Citizen Journalist: My case against the County Assessor

by Mike Martin

March 21,2008

During my first eight years in Columbia, I was a complacent constituent.

I wrote occasional letters to the editor; donated small sums to worthy causes and restored houses in rough neighborhoods.

Three years ago, I ran a lukewarm school board campaign that mostly praised the status quo. My children in public school were happy, and so was I. After finishing in third place, I thought politics was over for me.

But then I opened a tax reassessment from the Boone County assessor, and it became clearmy life as a complacent constituent that was over.

"Better start saving"
When my wife and I had earlier reported the sale price of our 100-year-old home on the assessor's so-called "certificate of value," we thought we were doing the right and lawful thing.

"As part of our continual effort to maintain fair and accurate appraisals…recent transaction information is crucial," County Assessor Tom Schauwecker wrote in a letter about the certificate. "Your assistance will enable us to ensure that all taxpayers are treated fairly."

But that's exactly what didn't happen. Schauwecker hiked our property tax bill by 92.5 percent, leaving virtually everyone around us just shy of 15 percent, the maximum increase legally allowed without an assessor visit to the property.

Though his office defended the decision during our appeal, Schauwecker told the Columbia Daily Tribune it was a "mistake" he intended to correct—by boosting historic homeowners all over town. "And they'd better start saving," he warned.

With that warning, our county assessor opened a window on his attitude about the people he is sworn to serve. When Hallsville resident Dena Ray called with a question about her vehicle taxes, he opened it again.

"Give me a f–ing telephone number where I can reach you," Schauwecker said on Ray's voice mail. To a county employee, the tape overheard him saying, "She's got a f—ing—she'scrazy. I've left three f–ing messages for her."

On learning of the recording, Schauwecker apologized, telling the Tribune that his "characterization of a taxpayer" was both "demeaning and unprofessional."

Burden of Proof
Over the average taxpayer—the person who can't afford a cadre of appraisers and attorneys— county assessors have near absolute power.

Missouri state law hands taxpayers the "burden of proof," and arcane case law governs appellate proceedings. Persons appealing their property taxes must present "substantial and persuasive evidence" that the assessor erred, a process that can prove both expensive and difficult.

In Boone County, it's made even more difficult by a property tax appeals board dominated by county commissioners—the foxes guarding the hen house.

And adding yet another hurdle, a troubling threat that goes like this: "If you appeal your property taxes on the basis that I've been unfair, you'll force me, Tom Schauwecker, to re-examine your neighbors' homes. If I do, it's more likely I will raise their taxes rather than lower yours. And when your neighbors ask why I'm raising their taxes, I'll have to tellthem you forced me to."

In my family's case, tell them—and raise them—he did. It's a wonder my wife, children and I weren't greeted with flaming torches at our door.

Instead, we heard cynical chuckles. "Why in the world did you fill out that certificate? Didn't you know any better?"

Taxation without Representation
In a 2006 act of taxation without legislation, Schauwecker boosted personal property taxes with a new system that uses vehicle identification numbers. The changes would result in more revenue, he told the Tribune—shortly after telling them he was "both proud and embarrassed" by the state's largest reserve balance among county assessors, a piggy bank that exceeded $1 million.

Equally ironic was the county commission's decision to grant property tax breaks to a highpaying employer, ABC Labs, given the county assessor's history with high-paying employerslike 3M.

A Columbia Public Schools (CPS) Partner in Education, "3M has been an outstanding corporate citizen, but obviously things have changed," Schauwecker publicly chided after the now-downsized employer appealed a hefty 2004 property tax increase.

"Did Tom really have to say that? Was that really necessary?" radio talk show host Fred Parry recently asked County Commissioner Karen Miller on the KFRU "Morning Meeting," rendering her nearly speechless. "I…I don't know," Miller finally said. "I can't speak for Tom."

During another high-profile battle with Columbia Regional Hospital, the county's fifth largest taxpayer at the time, Schauwecker played the "don't-hurt-the-kids" card, telling local reporters that CPS was "the big loser" in the hospital's $10 million tax appeal.

And after the Missouri State Tax Commission overturned his assessment, appraising manufacturer Square D's property nearly three times lower than he did, Schauwecker told the Tribune that his dogged pursuit of Square D through several losing appeals he instigated wasn't about money, but about "right and wrong."

CPS was indeed the big loser in this case, but only because the assessor's protracted litigation kept Square D's tax payments in escrow for nearly two years.

Twice losing appeals to State Farm Insurance on similar grounds—large tax hikes, insuf ficiently justified—Schauwecker has time and again sent a crystal-clear message to the very employers we are now so eager to entice: I'll raise your taxes without sufficient legal justification ,and if you challenge me, I'll shame you in public. Exercise your legal rights, and I'll make your reputation suffer.

Power, Trust, and Money
Few public officials could find a better place to serve than Columbia and Boone County. Though the political dialog can get heated, residents care enough to support local government with the only thing that seems to matter anymore—their open wallets.

That's why I don't understand how, with a largely-unchallenged $81,000-a-year sinecure, Tom Schauwecker can feel such apparent animosity toward the good citizens who, for almost 20 years, have given him so much power, trust and money.

In other words, the people who have given him so much.

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