Assessor Candidate Zimmerman Says He'd Seek to Rapidly Respond to Taxpayers
Chesterfield voters, along with others in St. Louis County, have two candidates to choose between on the April 5 ballot.
Voters in St. Louis County municipalities will elect an assessor for the first time on the April 5 ballot.
The choice comes down to a third-term state representative, Jake Zimmerman, and a real estate executive with 37 years experience, L.K. “Chip” Wood.
In this article, Chesterfield Patch profiles Zimmerman. A profile of Wood was published Jan. 27.
Jake Zimmerman
Democratic nominee Jake Zimmerman, 36, is a state representative from Olivette. He was elected in 2006 and is serving his third term. He served as deputy chief legal counsel to former Gov. Bob Holden, as assistant attorney general under Jay Nixon and as a litigator for the Thompson Coburn law firm. He has a Harvard law degree.
Zimmerman said the new assessor will face an urgent need to bring, accountability, fairness and responsiveness to the office.
“A lot of this comes down to treating people with basic respect, by treating them the way you would want to be treated,” he said.
Zimmerman said he wants no bureaucratic runaround when people call the assessor’s office. He would have positions whose main responsibility would be rapid taxpayer response.
“They are entitled to a quick call back from somebody who is on their side, willing to see the world from their perspective,” Zimmerman said.
He said a person who owns a $50,000 home has to feel they are being treated as fairly as the owner of a $500,000 home.
Zimmerman said he heard from people in his district who appealed their tax bill to the Board of Equalization and won, only to have their assessment raised 40 percent two years later.
“I would classify that as stupid government,” he said.
“They need to know that they’re not going to a kangaroo court, that they will get a fair review,” Zimmerman said. “You don’t make people pay for fighting the system.”
Zimmerman said he wants to ensure seniors aren’t taxed out of their homes.
Last year, he proposed a bill based on an Oregon law that would not allow government to collect real estate taxes to the point where a person cannot remain in their home.
“Instead, you treat it as a lien on the title, so you wait until the house is sold and there is income coming in to pay the taxes,” Zimmerman said. “That way, you don’t treat anyone differently, but you don’t tax anybody out of their home, either.”
Zimmerman said that as assessor, he would lobby for a similar law.
The assessor is in charge of the St. Louis County Assessment Division, which discovers, identifies, classifies and assesses all real and personal property in St. Louis County.
Every two years, the assessor’s office is required by state law to re-assess values on about 389,000 parcels of real estate in St. Louis County to market value. Property owners can appeal the assessments.
Residential property is assessed at 19 percent of market value. The assessed value is applied to tax rates set by local taxing entities, such as school, fire protection, the county library and other districts.
Mark A Wheeler
5:03 pm on Friday, January 28, 2011
I am going to vote for the person with the most experience at the job. I do not need another politician in the office that is going to keep the status quo. I have read information on both candidates and it seems Chip Wood looks like he has the experience needed to perform the job. Mr. Zimmerman is a career politician and has no experience in the business. We need a person from the industry to understand the process not a politician.
Mark
John Scapa
12:25 pm on Saturday, January 29, 2011
John Scapa
I have been through the assessment appeals process at St. Louis County and it is a waste of time. The assessments over the last four years have not taken into account the decline in the housing value. I want someone who has experience in the real estate field and who knows the appraisal system. Mr. Zimmerman's only experience is being a State Representative and he has no experience in the area of appraisals, assessments or real estate. If he is elected, he will be a puppet for County Executive Charlie Dooley and it will mean business as ususal.
Robert James
9:29 pm on Sunday, January 30, 2011
The people of St. Louis County decided to elect the assessor precisely because they didn't want a technocrat--that's what we had before. The reason to have an elected assessor is to have someone to call who will listen to our needs and bring the bureaucracy to heel. Given the choice, I'd prefer someone who has experience representing constituents and looking out for something other than his own bottom line.
We're electing our representative to run the office, not the best accountant in the land. Besides, all real estate developers want assessments to go up, as they're the ones selling you the property.
Ellen Harken
11:28 pm on Sunday, January 30, 2011
You are not going to have another "politician" in the office when you vote for Jake Zimmerman. He is his own man and stands by what he says. I agree that all real estate developers want is the housing assessment to "go up" because they are SELLING the PROPERTY - Duh! Think before you vote for someone else!!
Stuart Zimmerman
8:25 am on Monday, January 31, 2011
Jake Zimmerman is clearly the more qualified candidate.
Go Jake!
Stuart Zimmerman
7:46 pm on Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Police groups endorse Jake Zimmerman in St. Louis County assessor's race!
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/article_9bf320b0-2e1c-11e0-9514-00127992bc8b.html
Stuart Zimmerman
11:04 am on Friday, February 4, 2011
Three short weeks ago, Jake began his campaign in earnest because St. Louis County deserves an assessor that is responsive, accountable and fair. Jake’s experience and record of fighting for families makes him uniquely qualified for this office and everyone is taking notice. Early this week he humbly accepted the endorsement of the Eastern Coalition of Police, Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 15.
And now, Jake has also received the endorsement of the Professional Firefighters of Eastern Missouri, Local 2665. According to firefighter Mark Habbas:
“Our decision to endorse a candidate is based on their character, work ethic, and support for public safety. Our goal as firefighters is to keep our communities safe and we are endorsing Jake because he shares that goal.”
Jake is honored to have the support of so many first responders, and as County Assessor, Jake will continue working to ensure that their safety, and the safety of all St. Louis residents is a top priority.
Kathy Smith
4:57 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2011
Electing a real estate developer as County Assessor is like letting a fox in the hen house.
I will vote for Jake because he is fair and honest and still cares about real people.
Stuart Zimmerman
8:08 pm on Thursday, March 17, 2011
Here are two YouTubes featuring Jake ....one for 30 seconds and one for two and a half minutes. Would suggest you review them to see where Jake stands on the issues. Hope you'll support him and his FAIR plan on April 5.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgleII8fkVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pkz1b5EFZQ