Breaking: Jake Zimmerman's Father Sees Huge Drop In House Assessment, Neighbors Don't

Jake Zimmerman is running for St Louis County assessor on something he calls the FAIR plan.  These are two major points he wishes to emphasize. 

• Jake will be on the side of St. Louis families.  Families and small businesses deserve assessments with no special favors for anyone, and when Jake is elected, that is exactly what they will get.

• Jake will do whatever it takes to answer your questions, and will bring fundamental changes to the Assessor's office to ensure that the office is always there for you.

Let's see if he means it.

The St Louis County website allows you to look up property assessments by address. Jake's father resides at 736 Audobon.  Searching on the country website, we see this.

In 2010, The value of the  house drops from $687,100 to $572,800,000, a one year drop of almost 17%.  On it's own, this isn't that big a deal.  Many properties throughout the region fell in price.

And in real estate, what is important is what's happening in similar homes close to this one.

So let's take a look at them. 

 

This is an aerial map of the neighborhood, provided by the St Louis County office.  The numbers of the houses are posted on the roofs, and typing those in to the country search gives us the results.  

712 - Audobon - -$16,000

718 - Audobon - up $66,800

724 - Audobon - no change

736 - Audobon - (Stuart Zimmerman) - $114,300 decrease

800 - Audobon - $4500 increase

806 - Audobon - -$20,000 decrease

814 - Audobon - $4,300 decrease

7400 -Buckinghman - $86,400 increase

7401 - Buckingham - $15,200 decrease

7400 - Oxford - no change

7401 Oxford - $62,800 increase

Stuart Zimmerman's assessment dropped 16.635%.  The closest neighbors saw only a 2-3% decrease, with many receiving very large increases.

Jake Zimmerman is running on a platform of no special treatment, and of openness and responsiveness.  We believe that he has a responsibility to address what appears to be a clear example of favoritism for his father by the Dooley administration.

Charlie Dooley is currently under fired for playing favors with family members connected to his administration.  It may be that Temporiti may not be the only name that carries weight in St Louis County.

As for Stu.   A Stuart Zimmerman is also active in Jake's campaign, heading onto local websites to pimp his son's YouTube videos.   @StuZimmer on twitter is also working hard to push information about Jake, seemingly oblivious to the deal he got.  While we can understand the enthusiasm, we're a bit surprised why someone who benefitted so much under a Dooley appointed assessor would stick his head out in a campaign.

Is Jake Zimmerman going to act in a FAIR manner?  Will he do Whatever It Takes to answer our questions?

Start with these.  Did your father get special treatment from the Dooley administration on the assessment of his home?  Did you know about it?  Now that you know, will you look into who made the assessment, and how it was possible for your father to do so well when his neighbors received no such special treatment? Will you report your findings prior to the election, or will you refuse to answer and hope you can get elected before the story breaks? 

The Post-Dispatch editorial board is comfortable endorsing Jake Zimmerman for assessor.  Were they aware of the special treatment the Zimmerman name gets in assessments?  If not, does it change their collective minds?  At the very least, can they add some snark into the editorial post against Zimmerman, or is that reserved for Republicans only?  The Post Dispatch also reported on allegations by anonymous county officials that Charlie Dooley held off posting property tax notices until after a close election.  Will they look further into this information, or once again wait until after the election to discuss it?

 

 

Comments

[Brian Bollmann]

Just checked the PD web site for a story on Zimmerman's father. Crickets.

Do I need to say more?

[Al Schenbecker]

Anyone can hire a lawyer to review and appeal their assessment. My brother lives in an expensive town home and reduced his assessment considerably, yet folks in identical town homes weren't amended. This happens all the time.

[Jim]

Hey Al, so did Jake's father do this?

Was the fact that his son is a state rep and running for assessor have any impact on the decision to lower his assessment?

And will Jake look into this if he wins, or claim it happened before he too office?

That there could be a plausible explanation for the drop doesn't mean there is a plausible explanation.

And if it's true that rich people can hire a lawyer and drop their assessments, what does Jake plan to do about it.

It goes right to the heart of his qualifications. I was not aware that a lawyer was better prepared to determine the value of a home than an assessor. I do know they are more connected.