Dobbs to remain as county assessor … for now

Brandy Dobbs will continue as Sequoyah County assessor… at least for now.

A jury trial scheduled for Monday morning in Muskogee County District Court was to decide if Dobbs should be removed from office. But the trial was postponed until “probably September.”

County commissioners have cited as many as 20 instances of “willful maladministration in violation of her statutory duties” against Dobbs. If those claims are proven, Dobbs would be removed from the position she has held since June 2021.

Judge Jeffrey Payton, who presided over hearings in March and April, had sent the matter to trial for Monday, and granted a motion for a change of venue. No court date or venue has been determined.

LeFlore County District Attorney Kevin Merritt, who was assigned to represent the plaintiff when Sequoyah County District Attorney Jack Thorp recused himself from the case, said Monday afternoon that the new trial date would be scheduled for “probably September” and “probably in Muskogee.” Merritt also said that, depending on courtroom schedules, there is a slight chance the trial could be moved to Adair County. The new court date will be scheduled during a time coinciding with when juries are impaneled at the venue outside of Sequoyah County.

Steve Hickman from the Tulsa law firm of Frasier, Frasier and Hickman is serving as legal counsel for Dobbs.

Commissioner Ray Watts

When the inquiry was launched, the county commissioners also sought the immediate suspension of Dobbs from the assessor’s office while the case made its way through the courts. But at the April 10 hearing that sent the matter to jury trial, both attorneys agreed that because of the short timeframe until Monday’s scheduled trial, suspension would not be needed. There has been no indication that because of the continuance of more than four months, if the commissioners will renew their request for suspension during the interim.

The county commissioners have accused Dobbs of allowing the assessor’s office in December 2023 and in December 2024 to be designated as Level One non-compliant by the State Board of Equalization (SBOE), such designation resulting from Dobbs’ failure to satisfy the requirements of the equalization study conducted by the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC). The county was the only county in Oklahoma classified as Level One non-complaint.

The assessor’s office was subsequently designated in June 2024 as Level Two non-compliant by the SBOE, despite what the OTC says were its numerous attempts to provide necessary guidance to the assessor’s office. Notably, the county is the only county classified as Level Two non-compliant.

Commissioner Beau Burlison

The commissioners believe the office remains on a trajectory for Level Two non-compliance by December 2025.

The commissioners further believe failures in the assessor’s office for tax years 2023 and 2024 resulted in a financial loss to the county and its school districts in excess of $600,000, losses that will continue to compound annually for years to come, and can no longer be rectified.

The commissioners claim that Dobbs’ actions affected the chargeable valuations used to determine state aid for school districts, leading to a shortfall of $400,000 in school budgets for 2024. The school budgets are expected to take another hit in August 2025.

In addition, the commissioners claim that failures beginning in 2020 resulted in a loss of about $250 million in taxable value, including an additional $82 million due to neglected adjustments, which compound year after year.

Additionally, the commissioners have cited instances of procedural failures, as well as clerical errors, discrepancies and insufficiencies that affect other county offices and county taxpayers.

Commissioner Jim Rogers

On Feb. 12, the commissioners voted unanimously to launch an inquiry for an accusation of removal of Dobbs as assessor, shifting Dobbs’ fate from the commissioners to the district attorney’s office. After that meeting, District 3 Commissioner Jim Rogers said audits that had been conducted and input received from the OTC were important in the commissioners’ decision to elevate the proceedings.

Because he represents all the county elected officials, Thorp recused himself from the case, and Merritt was assigned.

Charges leveled

The county commissioners claim that throughout her tenure as assessor, Dobbs engaged in willful maladministration in violation of her statutory duties under Titles 19 and 68 of the Oklahoma statutes. Those charges are that:

• On Dec. 1, 2023, by allowing the assessor’s office to be designated as Level One non-compliant by the SBOE, such designation resulting from Dobbs’ failure to satisfy the requirements of the equalization study conducted by the OTC for sales from Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022. That failure resulted in Sequoyah County being the only county in Oklahoma classified as Level One non-complaint.

• On June 17, 2024, by causing the assessor’s office to be designated as Level Two non-compliant in the 2023 equalization study by the SBOE, despite what the OTC says were its numerous attempts to provide necessary guidance to the assessor’s office, for sales from Jan. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023. Consequently this situation affected the chargeable valuations used to determine state aid for school districts, leading to a shortfall of $400,000 in school budgets for 2024 and will take another hit in August 2025. Notably, the county is the only county classified as Level Two non-compliant.

• On Dec. 1, 2024, by allowing the assessor’s office to be designated as Level One non-compliant due to Dobbs’ failure to satisfy the requirements of the performance audit conducted by the OTC, compounded by a lack of competency in valuing unsold properties, placing the office on a trajectory for Level Two non-compliance by December 2025. The county is currently the only county non-compliant in both the equalization study and the performance audit.

• From Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022, by failing to adjust the fair cash values of at least 80% of arm’s-length residential transactions for the tax year 2023, pursuant to a report by the OTC. This oversight resulted in a financial loss to the county and its school districts in the amount of $283,646, a loss that will continue to compound annually for years to come. Because these errors were not corrected in a timely manner, they can no longer be rectified due to the Frankenberg Law, and recovery is possible only if the properties sell again.

