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Record of Proceedings

Jacksonville Value Adjustment Board Organizational Meeting - August 6, 2026

City Council — Thursday, August 6, 2026
BodyJacksonville, Florida
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, August 6, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
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0:00

Teresa, I'm gonna go ahead and gavel in, okay?

0:07

All right, without any further ado, we are going to gavel in this 2026, Thursday, August 6, 2026, meeting of the Value Adjustment Board here in the Council Chambers at City Hall at St.

0:20

James.

0:20

Uh today's meeting will be conducted according to the published agenda and the applicable provisions of Florida Law and Administrative Rules.

0:26

The board's adopted procedures and parliamentary procedure.

0:30

Um where a legal or procedural question arises, we will certainly consult with the board attorney uh for any of those things.

0:37

Pursuant to Florida law, uh the first thing we must do, we've called this meeting to order is a roll call of members.

0:43

Uh we will do an introduction as you see for each of the members coming up, but at this point, I will start with a roll call.

0:51

And if you could just say your name and present, please, and we'll start to my left.

0:59

Will Lewis present Reginald Blunt, present.

1:07

Rachman Johnson, city council, present.

1:10

You got you got a mic, yours words, right?

1:12

Does it work?

1:14

No.

1:17

Shirley Dasher, present.

1:22

And we'll do introductions with the entirety, but that's the role.

1:25

Uh Madam or Mr.

1:27

Clerk, uh, do we have a quorum?

1:30

We do, Mr.

1:31

Chair.

1:32

Thank you very much.

1:33

Moving on before we start the meeting, our first order of business pursuant to Florida law is that we must um uh appoint legal counsel.

1:42

And this year's legal counsel recommendation from the staff uh is Aaron Thalwitzer for the 2026 VAB year with no change.

1:49

Uh the attorney will be paid an hourly fee, or the recommendation of the staff is for the attorney to be paid an hourly fee of 225 dollars an hour not to exceed the amount of sixty thousand dollars annually.

2:00

Uh the not to exceed amount will be inclusive of all legal services, including litigation, mileage, and all other uh fees.

2:06

There will be no cost for travel time.

2:08

That's the recommendation of staff.

2:10

I will certainly entertain a motion um to uh make that recommendation if there's one.

2:15

I'll make a motion to recommend that we keep Mr.

2:20

Okay, we have a mo it's been motioned and seconded that um we uh retain legal counsel Aaron Thalwitzer as our VAB attorney, uh VAB clerk, and then Mr.

2:29

Thalwitzer, and if you'll accept, but VAB Clerk.

2:32

Thank you, Mr.

2:32

Chair.

2:33

I was gonna just say that it might be good to confirm with Mr.

2:36

Thalwitzer that that's his understanding of the agreement.

2:38

I was gonna get to him before we took a vote.

2:39

Yep, yep.

2:40

Thank you, Mr.

2:41

Clerk.

2:42

Before we before we get to that, uh Mr.

2:44

Thalwitzer, do you accept uh are you able to accept this obligation for this year?

2:48

Yes, sir, and I'm grateful for it.

2:50

Okay, thank you, and thank you for your work that you've done in the past.

2:52

Thank you.

2:53

Uh are there any uh discussion from the board itself?

2:56

If not, there is a motion on the floor to retain Aaron Thalwitzer as our 2026 VAB year attorney.

3:03

All in favor say aye.

3:04

Aye.

3:05

All opposed?

3:06

The eyes have it.

3:07

Congratulations, and uh thank you for serving as our attorney again.

3:11

Our next thing is I wanted to start out this year with something a little bit different.

3:16

I think it's uh important with all of the work that we do uh here at the value adjustment board.

3:21

Um before I start this official official business, I want to start out in gratitude personally.

3:27

Um there's a brilliant uh mathematician, astronomer, and architect, Benjamin Banneker, who uh once said presumption should never make us neglect those things that appear easy to us, nor does spare make us lose courage at the sight of difficulties.

