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VAB 2025 Final Minutes 03/30/2026 (Draft)March 30, 2026 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD Naples, Florida, March 30, 2026 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Value Adjustment Board, in and for the County of Collier, met on this date at 9:30 a.m., in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Chris Hall, County Commission Member Rebecca Earney, Homestead Citizen Member Erick Carter, School Board Member Jill Rosenfeld, Homestead Citizen Member Dan Barone, Business Citizen Member Burt Saunders, County Commissioner Member (Absent) COUNSEL TO THE BOARD Holly E. Cosby, Esq. THE PROPERTY APPRAISER'S OFFICE Jennifer Blaje Chris Delpo THE CLERK'S OFFICE Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller Derek Johnssen Marty Rustin March 30, 2026 Page 2 CHAIRMAN HALL: Good morning. Welcome to the VAB that I've never been to. What are we going to do first, Pledge of Allegiance, or you've got roll call and all that? MS. COSBY: Let's do the Pledge, please. CHAIRMAN HALL: Crystal, will you lead us in the Pledge. MS. KINZEL: Thank you. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) MS. COSBY: Commissioner, I'm Holly Cosby. CHAIRMAN HALL: Hi, Holly. MS. COSBY: I'm VAB Board counsel. If you'd like, if you want to run the agenda and then turn to me for commentary on each item, that would be fine, or if you'd like me to run it. It's up to -- CHAIRMAN HALL: Oh, you just tell me what to do. I'm used to it. MS. COSBY: Okay. Why don't you go ahead and run the agenda and turn to me for commentary on each point. Would that work? CHAIRMAN HALL: Sure. MS. COSBY: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: Have we got to do anything else as far as No. 1? MS. COSBY: Yes, sir. I will advise for the record that I have reviewed the Affidavit of Publication. I find it sufficient to proceed. If I could please ask our board to introduce themselves, starting with Ms. Earney, please. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Rebecca Earney, homestead. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Jill Rosenfeld, alternate homestead. CHAIRMAN HALL: Chris Hall, Commissioner, District 2. March 30, 2026 Page 3 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Erick Carter, school board. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: And Dan Barone, business. MS. COSBY: Okay. Thank you. And I'm Holly Cosby, Value Adjustment Board counsel. I am also joined here by Derek Johnssen who has a very important position, and I'm not sure what quite what is it. But he used to be VAB clerk, and now he's been elevated. And then we also have Marty Rustin who's here, and he's VAB administration. And we do have our Honorable Clerk of Court here as well, Crystal Kinzel. And also I will wish a Happy 250th Anniversary to Collier County [sic]. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Yay. MS. COSBY: Additionally, I am clerk designee, as is Mr. Johnssen. And we have a contact list for you to review. If I could ask all of the members to please look at that contact list and verify that your contact information is correct, I'd greatly appreciate it. Ms. Earney is signifying a nod. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Yes, it is. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Yes, it's correct. MS. COSBY: Ms. Rosenfeld says yes. Mr. Carter? Mr. Hall? CHAIRMAN HALL: Mine's correct. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Mine's correct as well. MS. COSBY: Mr. Barone? Everybody's information is correct. And welcome, Mr. Barone, to the Value Adjustment Board. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Thank you. MS. COSBY: And, finally, for the record, pursuant to Florida Statute 194.015, we do have quorum here today in the room, and we March 30, 2026 Page 4 are able to proceed with that. So we are moving on to Item 2. CHAIRMAN HALL: Great. That moves us to today's agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: So motioned. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: We have a motion and a second. All in favor, say aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: That one's in the books. Next is approval from the minutes of the August meeting. Can I get a motion to approve the minutes? SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Motion to approve. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: Motion and a second. All in favor, say aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: And updates from the Department of Revenue. MS. COSBY: Yes. Okay. Informational. I'll advise for the March 30, 2026 Page 5 record, under A(1)(a), we have a PTO Bulletin 25-119 [sic], which has to do with provisional forms. The Department of Revenue issued some provisional forms with regards to notices for hearing, and those are still being developed. They are made available to all Value Adjustment Boards. And then Item A(1)(b) with regards to the Department of Revenue Informational Bulletin, the Department of Revenue issued a set of questions that had to do with remote hearings, remote Value Adjustment Board hearings, and we were -- we as VAB counsel were asked to review those questions with VAB administration and/or the Board and answer those questions. I did so on behalf of Collier County. What I did was I responded, I provided my answers -- my proposed answers to VAB administration. They reviewed them, they provided additional commentary, and then I provided that information to the Department of Revenue on behalf of Collier County. And then I will also advise that from Pages 48 