Jeff Baker for Hamilton County Treasurer

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Here it is night first one with a forecast. Got
a partly cloudy day with isolated chance of rain. High
at seventy four overnight, It's going to be partly cloudy
night down to fifty one. Sunday's guys, Tomorrow sixty two
with clear skies over night thirty seven for the low
and another sunny day on Sunday, highest sixty.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Three forty eighth degrees.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Right now, time for traffick update Chuck Ingram.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
From the UC Health Tramping Center. When it comes to stroke,
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is your clear choice for rapid life saving treatment. Learn
more at you see help dot com. Step Bend seventy
five continues heavy through Middletown. That's thanks to the right
lane blocked off from debris and the roadway. Then just
a bit slow coming out of lock. One extra minute

(00:44):
or two is all you'll need, no delay, pass an
accident after Western Avenue. Chuck Ingram on fifty five KRC
the talk station. It is eight twenty nine. If you
got k see the talk station.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
A very happy Friday to you and in studio, and
I always love when folks come in studio makes it
a lot easier to have a conversation, and a conversation
we will have with Jeff Baker. He is running for
Hamilton County Treasurer. Sometimes not an office people paying a
real close attention to, particularly in a presidential year when
the news is dominated by you know, Bernie Marino, Sherif Brown,

(01:24):
and of course Trump and Harris. But we do have
down ballot races, including the all important Hamilton County prosecutor race.
Go please and vote for status quo here we need
to keep Melissa Powers. But in studio running for Hamilton
County Treasurer, Jeff Baker. It's a pleasure to have you here, sir.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:43):
Brian appreciate the opportunity to come out and introduce myself
and talk a little bit about my campaign to those
who may not know who I am.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well, if you want to find out more about Jeff,
just go to Facebook and type in Jeff Baker for
Hamilton County treasure It'll pop right up.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
You'll get that.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
So let's dive in your background qualifications for treasurer. Let
me hear what you got to say about that and
satisfy my listeners.

Speaker 4 (02:09):
Okay, Well, first of all, a little bit about myself.
I am in my second term as Corean Township fiscal officer.
I am a Christian father of two beautiful young ladies
eight years old and thirteen years old, a husband, and
I have over thirty years experience in business and finance,

(02:32):
so it kind of goes back to runs the gamut
from banking to insurance. I was a small business owner
for a while, and I've been involved in government here
locally for about thirteen years.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Fair enough, sounds me a good financial background. Well enough anyway,
But let me ask you this. As Hamilton County Treasurer,
you obviously running for a reason. You see something that's amiss.
What do you see that needs to be trained, ins form, change,
or otherwise made better through let's say your leadership?

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Sure?

Speaker 4 (03:05):
Well, For first of all, the Treasurer's office currently is
in dire need of professional leadership. And why I say
that is you know, there are three main characteristics of
the Treasurer's office. There is obviously the proper collection of
property taxes, the safe keeping of those property taxes, and

(03:26):
the proper disbursement. So whether that disbursement is going to
the local school district or the zoo or the library
or where wherever it may be. You have to ensure
that the correct funds are going to the proper disbursement.
So I want to key on a couple of things.
First of all, I think that there's a lack of

(03:47):
transparency in the office. I think that Hamilton County property
tax owners have a right to know where the funds
are sitting, where they're being what they're being invested in,
and if they're properly kept safe. And it's come to
my attention, well it's public record, but there is currently

(04:09):
a case in Common Police Court where an employee has
been indicted on felony theft charges. And you know, you
can't necessarily blame the leadership for someone that's going to steal.
But what I believe you can do is do a
better job of having safety nets in place to keep

(04:29):
those employees from being able to steal, such as being
able to run void receipts. Someone comes in and makes
a cash payment for their property taxes. That person that's
taking that property tax payment should not have the ability
to put that cash in the drawer and later in
the day run a void receipt for that transaction and

(04:49):
pocket the money, and oh wow, that can be done
under the current it can and has. Is that the
allegation involved in the suit you're referring to, Oh okay,
and it's actually not a law suit. It's actually a
felony theft charge.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Well stated, it's a criminal charge.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
So not only that, but I've also heard from people
regarding this case that have tried to request public records
and they've been ignored. You know, as a as a
fiscal officer in Corny Township, I can tell you that
you can't just ignore public records requests.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
We get a lot.