• From Jan. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023, by failing to adjust the fair cash values of at least 90% of arm’s-length residential transactions for the tax year 2024, pursuant to a report by the OTC. This oversight resulted in a financial loss to the county and its school districts in the amount of $320,896, a loss that will continue to compound annually for years to come. Because these errors were not corrected in a timely manner, they can no longer be rectified due to the Frankenberg Law, and recovery is possible only if the properties sell again. This also resulted in School District I-1 having to raise its millage.

• By failing to uncap the fair cash values of unsold properties in the county and adjust them with the market by 3% or 5% annually, resulting in valuations of about 70% to 75% of fair cash value from 2022 to 2024, 82% in 2021 and 83% in 2020, causing a total loss of about $250 million in taxable value, including an additional $82 million from 2021 to 2024 due to neglected adjustments, which compounds year after year. This is pursuant to a report by the OTC.

• On Sept. 25, 2024, by submitting conflicting timesheet records to the county clerk’s office for payroll and time accrual purposes. A fictitious time sheet was submitted to the county clerk’s office for employee Brody Nicholson for the pay period from Sept. 6, 2024, to Sept. 20, 2024, showing he worked on Sept. 13, 2024. Camera footage shows he did not report for work on Sept. 13, 2024. Numerous employees, from the time of their hire to current, have large discrepancies in the balance of PTO that the assessor shows and the balance the payroll department has on file.

• By a continued series of mistakes and failures in compounded and excessive errors to the tax roll which required correction, in which were not properly prepared causing an unnecessary burden and expense on the county treasurer and county clerk. It has resulted in the treasurer’s office staff working after hours, weekends and holidays from Dec. 7, 2024, to Jan. 26, 2025.

• By implementing changes to the tax rolls that failed to accurately reflect the names of record titleholders as indicated on recorded deeds or other duly authorized documentation, more specifically failing to change the name an address on parcels where a legal document has been filed of record to do so resulting in tax statements being sent to the incorrect person which causes a delay in collection, returned mail, many aggrieved taxpayers and additional hours away from regular duties being worked by the county treasurer and county clerk.

• By failing to maintain current and accurate records, including the timely and correct transfer of newly filed deeds with accurate details such as name, acreage and fair cash value as set forth in said deeds resulting in a numerous amount of corrections, clericals and omits. More specifically failing to change the name and address on parcels where a legal document has been filed of record to do so resulting in tax statements being sent to the incorrect person which causes a delay in collection, returned mail, many aggrieved taxpayers and additional hours away from regular duties being worked by the county treasurer and county clerk.

• By failing to accurately update title ownership records upon the filing of joint tenancy termination affidavits, transferon- death affidavits, probate decrees or other similar legal instruments evidencing a transfer of ownership. More specifically failing to change the name and address on parcels where a legal document has been filed of record to do so resulting in tax statements being sent to the incorrect person which causes a delay in collection, returned mail, many aggrieved taxpayers and additional hours away from regular duties being worked by the county treasurer and county clerk.

• By failing to maintain regular office hours and sufficient staff to adequately sere the public, in contravention of the standards articulated in the Reference Analysis of 1983 OK AG 219, by closing her office on Aug. 3, 2021 to Aug. 6, 2021, and by having insufficient staff on Aug. 2, 2022 to Aug. 5, 2022; Aug. 1, 2023 to Aug. 4, 2023; and Aug. 6, 2024 to Aug. 9, 2024.

Sequoyah County Courthouse

• By arbitrarily and erroneously removing taxpayers and property structures from the tax rolls, resulting in a substantial loss of revenue to the county.

• By failing to properly add new structures to the tax rolls despite receiving notifications from taxpayers regarding new construction, repeatedly overlooking these updates, resulting in significant revenue losses for the county.

• By failing to update taxpayer addresses despite specific notifications from the county treasurer, county clerk or taxpayers, resulting in the failure of tax statements for the subsequent year to be delivered to the correct addresses and causing numerous statements to be returned as undeliverable.

• By causing numerous erroneous tax statements to be sent, which resulted in the accrual of penalties, the filing of liens and the revocation of homestead exemptions for tax years 2018 through 2024.

• By repeatedly refusing to provide the county treasurer’s office with personal property records despite their requests, acknowledging that while these records are not public, they are essential for the treasurer to fulfill their responsibilities effectively.

• By misrepresenting the extent of the 2024 deed processing backlog to the OTC, claiming to be nearly current on Nov. 1, 2024, and Dec. 10, 2024, when data entry lagged significantly, only reaching 980 deeds on Feb. 3, 2025, after extreme pressure from the OTC.

• That the foregoing matters constitute sufficient cause for the removal of Dobbs from office pursuant to Title 22, Section 1181 of the state statutes.

