…in our world, no less. A brand-new LiveJournal weblog exists to document Loudoun County Tax Assessor Todd Kaufman’s brave battle against the dark forces of First Amendment defenders. You could say that it’s lame and testy and more than just a little bit tetched, but it ain’t easy to compete in this arena. And while it may not be the better part of valor to come into a duel of wits half-cocked, I think Todd and/or his brother-in-law deserve credit for not just whimpering in the corner. It’s a matter of principle, dammit!, even if, like Todd and his anonymous defender, you have the principle ass-backwards.
Seriously: Whoever truly loves Mr. Kaufman should consider having a little chat with him. It’s not rare for a boneheaded political hack to stuff his foot into his mouth, but a true friend would try to help him find a way to stop chewing.
Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing
concerned citizen says:
Does not Mr. Kaufman have the First Amendment right to complain to the Realtor board? And does not the Realtor board have the duty to investigate whether there are false facts published? And truth will out? Is this not how free speech is supposed to work?
The price for Mr. Kaufman exercising his rights, even if misguided, should not be ridicule and exposure of personal information. It comes across not so much as openness as exposure for further personal attack by others by way of letters to his home, phone calls and the like. It also distracts from the issue, which is, I think, whether any false information was published to consumers.
Arguments pro and con in this matter should be couched in terms of truth or falsity of the blogger’s work, not whether Mr. Kaufman is a horse’s ass for making a complaint. The argument in defense of open and disagreeable speech as a way to truth concerns itself with First Amendment ideals; the argument that Mr. Kaufman is an ass for protesting is not an argument at all and concerns itself with the suppression of disagreeable speech or speech from individuals deemed unworthy of a voice by virtue of their profession. If Mr. Kaufman is a county appraiser he is at least closer to the actual facts in the office records and may have a basis for his complaint. A citizen concerned for truth should give him, at minimum, an opportunity to speak without shouting him down. A greater service to this blogger would be to encourage Mr. Kaufman to come forward with his facts so that he be exposed as wrong. This would be a true service to the First Amendment and to the humanity of Mr. Kaufman.
I do not know whether this blogger published false information but for argument’s sake IF it was false, is this protected by the First Amendment?
And if it is false, the Realtor board would arguably be acting for the public benefit to have it removed. A Realtor blog is used for marketing and if a member of a Realtor organization publishes false information, doesn’t the Realtor organization have the duty to act against the member under their code of ethics? The Realtor organization acting under its code of ethics cannot be said to be the government acting to suppress speech.
But I wonder, is not the Realtor organization, as a private company, exempt from the First Amendment, which applies to governments? Do you know the answer to this?
I apologize for this rather long comment but I think matters of free speech require a bit more consideration.
January 6, 2008 — 1:09 am
Cathleen Collins says:
I just commented on the Friend-of-Todd-Kaufman blog, to correct the inaccuracies of his posts. My comment showed up for about three minutes, then disappeared. I guess this blog newby didn’t realize that he had set up his blog so that people could comment. As soon as he realized that he had left the site open to a voice other than his own he turned off comments, and viola, my clarification on points that he had wrong was gone. Guess those fellows are really, really afraid of truth. They much prefer farming mushrooms.
January 6, 2008 — 1:11 am
Jeff Brown says:
Just when you think it can’t possibly get any better, it does. Bloodhound should set up a special spot for those who wish to comment on what’s being said on the Friend-of-Todd-Kaufman blog.
That would no doubt not only prove interesting, but up the ante. 🙂
January 6, 2008 — 1:53 am
Eric Blackwell says:
@ Cathleen–“Farming mushroons”– Thanks you made me smile this morning with that. I haven’t looked to see if that’s a post from the past here…but if not, it sure ought to be in the future…well said.
@ Todd- if you are reading this PLEASE go download the Cluetrain Manifesto…good reading…#1- Markets are conversations….This can all be stopped with a simple phone call and a “hey, let’s work this out..” to a REALTOR / blogger. I told you before that you should do this and I know you or someone from your office read it…please take me up on that and try to work this out the easy(er) way. Honest to pete, I was giving you my best advice there…
It is better for a public official to have disagreements with citizens offline and try to work them out than online. You don’t see Rudy or Mitt or Hillary or Barak swapping paint and bumping fenders with a local chamber of commerce member from New Hampshure on TV and in the media, do you Todd? You are doing just that. If you were my client right now, I’d be giving you an earful and with good reason…Instead of working it out privately and making it go away, you have grabbed a soap box and a microphone and turned the volume on the mic up to 10…not good IMO.
While (like Jeff’s comments above) this AMAZING and at some level hilarious that it is dragging on so long…it is sad in a way too. Like Brian posted — mutually assured destruction..and needless at that.
January 6, 2008 — 6:38 am
Jay Thompson says:
Sigh. The writer of the Loudoun county blog left their link on my blog (anonymously, of course). I went, I read, I saw the posts riddled with inaccuracies and I left.
As that time I could have commented if I had a LiveJournal account. Now as Cathy points out, NO ONE can comment.
I left my response to Mr. Anonymous in my blog comments. But in case he’s reading here and not there, I’d like to ask him to stop leaving comments on my blog with nothing more than the URL to his “blog”. I don’t tolerate spam well.
January 6, 2008 — 9:40 am
Bruce Hahn says:
I agree with concerned citizen on the free speech arguements. However, as a fairly senior public official, a more measured response from Mr. Kaufman would have been both more appropriate and far more effective. There was no need for Mr. Kaufman to go after his accuser so aggressively. He could have simply backed up his assertions regarding accuracy of current assessment data with recent same-home assessment and selling price statistics that prove his claims.