Speaker 4 (05:23):
I'm sure other townships do as well, but I respond
probably to about five hundred public records requests a year,
so I know how important it is, and I know
the ramifications of not providing those.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, and I was just gonna say, there are I mean,
there are laws on the books that obligate you to
respond to public relectate records requests within a certain time
parameter are there not.

Speaker 4 (05:44):
It's a little vague in terms of specific time, but
it's within a reasonable manner, and when you're talking about
the county level, that reasonable manner should be pretty quickly.
You know, this this allegation happened back in February and
wasn't reported until April, So you got to question yourself
as to why it took so long for anything to
be done about it. And if I could add a

(06:06):
little bit to that, you know, the current treasure has
been in office for less than four years, and I
think back of the twenty or so years that the
previous treasurer was in office, Robert Gerring, and I can't
think of a single time that someone was indicted on
filling and theft charges because it didn't happen, right, So
it boils down to and again, you know, you can't

(06:28):
blame any individual for someone else winning to steal. But
what you have to do is you have to be
more involved. Best practices, yes, and you have to have
safety nets in place to keep them from being able
to do so. And as a treasurer, I could tell
you I will do that. I will make sure that
you can't print avoid receipt. I'll do that on day one.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
It sounds like a simple solution. Tell you what.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
We'll pause, we take a break here, we'll continue with
Jeff Baker running for Hamilton County Treasurer again. Check them
out online at Jeff Baker four, Hamilton County Treasurer on Facebook.
Stick around right here fifty five k SE.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
The Talk station fifty five KRC, Vote for sure.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
There it is.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
In my first twenty one forecast, we have a partly
cloudy day to day, possible isolated rain in the highest
seventy four every night, down a fifty one, partly cloudy skies,
sunny the weekend. Both days will be SUNNYCA high of
sixty two on Saturday, and we'll see a high of
sixty three on Sunday and sandwich in the middle of
overnight low of thirty seven with clear skies forty eight
degrees Right now. Traffic time.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
From the UC Health Traffic Center. When it comes to stroke,
every second counts. That's why U see Comprehension Stroke Centers,
your clear choice for rapid life saving treatment. Learn more
at UCHealth dot com. After a rough start this morning,
highway traffic in pretty good shape right now South Pound
seventy five. The last of the slow go and that's
just for an extra minute or through Lachland. There's no

(07:51):
delay passed. What's left of an accident near Western Avenue.
Chuck Ingram on fifty five KRC, The Talk station.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Hey, thirty eight and fifty five krs the talk station.
Hope you're having a wonderful Friday. We've you got some
great plans going on for the weekend too. Oh and
real quick here before you get back to Jeff Baker,
who is running for Hamilton County treasure My friend Maureen
wanted to remind folks, and I'm certain she is accurate
that the Bernie Marino Tucker Carlson event, which originally was

(08:23):
slated to kick off at doors open at noon, kicking
off at one. Now she told me the doors are
actually opening at eleven and the event begins at noon.
So if you're planning on going to that, you got
to arrive on early. You have to RSVP and check
in and all that. So I just want to let
you know, put a little of that out there as
valuable information so you're not late. Back to Jeff Baker
on his page at Facebook, Jeff Baker for Hamlon County

(08:46):
treasure Treasurer is not responsible for setting the tax rate.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Do you just pick? You just the collector, right, That's
that's right.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
You know, I don't want to go to bibylical references
about tax collectors, but you didn't set the rate of taxes.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
That is true, That is true, or what you won't.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Set or be your treasure does not.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
I should more properly say.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
That's right, and as Hamilton County treasure I won't for
those listening who think, oh I know that guy, he
can help me out of my tax bill. There isn't
anything that the Treasure can do regarding what the taxes
are assessed at. However, I feel like there is an
ability for the Treasure to be an advocate for those

(09:30):
property owners. And when I say that is because it's
up to the Treasure when those assessments are collected and
if someone has a dispute, which a lot of people
will have recently regarding the twenty twenty three assessments. When
you have people who have those disputes, I think that
it should be a common practice to allow them to

(09:54):
go through the dispute process before paying that property tax
and not having to just go ahead and pay it
and say, okay, we'll figure it out later.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
It seems to be the proper order of things. Yes,
there's a time value of money in that homeowner can
keep the money in his or her possession until the
whole thing's adjudicated.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
So I like that idea.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
That's right, and and the the current Treasurer is telling
those individuals that, you know, there's nothing I can do,
you know, the state requires me to collect these in
a certain and a certain time print that that that
actually is inaccurate. In fact, the the assessment appeal process
has set timelines as well, and those are being delayed.

