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Highland commissioner's office independent, board says
By Anne Adams • Staff Writer
MONTEREY - Complaints about delays and errors in tax bills sent to Highland residents have left county officials threatened by legal action. Several citizens have felt frustrated by problems they say stem from commissioner of revenue Bobbie Griffin, and a couple of them have threatened to sue, according to county officials.
Recently, Griffin fired her deputy commissioner, Michelle Smith, and blamed Smith, in part, for some of the mistakes.
Smith felt she was wrongfully terminated, but since she was not classified as a county employee, she could not file an official grievance, and chose to defend herself publicly before the board of supervisors last week with a statement.
The board, however, has no authority over constitutional offices responsible for compiling information in order to collect tax revenue, nor does it have any recourse to offer Smith. Constitutional officers like the commissioner, treasurer, sheriff, and commonwealth's attorney are independent of the board of supervisors, elected by citizens and responsible to the citizenry directly in Virginia localities.
This week supervisor Robin Sullenberger said he's frustrated by the concerns raised about Griffin. "We (the board) are out of any position to be directly engaged in this situation. I wish people knew that," he said. "There is no legitimate route for us to take specific action. I'm frankly mystified by the convoluted relationship we have with constitutional offices."
Monterey mayor Janice Warner had also asked supervisors to do something about Griffin, citing errors and difficulty communicating.
Smith said last week she hoped the board would talk to her about her experience working under Griffin the first six months of this year. "I will truthfully answer any question they pose to me," Smith said. "I certainly do not have anything to hide regarding my performance, behavior or integrity while serving as the deputy."
Sullenberger said it's doubtful the board would talk to Smith publicly, but anticipates one or more supervisors will speak with her individually. "Certainly we will first ask the county administrator (Roberta Lambert) for a full accounting from her perspective," Sullenberger said.
Smith has not been specific as to her allegations about the way Griffin handles her duties as commissioner.
Treasurer Lois White, too, declined to be specific about her concerns regarding the commissioner, but spoke directly to Sullenberger. The board as a whole did not hear complaints from White about Griffin's job performance. Supervisors, Sullenberger said, would be reluctant to have public dis- cussions related to Smith's firing, or Griffin's management. "These kinds of discussions tend to degenerate into a blame game," he said, "and I think the board is not inclined to take specific action without a thorough review and a very good reason to do so."
Since the board has no authority over Griffin or any constitutional office, including employees appointed by those officers, it cannot discuss complaints in a closed session unless they relate to threatened legal action. White had addressed the board in closed session about the threat of lawsuits, but not about Griffin's performance specifically.
Sullenberger said to his understanding, most of the concerns are related to timing and efficiency in the commissioner's office. "I have no concerns about the misuse of taxpayer funds," he said, "although some would interpret that (lack of efficiency) to be the same thing." If the board believed there was misuse of public money, "we would certainly address that more directly and more aggressively," he added.
Tax bills the first half of 2008 were mailed on time, but barely.
The commissioner of revenue is responsible for gathering information on assessed property values, and getting that information to the treasurer. The treasurer then uses that data to generate and mail tax bills to citizens and companies, and collect the money.
Smith said Griffin had not trained her well enough to complete the tasks, and consulted White for help.
White, realizing the deadline for getting her bills out was quickly approaching, pitched in and helped Smith get the job done.
Afterward, however, taxpayers complained about errors. For trash fees, some of the bills had been mailed to landowners leasing to businesses, instead of to the business owners responsible for the fee.
Bills for taxes to public services corporations - utilities like phone and power companies - were mistakenly based on the 2006 rate instead of the 2007 rate. That rate, set by the State Corporation Commission, changes annually.
Is the software a problem?
Griffin says the errors in trash fee billing were the result of programming changes made by BAI Municipal Software, the computer company that designed the software used throughout county offices. She sent a letter to supervisors last Wednesday saying the board should be prepared to publicly explain she had nothing to do with the switch to BAI's software, and was not responsible for those errors.
BAI, she said, had a lot of trouble figuring out how to write programs to accommodate the county's process for its Enterprise fee for trash, and when it made changes, it did not, for some reason, use the information Griffin gave the company about landowners and businesses.
In addition, though citizens had filed their state tax returns through Griffin's office, a service most commissioners provide, reports associated with those returns had not all been filed. Griffin says she discovered this after finding reports in Smith's desk, after Smith was fired. "Some things were passed from the treasurer via Michelle," Griffin said, "and they had not been handed to me. I've followed up; I'm trying to take care of these people and I'm going through the computer company to help fix them … there were reports never sent to Richmond, and I'm trying to get them straight. My new employee and I have worked on those."
