Delays by the state government, a confusing and vague contract with an inexperienced contractor, and questionable data management by previous Lucas County Auditor Anita Lopez contributed to the problems the current auditor, Katie Moline, experienced in conducting the 2024 property revaluation.That was the conclusion of a report created by John D. Cleminshaw, who has extensive experience in property revaluation processes and procedures. The report was commissioned by the auditor’s office in the wake of a number of issues that arose during the revaluation.The report notes that when Ms. Moline took office in February, 2024, the revaluation process was already behind schedule. The former auditor did not sign a contract with a vendor to conduct a mass appraisal until five months before the two-year project had to be completed. According to the report, Ms. Lopez did not start the valuation in a timely way, and work was not done by the auditor’s staff.The state government also comes in for criticism in the Cleminshaw report for its sluggish responses to the auditor’s preliminary submissions. The state only signed off on the auditor’s “tentative abstract” of county property valuations on September 9, 2024, leaving less than two months for community feedback and a determination of the final real estate values.The contract Ms. Lopez signed with Data Cloud Solutions to perform a mass appraisal came under particular criticism in the report. The contract was an addendum to an existing contract and was not put out for bid. The company chosen to perform the mass appraisal allegedly lacked experience, which led to improper reporting to the Lucas County auditor and to the state.
Mr. Cleminshaw’s report nevertheless concludes that the 2024 valuation was “adequate.”
“[I] is important to point out that it is not uncommon for a County to have to submit tentative values to the [Department of Taxation and Equalization] more than once before the DTE sanctions a given Reappraisal,” the report said. “However, the fact that the Reappraisal achieved the bare minimum of approval from the DTE should not be construed as an endorsement or certification of an admirable job that was well done.”Ms. Lopez said on Friday that she had worked with Daniel Anderson, the principal behind Data Cloud Solutions, since 2009 and never had any problems with him. She added that Mr. Anderson’s company was an approved vendor by the DTE. She also pointed out that the staff she had hired was still in place when Ms. Moline became the auditor…