(10:32):
So if the assessment, uh, you know, reevaluations per se
can be put off, then so can the payments. And
I think that that's where the advocacy of the current
treasures is falling short. And I think you have to
be you have to understand, you know, when when she
makes a blanket statement that, oh, they're only they've only

(10:53):
gone up ten percent, well, I don't know where that
figure is coming from, because mine went up more.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
Than Yeah, a lot of people had a thirty percent bump,
some even more.

Speaker 4 (11:03):
Yes, it's it's it's it's been extreme. And I believe
there will be you know, some laws in place to
limit those with at the state house level. But we
can only hope, you know, we can only hope.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
But yeah, like, no more than x percent in any
given kind of you know, assessment period. I mean, there
has to be a limit to as long as there's
limited property and a unlimited demand. You know, the loss
is applying to mand the price of those homes just
going to continue to go up.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
That's right, that's right, And it's it.

Speaker 4 (11:35):
You know, from the outside looking in, I would see
I can see where some people might say, well, it
looks to me like it's a cash crab. Well, we'll
correct it later, we'll lower them later, but in the
meantime we're going to collect a little bit of extra money.
And I don't know, you know, I don't have any
proof of that. I don't know if that's the case
or not, but that's certainly what it what it looks like.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, and I personally don't have any proof whatsoever that
the auditor's office has done anything unto in terms of
the valuation of the property. Sure, they got comps in
the area, they know what things have sold for, they're
good at valuing the market and so. And it's really
not like the old days where you can just make
a phone call to your buddy in the auditor's office
and have your taxes lowered. My dad used to take

(12:15):
advantage of that. He's dead now, so he's not going
to have to suffer any consequences. But there was cronyism
back in the old days. But that's I would say
that that process, I suppose he is more transparent, even
though the news is really really bad for the tax payer.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Well, you would think.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
Going back to the transparency issue, though, I think if
you go online to the treasure's office, there is little
to no information that you can find out about what
you're paying and where your money is going, or what
it's being invested in, or how it's being dispersed. In fact,
I would argue that the only thing that you will
see is the contact address for the treasure's office and

(12:53):
a nice picture of the current treasure I think taxpayers
deserve more than that. I think they should be able
to go on and see where those funds are being
invested in, where they sit, when they're being dispersed. And
I will go a step further. I will ensure that
you don't unless it's mandatory. I will make sure that

(13:14):
you don't have to look at a picture of me
when you log on. It will show something else that's
that's nicer looking, you know, maybe a picture of the
city or something.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
Like that I always joke I have a face for radio.
So yeah, it's like here, hell's let's focus for a
moment on this whole component of investment because I asked
you off, Mike, I said, are these in fact investment invested?
And you said yes, and of course subject to rules
and regulations and whys and wherefores. But you know, much
like the railroad sale resulted in the money being placed

(13:44):
in an investment account and hopefully it makes a lot
of money and interest for the city, these dollars just
don't sit in a just plate plane, zero interest cash
pile waiting for it to be dispersed. They're actually invested.
Are you Does the Treasurer have control over who manages
those funds in the investments?

Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well?

Speaker 4 (14:04):
Yes, part of the part of the safe keeping aspect
of the Treasure's office is making sure that the funds
are safely invested, that they're not just sitting there in
an account waiting to be spent, that you're actually getting
some return on them. But there are limits, and there
are many regulations as to what you can invest those in,

(14:24):
what type of funds you can invest those in.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
Okay, so.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
I suppose within the limits that you mentioned there the
legal limits. Okay, you can only invest in this type
of you know, double A rated whatever kind of fund.
Do you have control over where the money is invested
within the confines of the law, sure, okay, yes you would.
And investment advisors are they retained to do this or
is it just the soule?

Speaker 2 (14:50):
Okay?

Speaker 4 (14:50):
And and and again those are those are limited to
being approved through the right through the right orders. But
you do have certain you know, I I you know,
you do have certain decisions that you can make as
as treasure as to to what to invest those in.
You just have to be careful and you're limited to

(15:11):
some of those. But again it goes back to no
one would know that because you can't find that information
out currently, right.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
So you're running on a campaign of transparency and I
supposed to a certain degree best practices at least in
so far as security of the money is concerned.

