By: Robin Ford Wallace, Staff Reporter

At his tax appeal Nov. 5, Robert “Smokey” Russell read solemnly from a Dade County Sentinel article detailing tax valuation reductions made by the county this year in the cases of Shaw Industries, the Bank of Dade and County Executive Ted Rumley.

“If they can help some of these big companies, they should be able to help some of us small businesspeople on our taxes,” Russell told Judge Jon Bolling “Bo” Wood.

Russell, who owns Smokey’s Storage on Highway 136 East, was representing himself against the county in Dade Superior Court, but lest the reader intuit that this was a case of the little man ground beneath the heel of oppression, it must be pointed out that the tax valuation changes he referenced were made by the Board of Equalization, a body that had also reduced Russell’s own valuation during the same set of hearings.

And if there was a heel of oppression, it was attached to the gleaming size 13s of County Attorney Robin Rogers, or to the daintier footwear of his only witness, Chief Oppressor – whoops, Appraiser – Paula Duvall of the Dade County Tax Assessor’s office, neither of whom seemed particularly menacing during the Thursday morning court session. Indeed, the case was conducted amicably on all sides. 

The soft-voiced and courteous Russell told The Sentinel he was acting pro se in the case because one Trenton attorney, John Emmett, said he didn’t know much about taxes, and the other, Rogers, was on the opposing side.

Here are the issues as outlined by Ms. Duvall:  Russell is appealing the land value of three of four lots he owns on 136, she said.  The lot beside the one his storage buildings occupy he believes should be valued at $7,266, she said; a lower lot by Sunset Drive and the railroad he believes should be valued at $2,000.  Both lots were assessed for 2009 at $35,000. “In both cases, the Board of Equalization lowered them to $12,000,” said Ms. Duvall.

Finally, she said, Russell contends that the land his storage buildings are on should be valued at $1,000 per acre. The property as a whole is now valued at $450,100, she said, which is unchanged since 2006.

“His BOE value, which is $12,000 an acre, is lower than anybody anywhere remotely close to him as far as the land value,” Ms. Duvall told the Board of Assessors at its regular November meeting the preceding Tuesday. “He’s already paying lower taxes than anybody in his area.”

But Russell told The Sentinel that the land is bare rock and deserves a lower valuation. He is not appealing the value of the storage buildings, only of the land itself, he said.

At the hearing, Robin Rogers argued in closing that any issues had already been addressed by the BOE and that House Bill 233 in any case freezes land values at 2008 levels, so that there has been no harm to the taxpayer.

Russell waived closing argument, only asking the judge: “Just for you to be fair and honest.”

Judge Wood said he would take the matter under consideration and announce his decision shortly. The Sentinel will duly report his ruling when it becomes available.