Griffin said she has filed those reports as required - with a copy to the treasurer and a copy to the state tax department. "Richmond doesn't call anymore to tell me (if there's anything missing) and the treasurer's office didn't tell me, so as far as I knew, I had no reason to believe they weren't mailed."
Griffin said she believed Smith understood that task. "The tax returns were mailed, but the reports weren't … I just had no reason to believe they weren't given to the treasurer."
The county chose BAI Municipal Software in 2005, and courthouse staff had to learn the new program over a period of several weeks. At this point, most feel the software helps them work efficiently.
"I love the system," said county administrator Roberta Lambert this week. "The majority of localities in Virginia use BAI and are pleased with it."
White agreed. "It takes a while to learn it; the first six months were difficult. But it saves us a whole lot of time … I've gotten along with it fine. (Tech support) is always available."
"The new system works like a charm," added Sullenberger. "There was an initial learning curve, but it's a very efficient and workable system, and we're very pleased with it. I hear that from everyone, that it's a great improvement. I think the ability to use any software system is directly tied to the time and energy a person puts in to learn and use it."
Tuesday, Smith said she felt the BAI system was well designed. "On the occasions I had trouble or questions, the BAI support group was extremely accommodating and helpful," she said. "I was very aware early on that only a fraction of the system was being utilized by the commissioner of revenue office. After attending a two-day workshop at BAI in Tennessee, I was particularly excited about personal property coming up. BAI was working with me on how best to utilize the software to generate new revenue. This of course came to a halt when I was terminated."
BAI did not return calls from The Recorder this week.
Griffin says there are aspects of the software she doesn't understand, and was thrown by some of the changes made by BAI that affect her job, particularly with the trash fees. But, she said, BAI has been helping her since last week to correct mistakes, and she anticipates all the problems will be resolved within the next week or so.
Is the work getting done?
Smith believes Griffin is unable to perform her job effectively. "In the past, other offices have been relied upon too heavily to ensure work gets completed. Her attendance and accessibility is also troublesome."
Several county officials and citizens say Griffin is too often unavailable during working hours.
Sullenberger said one of those threatening to sue about a mistake on a tax bill was further angered because Griffin wasn't in when he tried to get the error corrected. "In this one case," Sullenberger said, "the man said, when there's nobody there (in the commissioner's office), it's hard to get it fixed … she was not there on a consistent basis. Although, technically, if her office operates efficiently, she doesn't have to be there at all."
Griffin said she wishes anyone with problems would speak to her directly; she did not know about the threatened lawsuits when contacted Tuesday, and says aside from doctors' appointments, she is in the office 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or later each day, and rarely steps out, even for lunch.
White says she was aware lawsuits were threatened, but says her office bases tax bills on information from Griffin. The treasurer said she is reluctant to say anything about Griffin's job performance, but is concerned when citizens voice complaints to her office.
"It's hard when I don't get my stuff in time; it would be nice to get them in the fiscal year when those (errors) took place. I don't want to see anyone get in trouble … I'm between a rock and a hard place," White said.
Smith said she had to field complaints during her sixmonth stint with Griffin. "It was very frustrating not being able to resolve complaints immediately, but I did the best I could with the knowledge that I had," Smith said. "People were very understanding when I could not fulfill certain duties, or make decisions for the commissioner in her absence.
"Mrs. Griffin was often absent from the office and I found myself working alone," she continued. "She had indicated when I first took the job that personal family health issues could cause her to be absent on occasion. I understood, and sympathized with this. However, I did not realize the times I would be working alone would be so frequent.
"The commissioner of the revenue office has critical deadlines that are mandated by law," Smith added. "It's difficult to meet those deadlines without relying so heavily on the assistance of other offices if the commissioner is not there to fulfill her duties."
When Smith found herself trying to help get the proper information to the treasurer's office on time, she asked White for assistance. White, whose responsibilities depended on data from the commissioner's office, pitched in and helped get the work done since deadlines were approaching.
White sent a letter to Griffin June 13, asking that supplements and abatements (an increase or decrease in taxes owed) be completed for utilities so she could proceed with sending out notices.
Public utilities' taxes are valued differently each year, she explained, and this year, those values did not get changed from the 2006 rates. Griffin said this happened when a former deputy, Angela Crigler, had resigned as deputy commissioner last year for personal reasons. The 2006 rate had not been changed to the 2007 rate on 10 of 11 public service corporations. She received a call from one of them, and then realized they were all wrong.
White says BAI fixed the problem right away.
