Roy Carroll's John Hammer insult to George Hartzman in Today's Rhino Times; Berger Walker Aftermath

"Hartzman claims to be a financial advisor, so perhaps the Finance Department should hire Hartzman to consult on the city’s investments.  He once spoke against a loan the city took out at an interest rate of 0.01 percent because it was a variable and not a fixed rate.  And that rate is not a typo, the city borrowed money at one-hundredth of one percent and Hartzman found fault with that."

http://www.rhinotimes.com/ben-holder-dominates-city-council-from-afar.html

Also in today's Rhino Times

 is a big advertisement for giving Roy Carroll a taxpayer owned street, 
meaning John Hammer is using a "news" paper that endorses city council candidates
to convince said councilpersons who have received campaign cash from Roy Carroll
to give Roy what looks like more than $1 million in taxpayer owned real estate.

For the record, John may be a little angry with me lately for pointing out his bosses financial contributions to Phil Berger during a Walker press conference, after which Mark carved out a pretty big credibility issue for Hammer by pointing out some of John's slanted "reporting", and I put some posts lately that were pretty critical of Mr. Hammer and the Rhino, which can be found in the links at the end of this post.

Messrs. Hammer and Carroll missed the election by a pretty big margin, and are most likely depressed and upset with the outcome, as they more than heavily backed Berger Jr. over Walker, after disparaging Walker with some false information provided by the Berger camp.

I don't recall seeing a Walker ad in last week's Rhino.

I also was a bit instrumental at removing Roy Carroll's Robbie Perkins from being mayor.

As I believe John is relatively financially illiterate, especially given his recent personal experiences with numbers, I feel obligated to provide an explanation.

I suppose I was pretty sure about what I was saying, as I produced the video below about it.

The variable rate for the loan adjusts weekly.

The higher long term rates rise, the more it costs to lock in the debt at a later time.

I believe the city was trying to keep their short term interest costs low with the variable rate, to stay under a debt cap, so the city could borrow even more money than they otherwise could have.

The video is after the jump;

A comparison of Yes Weekly and The Rhino's ads, the last week before the election

Yes Weekly; 56 total pages

23.75 pages of ads = 42.41%

2.75 political

Pages of entertainment, club, and restaurant ads; 9
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The Rhino; 40 total pages

11.375 pages of ads = 28.43%

4.125 political = 36% of the Rhino's ads

Pages of entertainment, club, and restaurant ads; 1, which is the Taxpayer funded Greensboro Coliseum, which means Greensboro's taxpayers are subsidizing Roy Carroll and John Hammer for about $1,000 per week.
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It seems as though the entertainment and restaurant industry has boycotted The Rhino.

I wonder if Roy Carroll knew that would happen, after he backed the noise ordinance etc...

If The Rhino doesn't have political ads this week with the same number of pages, they will be at 18%, which appears to be unsustainable.
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Election Eve Dinner & Debate

Monday, November 4, 2013.

6:30pm until 8:30pm

Topic: Tuesday's Election

Likely issues; Greensboro Performing Arts Center, Civil Rights Museum, Coliseum and Police Issues, Local and National Political Ethics, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and Entitlements, 2012’s Guilford County Real Estate Revaluation, Legal Ethics, Economics, Fun and Whatever Comes Up

From beginning to end, attendees will have the opportunity for 60 seconds to present any point of view on any subject.

Others can have 30 seconds to respond, before another topic begins, if not by a member of the audience, then by the moderator.

Audience participation is not mandatory

The format is designed after a class I have moderated at the Shepard's Center of Greensboro.

Moderated by George Hartzman, Chief Economist and Lecturer
Think Professional Education

No cost with the purchase of a Golden Corral meal.

Meeting room doors open at 6pm, with the event beginning at 6:30

Golden Corral
2419 Lawndale Dr, Greensboro, NC

How far is John Hammer's head inserted into Roy Carroll's rectum? Using Straw Men against challangers

"Roth also said that he would not be influenced by the people who donated to his campaign, but he indicated the other councilmembers cast their votes based on who had given them money.

