one member that will not be able to be here in August. Is that going to create a problem? March 17, 2025 Page 12 MS. COSBY: It will not, because quorum is one commissioner, the school board member, and one citizen member. So as long as Ms. Rosenfeld or Mr. Kezeske can be here, and then our one commissioner and Mr. Carter can be here, then we will still have quorum. I mean, I prefer to have the whole board, absolutely. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Then we have the proposal of August 18th at 9 a.m. If there's no further discussion on that, we need a motion to set that date. MS. COSBY: We don't need a motion. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. MS. COSBY: Oh, well, it says "motion needed." I guess -- I mean -- CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Let's go ahead and make a motion. MS. COSBY: Sure. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Is that good with you, Ron? BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: I'll be here. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Okay. I second. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Okay. We have a motion and second to set the date, August 18th at 9 a.m. All in favor, signify by saying aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Aye. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All opposed? (No response.) March 17, 2025 Page 13 CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: That passed unanimously. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Mr. Chairman, can I just ask, can you guys get the notification out to us, like, right away so it goes in the calendar? Because sometimes it will come out, like, a month before, and if I don't -- I could put it in, but it's nice to have it from you guys right away -- MS. COSBY: I will definitely ask. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: -- so it's locked down and nothing gets scheduled over it. MS. COSBY: Absolutely, absolutely. BUSINESS MEMBER KEZESKE: Appreciate it. Thank you. MS. COSBY: Thank you. And I believe that there will be a Board of County Commission meeting between now and then to appoint the commissioners to the VAB, so we'll probably have a different -- I know, Mr. Saunders, you're always here, Commissioner. I really appreciate you being here. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I wouldn't miss this. MS. COSBY: I know you're always here, and we really appreciate you. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: He likes sitting next to me. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: I've only got -- after this year, I've only got three more years to be able to do this, so I wouldn't want to miss this. MS. COSBY: I appreciate that. Well, we know we can always count on you, but I know that we'll probably get a different commissioner appointed to the Board, so I'm looking forward to meeting them. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: All right. Anything else, Ms. Cosby? March 17, 2025 Page 14 MS. COSBY: I have nothing. CHAIRMAN SAUNDERS: Seeing none, then we are adjourned. ******* March 17, 2025 Page 15 There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 9:14 a.m. VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD ___________________________________ BURT SAUNDERS, VAB CHAIRMAN ATTEST ________________________________ CRYSTAL K. KINZEL, CLERK These minutes accepted by the Board on ____________, as presented ______________ or as corrected _____________. TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS COURT REPORTING SERVICES, INC., BY TERRI L. LEWIS, RPR, FPR, NOTARY PUBLIC/COURT REPORTER.