Speaker 4 (15:27):
Right and and being available again, I've i've I've seen
reports and heard from people personally. You know, when you're
when you're putting yourself out there and you're running for
an office and you know, uh, someone else has an
objection to how that office is being run, you get
contacted by people, and I've I've I've been contacted by

(15:48):
individuals who have said, look, I've tried to reach out
and speak to the treasure and they've flat up. Untild
there's there's under no circumstances will you be able to
speak with the Hamilton County treasure And I told you
off air too. I know that it's not possible just
to say, Okay, I'm just gonna sit around and I'll
let anybody contact me whenever they want. That's not you know,

(16:08):
that's not that possible either. But at the same time,
I would never sit here and say can't talk, you
can't contact me. I will make myself available, and I
will make sure that ham Much County property tax payers
have the ability to reach out to the person who's
in charge of the safe keeping of those funds if
they need to have a conversation. I will make myself

(16:29):
I can assure you that I will make myself available
to those taxpayers.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
All right, And back to your point about not having
to pay the tax bill. While your claim for lowering
the tax rate is being adjudicated, that review process, that's
the review is done.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
By the Auditor's office.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Correct, Correct, So you would have to coordinate and play
nicely with the Auditor's office to accomplish your goal, because
I suspect that would force the auditor to have to
do a quicker review of the appeal.

Speaker 4 (17:00):
There's a board that that does that as well, and
the auditor is part of that. Yes, and quite honestly,
the auditor and treasurer work very closely together on a
daily imagine, on a daily basis, so when a cash
strawers turned in each day at the Treasurer's office, that
those funds are are double checked and accounted for also

(17:21):
by the treasure or by the by the Auditor's office.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
So they work that closely together.

Speaker 4 (17:25):
A lot of the the programs that are used are
are intertwined together between the.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
Treasure's office and the Auditor's office.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
There's I would be working very closely with the Hamley
County Auditor to ensure that the money is where.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
It's supposed to be and it's being invested in where
it's supposed to be.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
I just I just feel like the the Hamilton County
property tax payers should be able to see that as well.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
Now, fair enough, it's our money, we certainly should I'm
a firm believer in transparency, maybe even more than some
people are even comfortable with. And so before we part company,
Jeff Baker again, it's Jeff Baker for Hamilton Treasurer Online.
I remember one of the things Dusty Rhodes. He ran
as a Democrat. We all know dust he's probably more
conservative than most Republicans in a listening audience, but he

(18:10):
was able to shrink the size of his office through
natural attrition. He thought they were overstaffed. He didn't go
around just firing everyone, but when people left, he didn't replace,
So the place got smaller, but it also got more efficient.
So my question to you is do you perceive the
Treasure's office as having is overstaffed like so many government

(18:31):
offices are. Do you believe it'd be adequately staffed right
now or is it something that you'd have to look
under the hood once you're elected.

Speaker 4 (18:37):
Probably the latter statement. I think I would have to
evaluate that when I'm there. It's not exactly a huge
office at the moment. Anyway, twenty some employees, I want
to say, but again, there's no organizational chart online, so
you really can't find that information out well, or the.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
Budget for that matter.

Speaker 4 (18:59):
But that would certainly be as someone that is considers
himself very fiscally conservative, that would certainly be one of
the very first areas I would look at to see
if there's a way to save money, because the money
that you're saving in that office ultimately goes back to
the taxpayers of Hamilton County and exactly, and that's what
your responsibility is as a treasurer.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Maybe I should have established at the outset that you
are fiscally responsible and that motivates you, because I just
took it for granted. Ed Ye, how you got the
Hamilton Kunty Republican endorsement? You are on the pink slip right.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
I am, And I'm also endorsed by the FOP.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
Oh wonderful, that always is a solid endorsement here on
the fifty five KC Morning Show because we do love
our law enforcement officers. Well, Jeff, I wish you all
the best rapidly approaching the election we are, but given
the seemingly more conservative shift the nation might be going
through right now, got a good chance of winning. And
if you do, I sure hope you do a great
job as the Hamilton County treasure.

Speaker 4 (19:56):
I certainly appreciate it and I look forward to being
hamlet I know you do.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Jeff Baker. Great having you in the studio, and thanks
again for the effort on that one. Folks will have
a couple of minutes left when we get back, and
we will be back in just a couple of minutes.

Speaker 4 (20:09):
Stay right here at fifty five Karsiti Talk Station fifty
five KRC some