It’s an allegation that Hartzman makes just about every time he speaks at a council meeting.

Campaign donations are simply a way of life in our electoral system. [which needs fixed]

[GH; From what I can tell, Hammer and Carroll brought in more than $12,000 from contributors via politicians this week, and will probably clear another $30,000 before the election is over.]

Finally Roth made a statement indicating that he is against the development industry. [false]

If Greensboro is to grow then it needs developers. They shouldn’t run the council but neither should they be shut out. The land where my house is was once a farm. A developer bought it, had it rezoned and built houses. Most of us live in houses that were similarly built by developers and most of us like our neighborhoods.

Electing someone who wants to shut developers out of the process doesn’t make sense. [false]

Matheny has voted for far too many giveaways." [true]

John "Owned by Roy Carroll" Hammer
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"Here’s the trick.

Take your opponent’s argument to a ridiculous extreme,
and then attack the extremists.

That leaves the opponent to sputter defensively.

In strawmanese, you never specify who ‘those who’ are.

[All the developers, or just the ones who Hammer and Carroll profit from?]

They are the hollow scarecrows you set up to knock down.”

William Safire
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Unethical behavior on the part of John Hammer is nothing new;

Interactions with Elaine Hammer of the Rhino Times, their rate card, and a John Hammer Linkfest

Another Guilford County Real Estate Metric that does not comport with the County's 2012 Real Estate Tax Revaluation

I received this in the mail at a "Property Update Report" from a Realtor D. J. McGarrigan.

This clearly shows Guilford County "Average Cost Per Square Foot" was lower
in December and January 2012, than December and January 2011.

I have asked for and not received this information request from Guilford County:


"Please provide the electronic edition of the instruction manual
of the computer software
used for 2012's Guilford County real estate tax revaluation."

The following is from a "Letter to the Editor" to the Greensboro News & Record
sent on October 15, that the "Editors" appear unwilling to publish.

Of the 12 North Carolina counties that revalued in 2012, 5, including had a NC State "Sales Ratio" as of January 1, 2011 which indicated real estate tax assessments were overvalued.  Real estate prices fell in Guilford County during 2011.  Rutherford County lost about 12% more than their 2011 Sales Ratio values on 1/1/12, Cabarrus County lost about 5.5% more, New Hanover County lost about 3% more, and Cherokee County's values fell 26%.  Guilford was the only North Carolina county in 2012 whose real estate values were supposed to fall by the state's metric that didn't.  

Residential homes now valued at $250,000+ increased in value by an average of $9,981.20.  Guilford County's 2012-13 proposed budget pre-real estate revaluation included a 9.5 cent tax increase, but instead of falling about or more than 3.72% as the 1/1/11 Sales Ratio and house prices during 2011 suggested, Guilford County's values rose 1.5% and tax rates decreased slightly. 

Both Mecklenburg and Guilford Counties used the same revaluation software, and in May, 2012, Mecklenburg moved to "independently" audit their 2011 Real Estate Revaluation after numerous complaints of over valuation.  Those I spoke with who sell the software.said tax directors/counties interpretations of the reval law vary widely, and that all counties don't incorporate the same information, meaning results may vary.  I implore the News & Record to investigate this information before the Editorial Board publishes endorsements for contested commissioners races. 

George Hartzman

I sent this letter to Guilford County Tax Director Ben Chavis, Manager Brenda Jones Fox, Budjet Director Michael Halford, Commissioner's Chairman Skip Alston and all commissioners, edpage@news-record.com, Greensboro News & Record News Editor Jeff Gauger, Editorial Page Editor Allen Johnson, Doug Clark, Publisher Robin Saul, Margaret Banks, Amanda Lehmert, Joe Killian, Richard Barron, Travis Fain, the Rhino's Scott Yost and John Hammer, Triad Business Journal's Mark Sutter and Matt Evans, Phil Berger, Alma Adams, John Blust, Marcus Brandon, Pricey Harrison, John Faircloth, Maggie Jeffus, Don Vaughan, Stan Bingham, and Gladys Robinson.

