Sheriff removes sister from job that paid her nearly $142,000 in 2009

DAYTON — Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer suspended his sister from her job appraising foreclosed homes for his office on Friday, Jan. 8.

Plummer is seeking an Ohio Ethics Commission opinion on the legality and ethics of employing his sister, Kimberly Solomon, in a job that paid her nearly $142,000 last year.

Plummer temporarily removed Solomon, who lives in Butler Twp., a day after the Dayton Daily News raised questions about her employment by his office.

“After thinking about it, I wanted to make sure it’s legal, (that) it’s not unethical having her working as an appraiser,” Plummer said.

Solomon, who declined comment, was hired in 2005 by Plummer’s predecessor, Sheriff David Vore, to do appraisals for properties sold at sheriff’s auction. Since Vore hired her, Plummer said he thought she was “grandfathered in” and could continue working for him when he was appointed sheriff in mid-2008.

“She’s not happy,” said Plummer. “Nobody’s here to cheat the system. She was hired from a previous sheriff.”

Solomon was paid $273,183 in 2008 and 2009 to appraise 3,024 properties, according to the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts’ office.

“My reaction about the sister is elected officials can’t have relatives working directly for them because it erodes the public trust,” said Montgomery County Commission President Dan Foley, a Democrat. “In the case of the sister, I think that the public is going to question that. Period.”

Although Plummer says anyone can apply for the job, 10 of the 11 appraisers who worked for the sheriff’s office in 2009 are registered as Republicans. Plummer and Vore are also Republicans. Five of the appraisers are former sheriff’s office employees. Seven of the appraisers or their spouses donated a total of $6,750 to Plummer’s 2008 campaign.

Plummer said politics did not govern the hiring of the appraisers and they are qualified to do the work.

The appraisers are not paid with taxpayer money, nor are they county employees. They are paid through fees deposited by attorneys for banks and mortgage companies in foreclosure cases.

Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith, a Democrat, called for a change in state law to “take away any question of patronage or any favoritism.”

Ohio sheriffs have a lot of freedom when hiring appraisers

A decades-old state law gives county sheriffs near total freedom to hire whoever they want to appraise properties for sheriff’s sale.

The law requires that the sheriff appoint “three disinterested freeholders, residents of the county” where the property to be sold is located. Other than that there are no requirements for training, licensing or previous experience in appraisal.

Robert Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association, said the law works fine.

But the practice has been controversial in recent years, with allegations of political patronage and dismay over the amount of money the appraisers earn as foreclosures hit record levels. Sheriffs in Butler, Hamilton, Lucas, and Cuyahoga counties have all come under fire in recent years.

The cost of the appraisals is inflated by the state’s requirement that three people appraise each house. The minimum per property fee for each appraiser is set by the local county court of common pleas and varies widely from county to county. In Montgomery County it is $85, but payments can be higher.

Appraisers must view the house, take pictures, get inside if they can and then independently come up with an appraised value, which is then averaged and becomes the price upon which the minimum bid at sheriff’s auction is set, said Chief Deputy Mike Nolan.

Nolan said the appraisers do 17 to 75 appraisals a week.

Although it is not required, Plummer mandates that all appraisers take an appraisal course. Two of the 11 appraisers used in 2009 are licensed Realtors, Nolan said. The others have no appraisal certification.

Plummer said he replaced two appraisers hired by Vore with two others because he wanted to have more expertise and more women.

He is also concerned that retired county employees who work as appraisers are “double-dippers” getting pensions and the appraiser payments.

“I’m looking at the whole system, revamping it as time goes on,” Plummer said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7455 or lhulsey@DaytonDailyNews.com.