through 63 of your agenda are proposed rules. They're changes to 12D9 with regards to -- essentially with regards to having remote hearings. There is a very large push to move towards Zoom hearings. Initially, there was some growth on the remote hearing and now there's a very large push to move towards Zoom. I will be attending the rule workshop, which will be held tomorrow, and we'll be continuing to discuss with the Department of Revenue the issue of remote hearings. But my position on this, even though Collier County is a very robust county and I'm sure has the ability to have Zoom hearings, there are participants in the process that probably do not have access or the ability to use Zoom. So I've been fighting for those -- those participants in the -- or I've been fighting for that part of the procedure, I will say, to keep telephonic as an option just so that we're not abrupting [sic] anybody's due March 30, 2026 Page 6 process. So we continue to discuss those because it is a huge change from just having in-person hearings and potential telephonic hearings to going to in-person or remote being Zoom. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: And that would be the only way they would do it; that's what they're proposing? MS. COSBY: No. Well, initially that was what they wanted was they were -- they, the Department of Revenue, was standing on the pedestal of the legislation's intent was that we do Zoom. And, you know, my response, along with other -- other participants during those workshops, has always been telephonic needs to stay in the game because it is a necessary -- it's a necessary modality for some people. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: As well as in-person, though? MS. COSBY: Yes, ma'am. Oh, yes. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Okay. MS. COSBY: Yes, ma'am. The way I foresee this moving, if I'm going to be honest, is that a lot of VABs are going to basically have it offered as Zoom with the -- with -- if somebody wants telephonic or in-person, then they would request that. That's where I see this going. That's going to be like the Jetsons. We're going to see that in a few more years. But I see where this is probably going to get to where it's going to be Zoom specifically, and if somebody wants an in-person, they'll request that, or if they need telephonic, they'll request that. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Thank you. MS. COSBY: You're welcome. CHAIRMAN HALL: So Burt could have been here. Burt could have been here on Zoom. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Right. See? March 30, 2026 Page 7 MS. COSBY: No, not this -- not this meeting. These are for the hearings. This meeting, we all have to be here. Moving on to 3B, Value Adjustment Board compliance checklist. We have the checklist on Pages 68 -- I'm sorry -- 65 through 128. I will advise that there were three items during the organizational meeting that we could not complete. One of those was that I had not taken or completed the Department of Revenue training or passed the exam, and that's because it wasn't available at the time; and that the magistrates had not taken the training because it had just been released, and they wouldn't have had time; and the notices to municipalities had not been issued yet because we had not held hearings yet to notify the CEOs of those municipalities; however, as the VAB process progressed this year, we made sure that all of those items were satisfied. All magistrates did take the training before hearing hearings, administration did provide notices to the municipality as required, and I took the training and passed the exam, and I will proudly report that I got a 100. So I didn't even miss one question this year. I made you-all proud. Also, welcoming Mr. Barone to the VAB, Pages 68 to 73 includes a new compliance packet for Mr. Barone. I just double-checked and made sure that he fit the qualifications for citizen member appointed by school board, which he did, and I provided that documentation. And, no -- no slight to you, Mr. Barone. I do this for every member every year, and it has to do with the fact that a couple of my VABs over the years have been audited, not on purpose. It's a -- it's a very -- MR. JOHNSSEN: Random. MS. COSBY: Random, thank you. It's a random audit pulled. Every five, seven years the Auditor General's Office audits VABs, March 30, 2026 Page 8 and I've been through two of them. And what they like to see is the documentation being documented. So everything that we get we have a checklist for, essentially. CHAIRMAN HALL: So you're randomly legitimate. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Right. MS. COSBY: Yeah, you're randomly legit. Absolutely. So this is everything that I have for B. And then we're looking at Item C, additional updates. We have a magistrate, Mr. Jonas -- Mr. Jonas, Mike Jonas. He -- when he came in, his contract signified that we worked with Carlson Norris, and Carlson Norris merged with BBG Real Estate Services. We needed to true up that in the contract so that accounting could continue to pay his invoices and so everything that matched. So you have an assumption agreement in your packet. I'm just advising that this was signed, and we need to ensure that we have Board approval of this in retroactive. So I -- while it does not say "motion needed," I would request that the Board have a motion -- pass a motion to accept Mr. Jonas continuing with his new company. CHAIRMAN HALL: I'll move to approve. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All in favor, say aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: He made it. MS. COSBY: Thank you. March 30, 2026 Page 9 Lastly, C2, VAB counsel informational item. So I will advise that on 142 through 144, you will see that my contract is renewed for another year. It is my last renewal. After that, we'll be up for discussion of either retaining me again or other counsel. But I will be here for 2026 VAB session. I am providing for you Pages 145 through 184 for transparency purposes, and I'll explain as fast as I can. I've been representing the Lee County Value Adjustment Board since 2008. I own property in Lee County; I'm a property owner. I've never filed a VAB petition. This year I decided to file a VAB petition. I actually filed three. I filed one on my homestead to increase the value. Not moving anytime soon; just I don't think my value is just. And then I applied for two petitions for residential -- commercial property that I own. I joke and say "my commercial property." My rental property supports my law habit. But I applied on two properties that I own that are rental property. And the process works like when you file a petition, the Property Appraiser often provides an informal conference to the taxpayer to try to work that out before going to hearing. I had asked for that three different times; for all three petitions, I had asked for an informal conference, and I did not receive one. Actually, what happened instead was the Property Appraiser wrote to -- or had his -- had an attorney, Lauren Levy, issue a very long opinion, which you have in your packet, stating that I -- what I did was a conflict of interest. I will advise it was not. I was not representing a taxpayer, quote-unquote. I was representing myself. I filed my own petitions on my own properties. I am a taxpayer, and taxpayers have taxpayer rights. And I will also say if I had allowed those petitions to go through March 30, 2026 Page 10 the entire process, which was not my intention -- my intention was to have an informal conference with the Property Appraiser and either they see it my way and I get a little bit of a change, or I see it their way and I withdraw. If I had allowed them to go to hearing -- my contract, which is on Page 176 and 177, has the conflict resolution part of my contract -- my contract in Lee County states that I have to hire another attorney to handle anything when I have a conflict of interest. So there's something in place to even resolve that conflict at that time; however, after learning that I wasn't going to be receiving an informal conference from the Property Appraiser's Office, I went ahead and I withdrew my petitions. It's not worth it. I like my job -- I love my job as VAB counsel, and I didn't want to create any waves, so I withdrew those petitions. However, what the Clerk of Court in Lee County has decided to do is disseminate this information to all of my VAB clients, at least the clerks of court in all of the counties that I represent -- because I'm in six counties. And so I am embarrassed by this. You can see on Page 145, when I reach out to our commissioners in Lee County to discuss this it with them, the first statement is, "I am embarrassed that this continues." I'm embarrassed that I have to come before every board now and expose this and say, I didn't have a -- I didn't have a conflict; however, I'm being dragged into politics, and unfortunately, I have to expose the situation now. So that's what I'm doing is I'm exposing this. I will advise for the record that I didn't have a conflict of interest. I wasn't representing an outside taxpayer. I was filing petitions on my own properties. I will also advise this would never happen in Collier County because I don't own property here, and I never intend to file a petition on behalf of anybody. March 30, 2026 Page 11 But I did want to make sure that I was transparent about it and that I give the Board an opportunity to ask any questions with regards to this. And just know that I've done this in every final meeting for every VAB client. I just talked to Nassau County in Hernando a week and a half ago, and when we closed in Hendry a couple months ago, I brought it up to them. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: I don't have an issue with it, but I don't think you should be embarrassed. I think they should be embarrassed for not giving you your day, because at the end of the day, you're still a citizen and you're still a taxpayer in Lee County, so... MS. COSBY: I appreciate that. Thank you. Does the Board have any questions or concerns? Because if you do, I would respect that and answer any of your questions. CHAIRMAN HALL: No, not at all, Holly. With all of that information and $2.50, you can still get a coffee at Starbucks. MS. COSBY: Thank you. I appreciate that. I apologize for taking the Board's time on that issue, but again, transparency is really important to me. So with that, we can close Item 3. CHAIRMAN HALL: Any public comments? MS. COSBY: I believe we do. So if you wouldn't mind, if I'll please the Board, I'd like to read a public comment statement, and I believe this is Mr. Gary Price. MR. PRICE: Yes. MS. COSBY: So I will read this statement, and what I have to say is the Value Adjustment Board policy provides the opportunity at this point in the meeting to address the Board concerning any matter on this agenda or concerning the Collier County Value Adjustment Board process. The Board will not consider subject matter of any public March 30, 2026 Page 12 comment which is provided with the intention of appealing any portion of any special magistrate recommendation or Value Adjustment Board final decision. As pursuant to Florida Statute 194.036, the appropriate relief at this time would be through Circuit Court. The maximum time allotted per speaker is three minutes. If there are any -- I don't know. Do you have guidelines for the public comment in the room? CHAIRMAN HALL: Three minutes is my understanding. MS. COSBY: Okay. Then that would be it. The maximum time allotted per speaker is three minutes, and I will go ahead and tender the floor to Mr. Price. CHAIRMAN HALL: On you mark, get set, go. MR. PRICE: All right. I'll be quick. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board. My name's Gary Price, and I appear before you today as the authorized agent for two properties, 210 Bay Point and 3760 Fort Charles Drive. I participated in the Value Adjustment Board hearing on December 4th, 2025, and would like to respectfully raise several concerns before these two petitions are approved today. It's important to note that Marty Rustin, who I just met today and feel like I know him forever, has been -- in the Clerk's Office, obviously. He's been a consummate professional, and he did a fantastic job assisting me in this process. I asked for and received permission to record our hearing, and I'm happy to provide all of that, along with the transcript of the proceedings. My request: I'm requesting that these two properties be removed from today's list of the approved items and that I will be given the opportunity to work directly with staff to properly submit all relevant data, review the hearing record, and assure the correct March 30, 2026 Page 13 comparables are on the tax record for 2024. I'll be happy with any conclusion we reach through the process. I just want to make sure that we're working from the -- with a full picture. Prior to the hearing, I submitted complete documentations for both properties at the time of my initial filing before the deadline and again days leading up to the December 4th hearing specifically to confirm that everything had been received. When I arrived, I watched the petitioner immediately before me be told that none of his documentation had been received despite his testimony that he had submitted everything. And then when my case was called, the same thing happened to me. I was informed that my submissions had not been received, and as a result, I was not permitted to introduce any of my supporting evidence into the hearing. What that meant in practice was this: The hearing proceeded with only one side of the story. The Property Appraiser's Office presented its case and its data. I had nothing on the record to respond with. The Value Adjustment Board hearing is supposed to be a place where the public has a meaningful opportunity to present their position including, in my opinion, any new information that may have developed since their initial submission. None of that was available to me. We only heard one side. During the 210 Bay Point hearing, the Appraiser's Office relied on comparable sales from 2025, the year following the tax year, to support evaluation of Tax Year 2024. I challenged that directly. My question was simple: If we're trying to determine what a property was worth in 2024, how can we use sales that hadn't even occurred yet? Their response was that they are permitted to use whatever comparables they deem appropriate, including those from the March 30, 2026 Page 14 following year. I respectfully submit that this is a real problem. The 2025 sale cannot reflect 2024 market conditions. It may reflect a rising market, a declining one, or circumstances entirely related to the valuation period in question. Using forward-looking data to establish a prior year's value undermines the integrity of this process. I'd also like to note a concern about the report submitted by the Collier County Appraiser's Office in connection with my hearing, and this document had the same case number as mine, but it was in a separate attachment that included a report that was approximately 38 pages of court documents, commercial comparables, lawsuits, and supporting materials for a property I don't even recognize. I have no idea where that property is located or what it has to do with my petitions. In closing, I'm not here to be adversarial. I'm here because I believe the process matters for property owners for the Appraiser's Office and the credibility of this board. My ask is simple: Allow me to go back, work with the Property Appraiser's Office, submit my documentation properly, and have a fair hearing where both sides are represented. I'll accept whatever decision or results come from that process. We're only getting half the story right now. I'd like the chance to tell the other half. Thank you for your time and consideration. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thank you, Mr. Price. Any comments from the Board? SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Yeah. So, Holly, help me understand this. And so Mr. Price's information did not get to the proper channels even though he emailed it? So -- MS. COSBY: We are not part of that process. We, the VAB, are not part of that process. That happens between the Property Appraiser and the petitioner. March 30, 2026 Page 15 What I can tell you that I have done -- because it was -- this was brought to my attention beforehand. But I only did this for one petition, so I'm going to be looking at Petition 607, 2025-607. I listened to the entire 19-minute audio for that hearing, and what it -- what I heard was that the petitioner had advised that they submitted some information. The Property Appraisers stated that they did not receive