What property appraiser candidates want voters to know before Election Day

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – As voters wrap up early voting in Jacksonville and prepare for Election Day next Tuesday, three candidates are vying for the residents’ vote for Duval County’s real estate appraiser.

Danny Becton and Jason Fischer are the two Republican candidates and Joyce Morgan is a Democrat.

News4JAX spoke with the contestants to learn more about what they think are their biggest challenges.

All of the contestants said technology was something they wanted to discuss.

“The local real estate appraiser’s office hasn’t updated their technology for the past 20 or so years and there’s no one better qualified to lead these technology upgrades than an electrical engineer like me. “Fisher said.

“Well, that was one of the biggest challenges that got me on the first day of this office was actually that this, the real estate appraiser’s office needs a major software deployment of their backend system , the camera system, which does all the assessments,” Becton says.

“Like anything else, it has a life cycle, and that life cycle is probably going to end very soon. So we’re going to have to reevaluate that and figure out the best system that will work for the Duval County Real Estate Appraiser’s office and implement that,” Morgan said.

While updating technology is essential, every candidate wants voters to know about the role of a real estate appraiser and how they want to run the office.

“We’re dealing with some 385,000 commercial and residential properties in Duval County, and that’s having a huge impact,” Morgan said. “It impacts our budget, as 52% of Duval County’s budget comes from our ad valorem taxes, property taxes, and those are the same taxes that support everything we do in the city of Jacksonville. .”

“It will be difficult in the years to come. As our county continues to grow because the real estate appraiser must appraise and touch every piece of real estate and every parcel in this county, which is growing to nearly 400,000 parcels,” Becton said.

“There’s no one better qualified to run this office to do these projects as well as do the actual ownership. The valuation work and the value adjustment board, I sat there,” Fischer said. .

One of the three candidates will replace Jerry Holland who is the outgoing real estate appraiser. Holland was elected to take over the role of election supervisor.