Muscogee tax assessors tried ousting board member. Now, he wants $50,000.

A member of the Board of Equalization in Muscogee County is seeking $50,000 from the city for expenses, lost wages and mental anguish stemming from an unsuccessful attempt to remove him from the board in 2016.

Alton Russell says he believes the Board of Tax Assessors’ effort to remove him from the position was in retaliation for his strong opposition to the “Thaw the Freeze” property tax initiative rejected by voters that same year.

“Within days of Mr. Russell’s appearance before the Columbus City Council, the Board of Tax Assessors and several of its employees initiated a judicial process to have Mr. Russell removed from the Board of Equalization,” wrote Russell’s attorney, Josh McKoon, in an October 24 letter to Mayor Teresa Tomlinson. “The motivation for this baseless act was to punish Mr. Russell for airing his views on a matter of public concern. In addition to initiating the action that was ultimately heard by the Muscogee Grand Jury, Mr. Russell was also subjected to another civil action in Superior Court to enjoin him from hearing cases in his role on the Board of Equalization while the meritless removal action was pending before the Grand Jury.”

The Ledger-Enquirer obtained information about the case via an open records request to the city as well as court documents filed with the Superior Court Clerk.

On Sept. 22, the Board of Tax Assessors sought to disqualify Russell as a member of the BOE and block his participation in all BOE hearings scheduled for the week of Oct. 17, 2016, according to a Request for Disqualification of a BOE Member filed with the clerk’s office.

The case was postponed in Superior Court while it was heard by a grand jury, and then eventually dismissed, according to court documents.

On Oct. 11, 2016, then-Superior Court Clerk Linda Pierce presented to the grand jury a complaint against Russell that was emailed to her by Deputy Chief Appraiser John Williams, according to an Oct. 25 court document.

“... The Grand Jury heard evidence on October 11 and October 25,” according to the document. “ After reviewing the evidence, by majority vote, the Grand Jury finds Alton Russell has not failed to perform the duties of a Board of Equalization member. As a result of this finding the Grand Jury does not remove Alton Russell from the board of Equalization.”

The Muscogee County Board of Equalization, appointed by the grand jury, is the body charged by law with hearing and adjudicating administrative appeals to property values and assessments made by the board of tax assessors. Currently, the board is divided into three groups — Board A, Board B and Board C. Each group has three board members and three alternates.

Russell, now chairman of the Muscogee County Republican Committee, said he doesn’t make the decisions independently, but in consultation with two other board members. He said the rulings are always unanimous, but he was the only BOE member targeted for removal.

“I was the only one that they said was pro-taxpayer and that I was not fair, and that I was anti-government,” he said. “And to some extent they accused me of taking a bribe, but they kind of backed off of that. It got kind of contentious.”

When recently asked by the Ledger-Enquirer why the BOTA sought Russell’s removal, Lomax said he did not think it would be appropriate to provide details since the case is already closed.

“We generally do not comment on any pending or past litigation, so I really don’t think we’re going to be able to provide any further insight,” he said. “There was a hearing on it, and he was not removed, and from our view point the door is closed.”

In response to Russell’s request for $50,000, attorneys representing the city wrote McKoon a Nov. 29 letter denying him compensation.

“Please be advised that this firm represents the Consolidated Government of Columbus (CCG) and has been asked to respond to the ante litem notice we received concerning your client Alton Russell’s claim against the Board of Tax Assessors,” wrote James C. Clark Jr., of Page, Scrantom, Sprouse, Tucker and Ford law firm. “The CCG denies any and all liability for Mr. Russell’s claim because none of the alleged unconstitutional acts stated in your letter were acts of the CCG.

Based on federal law, a county cannot be held liable for alleged constitutional violations, Clark argued.

“Rather, a county may only be sued for constitutional claims if an individual’s rights are deprived pursuant to county policy or custom,” he wrote. “... There is no such CCG policy or custom responsible for your client’s claims.

“Please be advised that if you choose to institute legal action against the CCG it will be vigorously defended and all available remedies including the imposition of attorney’s fees will be sought against your client,” he continued. “Any lawsuit alleging these claims against the CCG will be considered frivolous in light of the well-established law concerning municipal liability. As such we will pursue bad faith penalties for the filing of same.”

But McKoon, Russell’s attorney, believes the request for compensation is justified.

“Mr. Russell has been on the Board of Equalization for a number of years,” he said. “There was never any complaint about his conduct or decisions he made until he went down to a meeting of our City Council and exercised his First Amendment right to voice his opinion on the mayor’s proposal to alter the tax freeze. And then, within 24 hours of that he finds himself subjected to a complaint that required him to retain council and to fight a legal process simultaneously in the Muscogee Grand Jury and the Muscogee Superior Court.

“It was a lot of time, it was a lot of expense, it was mentally distressing and injurious to his reputation,” McKoon added. “... He was put through all of that for no apparent reason other than that some folks in city government were upset that he expressed his opinion on a matter of public concern.”

McKoon said the ante litem letter was sent to put the city on notice of a potential lawsuit, as required by law.

“It would certainly be our hope that the matter could be resolved without litigation,” he said. “We certainly don’t want more tax dollars being wasted on this ill-fated crusade against Mr. Russell. So, at the present time, there’s not a lawsuit pending. But Mr. Russell is, obviously, reserving all of his options, and we will pursue those as he deems fit.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2018 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Muscogee tax assessors tried ousting board member. Now, he wants $50,000.."