it. There wasn't any proof provided by the petitioner, "Yes, I did provide this information to you. Here's the proof." So at that time, the Special Magistrate would not accept the petitioner's evidence, because what has to happen is 15 days before a hearing, petitioner and Property Appraiser must exchange evidence, and independent of each other. It's a new process. It used to be petitioner provides and then asks for, and then Proper Appraiser receives and then provides back. It doesn't work that way anymore. It's a simultaneous process. There's no triggers on one end or the other. Property Appraiser objected to the petitioner evidence. Petitioner at that time did not submit any proof that they had provided their evidence to the Property Appraiser as required by law. So the Special Magistrate did not allow the petitioner to present their evidence during the hearing. I believe the hearing was on -- was it December 3rd, or was it December 4th? I think the hearing was on December 4th, but the petitioner provided their evidence to VAB administration on December 3rd. So VAB administration did place petitioner's evidence in Axia, but it is the Special Magistrate's responsibility to decide whether that evidence is admissible. And I will tell you that a petitioner providing any evidence to VAB administration at any time during the process does not make March 30, 2026 Page 16 that evidence admissible. It has to be given directly to the Property Appraiser's Office, and it seemed like that did not happen is what was -- what was -- what transpired during the hearing. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: So when the petitioner got -- got to the -- to the hearing, at that point the petitioner has to prove to the -- to the Board that he or she provided that information. MS. COSBY: To the Property Appraiser. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: But they wouldn't have known at that point during the hearing that they didn't get the information, so they would not have been prepared to provide that. MS. COSBY: That is, again, a process that's outside of VAB administration. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Right, right. MS. COSBY: That's something that they need to verify between the Property Appraiser and the petitioner. And I will tell you this: When I submit -- whenever I submit evidence, I always say, "Please confirm you have received," right? That could have been a very simple way to do that. But the petitioner didn't arrive with any information at the hearing showing, "Yes, you did receive my evidence." But I will say that when I did hear the -- when I was listening to the -- when I was listening to the audio, the evidence exchange process was explained to the petitioner, and he -- they -- the person on the record -- I couldn't see. It was just a -- I don't know if it was Mr. Price or somebody else in the hearing, but I could hear that the person that was being explained that information to understood, said, "Okay, fair enough." That was their response, "Okay, fair enough." There was no argument, "Yes, I did provide it to them. I provided it to them on this date." There was no argument of it. It was just, "This is the process." March 30, 2026 Page 17 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Okay. MS. COSBY: "This is how you get your information in." And my -- and I also did listen and heard that even though the Property Appraiser provided their evidence, petitioner was entitled to provide testimony even if it was against Property Appraiser evidence or anything. They were -- they were allowed to give testimony during that hearing, and I believe that they spoke up on a few issues very briefly. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: So, I mean, the concern I have is I want to make sure that every citizen can get their voice heard -- MS. COSBY: Absolutely. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: -- as I think we all want that as well, right? So -- I just knocked the phone off. Does that mean the cops are coming to get me, Chris? So that's my concern. So the petitioner, I would think, going into it would assume that they had the material, would not have brought forth the proof, perhaps. I mean, I don't know. I don't know how the process works. But what can we do as a Board -- so, per se, could we give them another bite at the apple -- MS. COSBY: No. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: -- if they can prove that they -- that they did send -- send the information? MS. COSBY: No. At the time -- the proving of anything is at the time of the hearing. And a petitioner, Property Appraiser, they both need to come to those hearings prepared. So no, we would not be giving a second bite of the apple at that time. They would -- it would be the party's responsibility to address that at that time. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Okay. March 30, 2026 Page 18 MS. COSBY: And I will say that there was nothing provided that I have here -- there's nothing that's been provided to my office for VAB administration from the petitioner's side for Petition 607 that says, "I did provide my evidence to the Property Appraiser's Office. Here is proof of that." Like, I don't -- I haven't seen that. I haven't seen it. It's not part of the petition record. It hasn't been done. It wasn't argued -- SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Okay. MS. COSBY: -- prior to, or right after the hearing, even. I didn't hear that issue. It wasn't provided to me. I don't believe it was provided to VAB administration. So I would say that if there was a question of whether or not there was evidence exchanged and an argument that, "Yes, I did provide that evidence prior to this hearing," the Magistrate does have the right to stop that hearing and call my office and say, "You know, I have an issue here. A petitioner say's they provided their evidence to the Property Appraiser. The Property Appraiser's saying they don't have it." They would call my office, and we would -- we would -- we would address it at that time if it was really of that contention, or if the petitioner really did provide that evidence and wasn't able to provide it at the time of the hearing, they should reach out to VAB administration and say, "I did provide that to the Property Appraiser. Here's proof." And certainly that should have and could have happened around December 4th or 5th or 6th but not on March 30th of the following year. You know, we're -- no, there's no second bite of the apple. I would not recommend that because we would have to suspend everything for two hearings where potentially the petitioner did not exchange the way they should have. There's no proof that they had. There is uploaded evidence in Axia, so anything that VAB March 30, 2026 Page 19 administration did receive from the petitioner the day before the hearing was uploaded into the Axia record. That -- that -- that evidence was available. It just wasn't admissible. I mean, we have to follow the rules and the laws. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Okay. So does the petitioner have any repercussion? Can they go to a different hearing with this or anything at this point? MS. COSBY: They can file in Circuit Court. They can file their matter in Circuit Court within 60 days. CHAIRMAN HALL: Next year. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Or next year. MS. COSBY: Well, next year's going to be next year's values. We only -- we only -- we review this year's on this year's only. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: So the petitioner also said that they looked forward -- for the '24, they looked forward to the '25 taxes. Is that -- is that normal in this circumstances? MS. COSBY: Sometimes. I can't tell you whether or not that's admissible either. That's a magistrate call, but -- and magistrates are appraisers, okay? So they're going to be the ones that have more experience in things like trend. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: I see. MS. COSBY: But if the hearing -- the hearing was held in December, so certainly we weren't hearing that there was a sale in 2026. But sometimes -- sales early in 2025, sometimes I've seen magistrates accept those sales as showing a trend, but I can't tell you whether or not that -- that's not a regular course of action for me, not for me to see. Typically they look -- they look at the year in review, which for 2025 the year in review was 2024. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: Any other comments? (No response.) March 30, 2026 Page 20 CHAIRMAN HALL: Well, everything within me wants to treat others like I want to be treated. And if -- if, IF -- and I say with a capital I and a capital F. If I submitted evidence and it was ignored or not acknowledged, I'd be pissed, and I would want the process to work for me. So what you're saying basically, Ms. Cosby, is we -- even if we wanted to allow that, you wouldn't advise -- our hands are kind of tied? MS. COSBY: I would advise -- I would advise against it because not only are you making a decision based on what one side is saying, we haven't heard the Property Appraiser's side. CHAIRMAN HALL: No, I understand. So I'm just -- MS. COSBY: You know, that's why I would -- that's why we say we're not going to be -- we're not going to be reconsidering anything that has to do with the -- you know, the Magistrate recommendation. But, you know, I don't -- I don't want to make any inappropriate comments, but I don't find that the Property Appraiser's Office receives evidence and says that they haven't. CHAIRMAN HALL: Yeah. MS. COSBY: You know what I'm saying? You know, vice versa. But they also -- he proved that, you know, they've sent it. CHAIRMAN HALL: I get it. I get it. You know, I, myself, being victim of the property tax Nazis in Texas, it sticks in my craw a little bit. Mr. Price, thank you for coming. Appreciate what you had to say, and I hope you understand our position. MR. PRICE: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN HALL: Thank you. MS. COSBY: And also, please know we do try to run a pretty tight ship, but unfortunately, there are certain situations -- like, VAB administration doesn't police the evidence exchange process. March 30, 2026 Page 21 So I would say, just moving forward, you know, if you have provided that evidence to the Property Appraiser more than 15 days -- or 15 days prior to the hearing, keep proof of that, and then -- and ask them to confirm that they've received it. And then if you have that, bring that to hearing, and then there's zero question. And that magistrate, then, can call me, and say, "You know, I have this situation" -- if they have a question, "I have this situation. Property Appraiser says they didn't get the evidence, but, you know, clearly it's been confirmed as received. I'm going to move forward." To me, that would be admissible, that evidence; that would be admissible if you have a receipt showing confirmation. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Thank you for that. Members or staff comments? HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: None. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: No comments. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Moving on to the adoption of the recommendations. MS. COSBY: Okay. I will advise for the record that I have reviewed every single recommendation. All are sufficient and compliant with law. And if you want some stats, we had 593 filed -- in 2024, we had 593 petitions with 240 going to hearing with 804 parcels. This year we had 690 filed involving 902 parcels. One hundred and fifty recommended decisions are in front of you today with 365 parcels. We do need a motion to approve all of that. CHAIRMAN HALL: Do we need a motion for every one of those bullets or just one motion to cover them all? MS. COSBY: One motion to cover everything. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Can I get a motion to approve the recommendations? SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Motion to approve. March 30, 2026 Page 22 HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: Motion and second. All in favor, say aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: That passes unanimously. Commissioner Kowal says, "Same sound, same sign." Commissioner McDaniel says, "Same sign, same sound." MS. COSBY: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: Just for your information. All right. Adoption of the certification of the Value Adjustment Board, No. 7. MS. COSBY: You have the real property certification in front of you. I will advise for the record that there is a change in value in the amount of $3,206,633 as a result of Board action. CHAIRMAN HALL: Motion to approve? SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Motion. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: Motion made, seconded. All in favor, say aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? (No response.) March 30, 2026 Page 23 CHAIRMAN HALL: That one's passed. Moving on to No. 8, tangible personal. MS. COSBY: Okay. Same type of certification except for tangible property. And I will advise for the record that as a result of Board action, there is a zero net change in taxable value. CHAIRMAN HALL: With that, I'll move to approve it. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All in favor, say aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: Number 10 [sic]. MS. COSBY: Okay. Adoption of the tax impact of Value Adjustment Board, which is our DR-529 form. This shows the statistics for our Value Adjustment Board session. So at the end, you will see on the bottom row that change in net value that I read from the real property, DR-488, the $3,206,633, is reflected there with a shift in taxes. Total of $51,840 as a result of Board action. And then you can see all the different types of petitions that were filed. We need to run this -- we'll publish this in the paper once our session is concluded. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Motion needed. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Motion to accept. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All in favor, say aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. March 30, 2026 Page 24 HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? (No response.) MS. COSBY: Oh, website. We'll publish. I apologize. It will be published on our electronic website that is now the same as publishing in the paper. CHAIRMAN HALL: Good. We don't have to spend the -- spend the money to the Naples Daily News. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: That's great. MS. COSBY: We do not. The Clerk of Court has a fabulous -- a fabulous site in place, fabulous. It saves lots of money. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. The VAB counsel to review the VAB website. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Motion to approve. CHAIRMAN HALL: Seconded. All in favor, say. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN HALL: Passes. MS. COSBY: Okay. Last item. CHAIRMAN HALL: All right. Which date do we want to do? MS. COSBY: I will state, I looked this up -- and I do it every year in fairness to our school board member. The first day school is August 11th in Collier County, so I sense that you might not want March 30, 2026 Page 25 August 10th and that you would be leaning towards August 17th, but whatever pleases the Board. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: August 10th is fine with me. MS. COSBY: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: Well, August the 10th is staff meetings for the next BCC meeting, so August the 17th, there's nothing on our calendar. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: All right. We can do that. MS. COSBY: Does that work for everyone else? CHAIRMAN HALL: Is that fine with everybody? HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Yes. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Yes. MS. COSBY: Okay. CHAIRMAN HALL: So I move to approve for the next date being August the 17th, 2026. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Second. CHAIRMAN HALL: All in favor, say aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER EARNEY: Aye. HOMESTEAD MEMBER ROSENFELD: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: Aye. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Aye. BUSINESS MEMBER BARONE: Aye. CHAIRMAN HALL: That passes. With that, my first VAB meeting as Chair is adjourned. MS. COSBY: Congratulations. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CARTER: Good job, Chris. ***** March 30, 2026 Page 26 There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 10:06 a.m. ___________________________________ CHRIS HALL, 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.