An experienced real estate broker or agent is likely to have pretty good current first hand knowlege of accuracy of local assessments in his/her area. The aggressiveness of Mr. Kaufman’s response combined with his failure to provide any data that would validate the accuracy of county assessments certainly raises suspicions. Most state and local governments are under strong budget pressure, in part because of falling property tax revenues, so this undubtedly creates pressure on local tax assessors.
We are trying to find out the truth. We’ve requested 2006 and 2007 Loudoun county home sales data and same home assessment figures from Mr. Kaufman. We’ll analyze the results and share them with everybody. If he’s not willing to share that data it will tell us something as well.
January 6, 2008 — 10:37 am
Brian Brady says:
Bruce:
Property taxes, in Virginia, are determined by the assessed valuation X (mils rate). If the values drop, the mils rate rises.
Danilo’s conclusion was incorrect and Mr. Kaufman had a legitimate beef to raise. However, instead of addressing the issue like a professional, he tried the bully bureaucrat tactics that so much of this country hates.
January 6, 2008 — 1:21 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Todd may have released the hounds, but in a whole different way than is currently observable.
True enough, as Brian has pointed out, the tax rate rises when values drop. One wonders how the homeowner public might react when they figure out the ‘house’ has rigged the game against them?
There may be another much larger iceberg on the horizon for the assessor’s office when this info hits the fan.
January 6, 2008 — 1:30 pm
Thomas Johnson says:
Property taxes, in Virginia, are determined by the assessed valuation X (mils rate). If the values drop, the mils rate rises.
@Brian: If the mils rate rises, Todd Kaufman, LoCo Tax Assessor’s elected masters cannot face the electorate this year with the “I didn’t raise your taxes” speech. There must be some statutory limitations to the application of mils rate, otherwise why would Todd KAufman even have a job? The government could set the budget, pick a number for the tax base, and solve for x=mils rate. I bet that Todd Kaufman’s masters budgeted to an expected assesment amd mils rate and are finding that the values aren’t there and they may be bumping up against a statutory limitation on raising the mils rate without a referendum or vote.
That is what is happening here in TX- We are at the limits without a vote from the taxpayers. Todd Kaufman’s strenuous attempt at stifling his over-assessments in LoCo, indicates to me that he is valuing to a budget/mil rate and not to the market as it is. I imagine that there is a VA statute that requires Todd Kaufman, LoCo Tax Assessor’s appraisals be at market value and not a number that hits a budget. Like most everything that is outrageous from government, follow the money and the answer becomes clear. Maybe a VA blogger can set me straight on the property taxation statutes, but I cannot imagine that the elected officials have unlimited capacity to raise the mil rate. If I am correct, then Danilo’s basic point is valid because if Todd Kaufman is 30% over-appraising property and the annual mil rate increase is capped at some number less than 30%, then the citizens of Loudoun County are indeed getting hosed.
January 7, 2008 — 12:32 am
Brian Brady says:
“I bet that Todd Kaufman’s masters budgeted to an expected assessment and mils rate and are finding that the values aren’t there and they may be bumping up against a statutory limitation on raising the mils rate without a referendum or vote.”
THAT would be the story. At present, it’s conjecture but if you’re correct, Danilo would not only be correct, he’d have scooped everybody and outed insidious dealings on the County Assessor’s office.
January 7, 2008 — 8:00 am
Thomas Johnson says:
If there is a mils rate limitation, we will not hear from Todd Kaufman, Loudoun County Tax Assessor or his sock puppets, CC or LoCo resident, because the firestorm he tried to stifle will be made very public.
I cannot imagine that the Loudoun County government has unlimited power to raise the mils rate. If this is so, what’s to stop a mils rate of 1000 (100% in English) effectively allowing the government confiscate the property by effectively removing all private property rights? Brian, which of your lenders would lend into a situation where the government could render all value to itself? Once we determine what the limitations are, simple math will expose Todd Kaufman, Loudoun County Tax Assessor’s motivation.
January 7, 2008 — 11:10 am
Brian Brady says:
“I cannot imagine that the Loudoun County government has unlimited power to raise the mils rate”
I think Danilo may have stumbled into something. I just called a buddy of mine who is an attorney in Fairfax; the Assessor’s office has nothing to do with setting the tax rate. That begs this question:
what does Mr. Kaufman care about valuations, up or down? That’s been the whole issue I’ve had. Why would he care?
Danilo, you’re conclusion may have been correct (I don’t know, yet)
January 7, 2008 — 2:13 pm
Thomas Johnson says:
Todd Kaufman LoCo Tax Assessor’s (any county tax assessor for that matter), continued employment hangs on his ability to run cover for the politicians who have to face the wrath of the voters every time they crank the tax rate. As long as the appraisals go up, the politicians have the cover they need to spend more money. Apparently there is a VA statute that requires tax appraisals at 100% of market value. Perhaps Todd Kaufman just got caught violating the statute by over valuing the tax base. After all, 100% is not 70% or 130%. Having been sued by a Chief Appraiser for winning a tax appraisal appeal, (go to http://www.Maximstench.com for the sordid story) I can attest that local governments are under tremendous pressure to keep the tax base growing at a rate that just happens to match the rates of spending growth that the elected officials have set.
January 7, 2008 — 3:04 pm