3:40

And sometimes when we're in spaces like the value adjustment board, there could be difficulties, but that's an appropriate charge, I believe, for the work in front of all of us.

3:48

Uh property taxation can appear technical in many ways and complicated and distant from everybody's lives, but that's what we're here to do to make it easier and certainly more palatable.

3:58

And the responsibility is to make certain that the process is fair, accessible, understandable, but worthy of the trust that has been entrusted to all of us to ensure that the work of the people is done.

4:09

I'm deeply grateful to Council President Nick Howland for entrusting me with the responsibility of chairing the board this year.

4:15

Um this is the first border committee that I've chaired officially, and so I'm very excited to see what happens.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████56%
Public Engagement█████████████16%
Technology and Innovation████████████15%
Housing██████8%
Ethics and Governance██3%
Personnel Matters██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Jacksonville Value Adjustment Board Organizational Meeting - August 6, 2026

The Value Adjustment Board (VAB) of Duval County held its organizational meeting on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at 12:50 PM in the Council Chambers at City Hall at St. James. The board adopted routine administrative items, heard a discussion on portability petition standing, and set the schedule for the 2026 VAB year.

Introduction and Roll Call

  • Chairperson (name not provided) gaveled the meeting to order at an unspecified time (adjourned at 12:50 PM).
  • Roll call: Members present – Will Lewis, Reginald Blunt, Rachman Johnson (City Council), Shirley Dasher. Quorum established.
  • Chairperson gave an opening statement thanking staff, recognizing former Property Appraiser Joyce Morgan Danford, and outlining the board’s purpose under Florida law.

Appointment of Legal Counsel

  • Staff recommended retaining Aaron Thalwitzer as VAB attorney for the 2026 year at an hourly fee of $225, not to exceed $60,000 annually (inclusive of all legal services, mileage, and fees, with no travel time cost).
  • Mr. Thalwitzer accepted. Motion made and seconded; passed unanimously.

Appointment of Special Magistrates

  • The proposed roster of special magistrates (15 individuals) was presented by the VAB clerk. Categories: one attorney, three tangible personal property, five general commercial/residential, six residential. Compensation set at $125 per hour.
  • Motion made and seconded; passed unanimously.

Ratification of Board Designee

  • The board ratified Heather Pellegrin (VAB Chief) as the designee to approve/deny late-filed petitions, good cause rescheduling requests, and related administrative matters, with assistance from VAB attorney as needed. This procedure has been in place since at least 2013 (late filings since 2024). Motion passed unanimously.

Adoption of Local Administrative Procedures and Discussion on Portability Petitions

  • The board adopted the 2026 local administrative procedures and forms (same as prior year, no changes). Approved unanimously.
  • Discussion: The Property Appraiser’s Office raised concerns about former owners filing petitions to increase market value for portability benefits, potentially harming current owners. They requested a local procedure requiring (1) petitioner to be current owner at filing and hearing dates, and (2) written authorization from new owner does not cure former owner’s lack of standing.
  • Board attorney Thalwitzer advised against a formal local procedure, stating the law already covers the issue and a local rule could become outdated. The VAB clerk agreed.
  • Board member Blunt proposed a technical fix: adding a red notice on the online petition system (Axia) reminding filers that they can change the auto-populated owner name. The Property Appraiser’s Office and VAB staff agreed to explore this change. No formal action was taken, and the issue will be revisited at the next meeting with a status update.
  • Public comment: Casey Vacel (property appraiser representative) clarified that discrepancies arise because the VAB petition system (Axia) pulls ownership data nightly from the Property Appraiser’s CAMA system, which may differ from the clerk of court records. He supported the technical solution.

VAB Process Overview (Informational)

  • Attorney Thalwitzer presented a brief explanation of the property tax appeal process: trim notice -> VAB petition / informal conference / lawsuit -> special magistrate hearing -> attorney legal review -> board adoption -> appeal to circuit court. No action required.

