Sunday, October 25, 2009
Candidates disagree over audit report
Roanoke's incumbent commissioner of the revenue faces one challenger Nov. 3.
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From The Roanoke Times
Most people don't know what the commissioner of the revenue does unless something goes wrong.
Usually the office -- which prepares tax bills for personal property and real estate, and handles business licensing and state income tax filings for Roanoke residents -- is noticed only when a city taxpayer is audited or takes issue with something in his or her bill. But there also are occasions when the commissioner's office draws attention after it's criticized by a third party.
Such was the case in 1997, when the municipal auditor criticized then-Commissioner Marsha Compton Fielder just weeks before the city primary election after finding a number of inaccurate assessments. The negative publicity contributed to the election of Sherman Holland, one of Fielder's subordinates and the first black constitutional officer in Roanoke history.
Now, Holland is facing Republican challenger Douglas Walker, a former car salesman who has criticized him over the results of a similar negative report issued by the city's municipal auditor in 2005.
The audit, which started in the spring of 2004 and took months to complete, alleged that Holland's office did not adequately assess personal property and business license taxes in accordance with the law. City Auditor Drew Harmon later speculated that the commissioner's practices could be costing the city as much as $500,000 to $1 million a year.
Holland has disputed the report. He questioned Harmon's authority to audit his office, citing a 1993 attorney general's opinion that suggests a locality's auditor "may not conduct a 'management' or 'performance' audit of a commissioner's office."
Further, he said that Harmon's report lacked the full picture and an understanding of the commissioner's office and processes. The Roanoke City Council in 2005 accepted that explanation and voted to file the report without action.
That's not stopped Walker from making the report a cornerstone of his campaign, along with media reports last year that criticized Holland over the billing of the city's business, professional and occupational license tax. Walker's persistent criticism and an aggressive campaign fueled by $13,500 in loans have generated traction for an election challenge that could have been lost amid state races this year.
"We've taken this from, in May when I was being called a minor nuisance to a race where I think Sherman Holland is legitimately concerned about losing," Walker said. "We've done everything we can to win this race. If we continue to work hard through Nov. 3, I think we will win."
Walker, a native of Rocky Mount, N.C., with family roots in Lynchburg, moved to Roanoke five years ago to work with The Hammersley Group, which owned 11 luxury auto dealerships in central Virginia and the Roanoke Valley. After the group sold its assets last fall, he started to look at the commissioner's office, and he announced his candidacy in March.
Walker peppered Holland with Freedom of Information Act requests for data such as his operating plan and the number of audits performed annually. He's not been happy with the response and said that, if elected, he'd do better.
Among his complaints: "There's no organized leadership."
"The office isn't responsive."
"He clearly doesn't conduct that many audits each year."
Walker said his time with The Hammersley Group required "multiple levels of detailed management."
"I've proven I can do that in the private sector," he said. "I can absolutely take that knowledge in to the municipal building and be successful as a commissioner of revenue."
Walker said he'd start by writing a business plan that would chart a transparent course for the commissioner's office and give employees a standard against which to measure their performance. He said he'll cross-train employees to do one anothers' jobs and improve customer service.
Holland dismisses Walker as a wanna-be.
"He's never done a tax return or an audit before, and he doesn't want to work his way up the ladder. He just wants the top position," Holland said. "Would you take a complicated tax return to a car dealer? I don't think so. But that's what he's asking folks to do."
Holland's financial background stretches back to the mid-1970s, when he joined the Army as a finance specialist. After four years, he was honorably discharged and went to work for the Roanoke commissioner's office. He's been there ever since.
Holland scoffed at Walker's proposed business plan: "He doesn't understand taxation. It's based on the law. Your business plan is to follow the law."
During a recent interview, Holland gestured at a cabinet behind his desk, filled with thick manuals.
"And all it does is give you a more thorough understanding of the law," he said.
After his 1997 election as commissioner, Holland reorganized the office, dividing it into departments so its 16 employees would have specialized knowledge. Nevertheless, he said, his employees remain cross-trained to fill in for one another when times call for it.
As far as customer service, Holland said that Walker will have a tough time improving on his record. He used personal property taxes as an example.
This year, "we never had more than 15 people at a time in here to adjust their bill," Holland said. "That's a huge accomplishment from when the line used to stretch around the block."
Walker's not convinced. He said his private sector experience will pay off in a fiscally meaningful way: "Ultimately that will benefit the city of Roanoke in that we'll have that money in the city treasury, and the city councilmen and women won't be forced to find additional streams of revenue because the established streams aren't being billed correctly."
Holland defended his record and said voters should make a decision based on experience: "We bill $112 million a year for the city. Guess how much it costs us? Less than half of 1 percent. That shows we do a good job with the taxpayer's money. That's a 99.5 percent profit, so to criticize us is very, very misleading."