Guilford County Tax Director Ben Chavis replied with the following:

Ben Chavis Oct 17  

George, 

Mecklenburg used a different software for revaluation from us.   

We do have the same Billing & Collections software as Mecklenburg. 

Ben Chavis
Guilford County Tax Director
336-641-3379

To which I replied and have not received an answer:

Thank you for your response Mr. Chavis; 

Who's software did you use? 

How many other NC counties use the same software? 

Who's software did Meck use? 

Why did residential homes now valued at $250,000+ increased by an average of $9,981.20? 

I have asked the county for the instruction manual of the software you used, and it has not been provided. 

Of all the possible information that could have been included in the revaluation assessment, what was included, what wasn't and why? 

How different is the data used by Guilford County, to the other NC counties that revalued this year? 

Why won't the county detail the home sales that were not included? 

How many distressed home sales were counted for real estate below $250,000, compared to above? 

What variable broad based assumptions are included in the reval software? 

Is the software issue the only issue/fact with which you disagree? 

What data points could have been utilized but were not? 

How did Guilford County go from a 9.5 cent tax increase to a tax decrease?

By the way:

Mr. Hartzman,

Here are the NC counties that currently use the NCPTS software:

Wake
Wayne
Pitt
Harnett
Guilford
Orange
Randolph
Catawba
Mecklenburg
Henderson

Please let me know If you have any questions.

Judy Rhyne
NCACC

The following graph from UNCG's Don Jud looks like the one above.

http://www.uncg.edu/bae/cber/tbi/apr12/index.htm
Sixth Graph Down

This is me explaining this, again.




Our local news outlets and elected officials appear to be unwilling to investigate and/or report news that may directly effect a great deal of Guilford County homeowners.

Amanda Lehmert and Joe Killian have received contact information for the expert who looked into the raw data provided by Guilford County and have chosen to not follow up.

If Guilford County residents vote in commissioner races, while this information remains investigation by our local press, I believe the outcome of the election will have been manipulated by the Rhino Times and the Greensboro News & Record.

Please contact Guilford County, your elected representatives and our unaccountable press for answers.

Updated: It appears as though the Rhino Times' John Hammer is Financially Illiterate

No Evidence Of Rich Stupid People Club

"The News & Record is promoting a wild theory about a conspiracy
to raise tax values in upper income neighborhoods in Greensboro.

It is a truly whacky idea, and it comes from a truly whacky guy
– George Hartzman
– who has been preaching versions of his conspiracy theory for months.

Hartzman ran for the District 3 City Council seat in 2009
and is a regular speaker from the floor at City Council meetings.

Hartzman has tried hard to recruit The Rhinoceros Times
into his tax-value-conspiracy-theory fold,
but it makes no sense to us.

First you have to assume that the Guilford County commissioners
are heavily involved in the real estate revaluation process,
and they simply are not.

Where did I say that?

Why would the commissioners have to be involved

in a skewed tax revaluation?

If anything, a passive endorsement of the outcome

presented to both City Council and the county commissioners 

that makes them look good

makes more sense than active involvement.

But if you accept that then you have to also assume
that there is a rich property owners club
where the rich property owners get together
and all agree on what property values should be...

What sense does this sentence make?

Why would higher value property owners

purposfully want to increase thier own taxes?

...and further,
that every member of the club is a complete and utter idiot
who understands nothing about real estate and property values.

Further you have to believe that this rich property owners club
and the Guilford County commissioners conspired
and got the county employees in the Tax Department
to commit any number of serious crimes regarding property values.

We looked into it and it all seemed a little farfetched to us.