Adoption of Filing Fees

  • The board adopted a filing fee of $50 per petition (plus $5 per additional parcel) for the 2026 VAB year, as permitted by Florida Statute 194.013. This fee was raised from its prior amount (unchanged since 1980s) via legislation in the previous year. Motion passed unanimously.

Tentative Special Magistrate Hearing Schedule

  • Hearings to begin October 2026 and continue until all petitions are heard, estimated through April 2027, with a goal of completion by June 1, 2027. Staff authorized to make administrative scheduling adjustments. Motion passed unanimously.

Monthly Board Meeting Schedule

  • Monthly meetings approved: January 14, February 11, March 11, April 15, and May 13, 2027, at 11:30 AM in the Council Chambers. Motion passed unanimously.

Acknowledgement of Public Documents

  • The board acknowledged that required documents (Florida Administrative Code chapters, Sunshine Manual, statutes) are available on the VAB website. No action needed.

Public Comments

  • Safaya Spencer (address on file) stated that her homestead exemption was removed after a change of address, causing her taxes to rise from $1,000 to $5,000. She reapplied and regained the exemption but faced higher taxes during the gap. The Chair directed the Property Appraiser’s Office to meet with her after the meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • All motions passed unanimously (detailed above).
  • No formal action was taken on the portability standing issue; a technical solution (red notice on online petition form) will be investigated and reported at the next meeting.
  • The board’s 2026 organizational tasks (counsel, magistrates, designee, procedures, fees, schedules) were completed.
  • Meeting adjourned at 12:50 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Teresa, I'm gonna go ahead and gavel in, okay? All right, without any further ado, we are going to gavel in this 2026, Thursday, August 6, 2026, meeting of the Value Adjustment Board here in the Council Chambers at City Hall at St. James. Uh today's meeting will be conducted according to the published agenda and the applicable provisions of Florida Law and Administrative Rules. The board's adopted procedures and parliamentary procedure. Um where a legal or procedural question arises, we will certainly consult with the board attorney uh for any of those things. Pursuant to Florida law, uh the first thing we must do, we've called this meeting to order is a roll call of members. Uh we will do an introduction as you see for each of the members coming up, but at this point, I will start with a roll call. And if you could just say your name and present, please, and we'll start to my left. Will Lewis present Reginald Blunt, present. Rachman Johnson, city council, present. You got you got a mic, yours words, right? Does it work? No. Shirley Dasher, present. And we'll do introductions with the entirety, but that's the role. Uh Madam or Mr. Clerk, uh, do we have a quorum? We do, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much. Moving on before we start the meeting, our first order of business pursuant to Florida law is that we must um uh appoint legal counsel. And this year's legal counsel recommendation from the staff uh is Aaron Thalwitzer for the 2026 VAB year with no change. Uh the attorney will be paid an hourly fee, or the recommendation of the staff is for the attorney to be paid an hourly fee of 225 dollars an hour not to exceed the amount of sixty thousand dollars annually. Uh the not to exceed amount will be inclusive of all legal services, including litigation, mileage, and all other uh fees. There will be no cost for travel time. That's the recommendation of staff. I will certainly entertain a motion um to uh make that recommendation if there's one. I'll make a motion to recommend that we keep Mr. Okay, we have a mo it's been motioned and seconded that um we uh retain legal counsel Aaron Thalwitzer as our VAB attorney, uh VAB clerk, and then Mr. Thalwitzer, and if you'll accept, but VAB Clerk. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was gonna just say that it might be good to confirm with Mr. Thalwitzer that that's his understanding of the agreement. I was gonna get to him before we took a vote. Yep, yep. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Before we before we get to that, uh Mr. Thalwitzer, do you accept uh are you able to accept this obligation for this year? Yes, sir, and I'm grateful for it. Okay, thank you, and thank you for your work that you've done in the past. Thank you. Uh are there any uh discussion from the board itself? If not, there is a motion on the floor to retain Aaron Thalwitzer as our 2026 VAB year attorney. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? The eyes have it.

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