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Griffin seeks second term as commissioner
General Election 2007
BY JAMES JACENICH • STAFF WRITER
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MONTEREY - Bobbie Griffin is running for a second term as Highland County Commissioner of the Revenue. She has worked for the commissioner of the revenue's office for 20 years.
"I was a pleased person (when I went to work for Toby Swecker as deputy)," said Griffin. "It wasn't in my thoughts she would retire. She retired 16 years later. I realized I loved what I do and the only way to continue and to be effective was to seek office.
"Four years have flown by," she said. "I would like to continue for four more years doing something I love."
She said the top three reasons people should vote for her are: experience in all matters pertaining to the commissioner of the revenue, she cares for the people she represents and their interests in the government process, and she believes she can do the best job at this time of representing residents and doing what needs to be done.
The commissioner of the revenue interacts with citizens, and state and county offices. Griffin said she works closely with the county treasurer. She helps citizens with income tax report processing. "We typically get calls after the customer has exhausted all other sources," Griffin said. "They ask us to intervene."
She records information on real estate, personal property and the enterprise fee so the treasurer can send tax bills to the right person for the correct amount. Griffin is responsible for real estate and personal property tax assessments.
The real-estate assessment is on a six-year cycle. "We take care of records, improvements, transfers, and split-offs (partial transfers)," she said. "The state tells us how to keep the records."
She has more control over how personal property is managed. "We have to use recognized pricing guides," she said. "But we can choose what manner to use for assessment (retail, low value, or wholesale value). The board of supervisors regulates the levy; I take into account rust and such things. I'm not required to do this; other (commissioner of the revenue offices) don't."
The commissioner of the revenue is the record keeper for the enterprise fee fund, which pays for the county's refuse collection center, she explained. "Swecker and I revamped the enterprise fund," said Griffin. "We went over it several times. It's been 14 years since it started. There are 3,500 cards (to maintain). Does it have a habitable building on it; are there exemptions? It's a difficult thing to keep up with.
"The company we got our computer program from never saw anything like this," she said. "The program saw a building, but it could be a barn, not a dwelling, and barns don't get a trash fee. We had to spend a lot of time going through each record to make sure it matched the criteria.
"The board of supervisors determines the rate for the businesses," she said. "We don't do anything with businesses but put the name, address and density (some businesses generate more trash due to the nature of their business) from what the board of supervisors tells us," said Griffin. "It is constantly changing from day to day."
The annual audit is less stressful, said Griffin. "We really don't have a lot to fear, we aren't actually managing funds," she said. "The auditors ask us for certain documents, such as the land book, the personal property book, and abatements and supplementals made to the real estate and personal property book. We make sure what the records show is indeed what transpired.
"We haven't received anything pro or con from auditors other than to state everything passed their reviews of our system and the way we accomplished our work for the time frame they were reviewing," said Griffin.
In the six-year interval between assessments, Griffin updates records based on information from the clerk of the circuit court's office. The clerk keeps records on each tract as they change from year to year. "Our office has one type of information. We are going to show some of the same things as ownership and acreage changes, but the clerk's office handles it in a different manner. You come to our office when you want to know the assessment for one person. The clerk gives you background on ownership. It's a system of checks and balances.
"A tax map (in the commissioner's office) is not enough for the circuit court," said Griffin. "It needs to look at the metes and bounds description recorded in the circuit court clerk's office. The tax map, (however), shows adjoining landowners and general boundaries."
Griffin has a deputy and parttime help. She describes her management style in terms of how the office helps the customer. "Our motto is to be helpful and friendly whether we are helping you with income taxes or looking up your property on a map," she said. "Sometimes I probably tend to be too easygoing with the information. I'll hunt for whatever people are asking for. I never present this (defensively) as if the office were being taken to court. I'm always looking (at our customers) as if I were a customer. If I go to the store, no matter my objective, I want someone to wait on me. I should feel better when I leave the premises for having gone there and spoken to them. (When people leave my office), maybe we didn't solve their problem, maybe not to their satisfaction, but I want them to think we did everything possible to listen to their problem and to think we really care … It could be something as simple as providing an income tax instruction booklet, or as difficult as finding ownership of property. It's not the difficulty of the problem, it is how we handle the situation and make the customer feel."
Griffin said her experience on the job has been the best preparation she has had for the job. "The day-to-day workings of the office are the greatest asset you can receive in managing the office; people tell me that. It's a rare day that I get to be on a totally administrative level," she said. "You are working from a firsthand knowledge basis. You actually know what the problem is for your customer."
"I'm always learning something new about the job, always checking the code book, and speaking with other commissioners," said Griffin. "You have to do research.
"Sometimes I have to make a decision," she said. "I made a ruling on something and that person wanted me to show where I had authority to make the ruling. It came down to: It was my decision."
Griffin can't think of anything that may cause a conflict of interest if she is re-elected. She doesn't think there will be a problem if husband, Rick, a candidate for board of supervisors, wins in November. "There's very little supervisors do that directly impacts my office," she said. "If he wins, he can't vote on my budget."
Griffin said the Virginia Freedom of Information Act proscribes how information collected by government is to be handled. "We rarely have to do a lot of consulting with it," said Griffin. "We do try to review and make sure we follow the guidelines."
She said she can't disclose personal property information nor can she disclose income-tax information. "We are not even to have a conversation about how much money you make, or where you work, none of that is allowed," said Griffin.
The enterprise fee fund book, though, is printed yearly and is public information. It has the name, address, density, and what the person is being charged.
Griffin said her top three weaknesses are convincing her she is wrong, not being tough enough presenting what the public wants, and difficulty saying no.
"There have been difficult days in my personal life the past 20 years, but never have I not wanted to come to the job and see what is around the next bend in relation to being commissioner of the revenue," said Griffin. "Even with problems, issues, and things to figure out, even if I go home tired physically and mentally, I feel that each day has been a success and I am glad I was able to be commissioner of the revenue. There have been ups and downs with the job, but I wouldn't take any of them back."
About the candidate Bobbie J. Griffin Age: 57 Shares a home with her husband, Rick Griffin, on Dixon Hill near Mustoe; two grown daughters, Shelby and Sheryl. Graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1968. Attended numerous work-related seminars and taken a computer course since going to work for the commissioner of the revenue's office in 1987. Griffin was deputy commissioner for 16 years before replacing Toby Swecker in 2003, for whom she worked since 1987. She earns about $56,000 a year.
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