I know a couple of employees in the Tax Department
and know that they are basically honest,
but also that they have no intention of going to prison
to help some demented rich property owner
who for some inexplicable reason wants to pay more property taxes.

The theory that Hartzman and the News & Record are pushing
is that the rich property owners club wanted to have their property tax values increased...

Why would higher value property owners

purposfully want to increase thier own taxes?

...and right here in the beginning the theory breaks down
because the main thing that is affected by your tax property value
is the amount of property tax you pay.

????????????


"...the main thing that is affected by your tax property value
is the amount of property tax you pay."?

...The tax value is supposed to reflect the market price
but it is an estimate based on comparable real estate in the area.

And since the entire county is done at once,
the Tax Department does not have the time to spend on each piece of property
that an appraiser has.

...The county can't begin to spend several thousand dollars
on each of the roughly 200,000 pieces of property in Guilford County.

So they used a software package that did it for them?

Funny what can be done with computer software.

Rich property owners know that if the tax value of their home or office is low 

what that means is they pay less property tax, and,
when the property goes up for sale,
they get to explain that the tax value is low,
so the new property owner will also get to pay less property tax
– at least until the next revaluation.

But this is Hartzman's theory, or it is what it was.

What's my theory?


"...this is Hartzman's theory, 
or it is what it was."?

Hartzman has lots of theories about things
and sees more conspiracies than most people.

I must be insane.

What is astounding is that he convinced the News & Record
that this theory was worth a couple of front page stories.

I brainwashed the entire News & Record staff?

District 5 Guilford County commissioner candidate Jeff Phillips said
he learned a lesson about speaking to the News & Record.

He said that in his opinion the theory of a conspiracy
to artificially raise property taxes was that it was "highly unlikely."

He did say that he does have questions
about the way Guilford County reevaluated the property for 2012,
but that the idea that there was some kind of conspiracy was farfetched.

It's Hartzman's theory that a grand conspiracy in Guilford County
has raised property values in wealthy neighborhoods
because wealthy property owners didn't want their property values to go down...

Incorrect.

I have found that property values in wealthy neighborhoods went up

and the low end got crushed

and the results do not match what occured.

Where did I say anywhere 

"wealthy property owners didn't want their property values to go down..."?

...and this also allowed the Guilford County commissioners
to slightly lower the property tax rate,
but the county will still collect more property tax revenue.

?????????????????

Guilford County commissioners lowered the property tax, 
gave out  vacation etc...after the budget was adopted
and eliminated what the county cited as a need for a 9.5 cent tax increase.

What seems to be overlooked is that the figure they are all concerned about

is the total value of the property in Guilford County in 2012
versus the total value of the property based on 2004 values.

Actually, the figure to be concerned with

is last year's versus this year's

and the effect on Greensboro and Guilford County budgets
and the differences between Guilford County's results
and the results of 13 other counties.

Although the value of much of the property in Guilford County
has dropped from what it was in 2008,
it has to go all the way back to 2004 to drop in tax value...

Which, according to UNCG's Don Jud, 

went back to 1990's era values.

John "financially illiterate" Hammer?
September 20, 2012



http://www.uncg.edu/bae/cber/tbi/apr12/index.htm
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In March 2012, Guilford County Manager Brenda Jones Fox

inserted a temporary bonus in a consent agenda
for county employees retiring,
only after more than 30 years of service.

When Mrs. Fox announced her retirement in April 2012,
she stood to recieve another $44,500.

Mrs. Fox was not fired.

In August 2012, Guilford County's Commisioners voted
to give Guilford County employees a $250 bonus
and 40 hours of extra paid-time-off.
 
In May, 2012, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina 
moved to "independently" audit thier 2011 Real Estate Revaluation
after numerous complaints of innacurate real estate values.

Guilford County's unemployment rate went from about 5.5% in 2004
to about 10% in 2012.

I believe the statistical chances of the high end of revaluations going up
while the low end,
probably about half of which is owned by relatively local investors
goes down as significantly
is relatively slim to none.