OTC concerns

Emily Haxton, OTC external communications and press coordinator, said in a Feb. 13 prepared statement that the OTC “remains concerned about whether the Sequoyah County Assessor will take the necessary steps to address the assessment deficiencies that resulted in a Category II non-compliance finding by the SBOE. Additionally, there are ongoing concerns about the consistent application of proper valuation methodologies for Sequoyah County in future years.”

Furthermore, Haxton said the SBOE seems inclined to escalate penalties against the assessor’s office.

“During the December 1, 2024, SBOE meeting, some board members stated that if Sequoyah County’s assessment deficiencies are not corrected by the June 2025 meeting, they are prepared to move the county to Category III non-compliance,” Haxton’s statement said.

Steve Hickman

But Hickman says Dobbs has simply been following a course of action set forth by the OTC. He says whenever Dobbs was given a course of action, even if the plan deviated from the way the office had done business for years, “she’s gone in and done it differently.”

“In fact, she’s gone in and checked, what we in the legal business call the green books — the Oklahoma statutes, and found other things, and has corrected them,” Hickman said in defense of Dobbs.

“Ms. Dobbs has worked at the assessor’s office for a number of years, after she had worked in the real estate-related business many years before. She became chief deputy, and then when the county assessor resigned, the board of county commissioners appointed her, and she continued running the office as she had been taught,” Hickman explained. “About that time, the state has been more careful about teaching officers how to do their work. They’ve (the state) run a number of classes, and she and her staff have attended all the classes and learned a lot of things and have changed things, so she’s doing the best she can with what she knows, and as she learns something new, she does it right.”

Dobbs says she and her chief deputy are required to complete 60 hours of continuing education every three years, and that each member of her staff is required to complete 30 hours of continuing education in a three-year cycle in order to work for the county assessor’s office. Records show that Dobbs has completed 117 hours in the current cycle.

OTC memorandum

On July 15, 2024, Dobbs received an 11-page memorandum — Work Tasks for Compliance — from the OTC Ad Valorem Division. Not only did the SBOE place the county in Category II noncompliance, but provided Dobbs with a written plan “to enable Sequoyah County to attain acceptable compliance status” with the SBOE.

The memorandum stipulated that the OTC’s Ad Valorem Division would “provide general assistance and direction” to the assessor’s office, and will conduct “regular reviews of work progress,” as well as “make determinations about performance of the various work tasks required.”

The memorandum further stipulated that “existing data in the Sequoyah County CAMA database appears to be reasonably accurate and may be utilized to generate values for 2025,” and that the county had “requalified its 2024 sales to better match OTC rules.”

If the outlined approaches are performed by the assessor’s office, along with the Ad Valorem Division monitoring and reviewing the county’s efforts throughout the implementation process, then the SBOE would, at its June 2025 meeting, be in a position to move the county into compliance.

At the outset of the assessor’s office implementing the OTC plan, the Ad Valorem Division even rendered an opinion “that the Sequoyah County Assessor’s Office and staff, with continuing training and assistance, will be capable of implementing the proposed steps necessary to achieve compliance.”

According to the plan, which includes generally accepted mass appraisal methodology, current steps are for the assessor’s office to work with the Centers for Local Government Technology at Oklahoma State University (CLGT/OSU) staff to “create new residential neighborhood factors that match current sale indicated fair cash value.”

Brandy Dobbs

How it started

Discrepancies within the data in the county assessor’s office were discovered by Dobbs beginning in 2023, and she said her office began “diligently working” with the OTC and CLGT/OSU “to address and correct those discrepancies.”

“On July 12, 2024, my office sat down with the OTC and CLGT to outline a plan and steps necessary to rectify the discrepancies,” Dobbs said in August 2024, noting that in the month that followed “we have already completed most of the items in the plan, which we received from the OTC.”

“We are confident we will be successful in meeting all deadlines outlined in the plan. As always, the assessor’s office is here for the taxpayers of Sequoyah County to answer any questions or concerns,” said Dobbs, who has been county assessor since June 2021. Prior to filling the vacancy left with Kelly Miller’s departure, Dobbs served as deputy tax assessor.

Dobbs also informed the commissioners about what she found and steps being taken to resolve any concerns.

Confidence wanes

Following August’s executive session, Rogers assured that the commissioners were monitoring the progress within the county assessor’s office, and said the board is committed to supporting Dobbs.

“As county commissioners, it’s our job to make sure that we oversee and make sure that any situation that comes up, that we address that situation,” Rogers said in August. “We feel like at this point — we’ve had an opportunity to visit with the OTC — and they feel like there’s a lot of improvement going on there.

“I want everybody to know this right here — we want that office to be successful. We want you to have what you need to be successful,” Rogers told Dobbs in August. “We want her office to be successful, we want you guys to be successful, we want you to have what you need to be successful. The last thing we want to do is take anybody’s job.

“Like I said, the auditors have stated that things are looking good, that we’re getting to a point that things are improving. So hopefully we continue on that path,” Rogers said in August.

Burlison reiterated in August that the commissioners want the county assessor’s office — and every county office — to be successful, and Watts added, “We had all the confidence in the world of her — still do. All three of us appointed her. There’s a lot of confidence in Brandy.”

That confidence quickly waned for the commissioners.