White is still waiting for supplements and abatements on 50 or so incorrect tax bills; Griffin says she's working on those now, and expects to get the treasurer the information she needs within the next couple of weeks.
"I didn't think we had an inordinate amount this year," Griffin said, "even though BAI changed our program. Everything we had done since 2005, all our notes on the computer, when (BAI) revamped this they wiped out all that."
"I'm doing my best but I know we have some that have to be changed," she said. When Griffin was deputy commissioner under Toby Swecker, she said the office usually made a report for supervisors outlining the amounts of refunds and supplements on tax revenue. "We may be supposed to handle it on the BAI system now, but I don't know how to do it. Last year, with personal property taxes, we had a lot of them. We never could understand what happened between the Department of Motor Vehicles and BAI. We never knew why they got that wrong, but BAI tried desperately to fix it."
Data supplied by DMV indicates vehicle ownership, Griffin explained, and that information is used to assess the value of vehicles to collect personal property tax.
"Everything we had entered from Jan. 1 to June 29 last year, BAI wiped all of that out, and we literally had to start over. Then we also had a number of vehicle license fees and we were not told we were going to have to do those," she said. "Then I'm told, you're going to have to figure this out. I'm expected to abate that yet I wasn't told about it. I didn't like what was done to me … it was kind of a dirty deal. I was behind already and then they (the board) give me something (my) office has never, ever had to do before."
BAI's new programming for trash fees was so different, Griffin said, "it blew our minds."
Not everything has been fixed yet, Griffin said. "BAI has done some work, but I can't tell you for sure it's all done. We have to go over them one by one.
"I'm not all that great with abatements, but I've been asking the computer company to go over training manuals with me, and they've said, we'll work with you … If I felt like it was getting to be too many, I'd say to the board (of supervisors) that we need extra help to get BAI to send us a tech … My fright is, I don't want to change something and then have it not agree. I have a gigantic fear of telling the computer something wrong from what it should be. We're taking it one at a time."
Smith said she is not concerned about being held personally liable if legal action is pursued. "Any critical decisions or actions taken by me with legal ramifications were either cleared by the commissioner of the revenue or completed under her direction."
Smith has consulted an attorney about her options. She has said she would like to protect her reputation, and hopes to get her job back. This week she declined to comment on whether she will pursue potential legal action.
Smith did not explain details about Griffin's job performance. "In my opinion, there are issues in the commissioner of revenue office that should be addressed," she said. "I hesitate to cite specific examples … due to legal ramifications, but again would be willing to discuss this with the proper governing authorities."
Who's held
accountable?
Sullenberger called the whole situation an "extremely annoying distraction" for those who work in the courthouse, and though there have been rumors circulating that citizens want Griffin removed from office, supervisors would be "very reluctant" to get involved in such a movement.
Constitutional officers in Virginia can only be removed from office as a result of court action. A petition of 10 percent of those who elected Griffin to office (951 voters; 95 signatures) would have to be served to the circuit court, and a judge would hear the case and decide whether there were grounds to remove her.
According to state code, "A petition for the removal of an officer shall state with reasonable accuracy and detail the grounds or reasons for removal and shall be signed by the person or persons making it under penalties of perjury. As soon as the petition is filed with the court, the court shall issue a rule requiring the officer to show cause why he should not be removed from office, the rule alleging in general terms the cause or causes for such removal."
"I've agonized over this myself," Griffin said, "and I've had a lot of people come in and tell me not to give in or give up." Her husband feels there's a conspiracy by some to remove her from office. "And yes, I think there's some truth to that," she said. "Honestly, I don't know how long my health will take this. The board, the treasurer, the mayor, the powers that be - there's been things going on long before now. Obviously, there must be a problem but what I can't understand is, why they don't just tell me? Why not help me? Why the big push to hurt me? That's what I can't figure out. It hurts to be told how awful you are. But why can't they say, OK, Bobbie, you've been a good loyal county employee for 20 years and we want to help you work this out? For citizens with concerns, I wish they'd come personally to see me. I'd like the chance to fix it. If some are upset and feel they need to take things further, well, I can't help that."
Griffin says she has absolutely no intention of seeking office a third term. She has three and a half years left, and hopes to just get through it.
"There's a haziness to this whole thing," Sullenberger said. "I'm not sure where the line crosses over into personnel, confidentiality … it's an awkward situation and I'm not sure what we (as a board) should or shouldn't be doing, or what control, authority, or responsibility we have. But I know this: we're ultimately responsible for safeguarding the public money, the county coffers - the taxpayers and their money, and the programmatic things involved with that. If there's anything occurring in any agency or department, including the constitutional offices, that adversely affects that, then we as a board need to be engaged."
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