For Immediate Release Contact Jack Zettler

513/518-9067
October 13, 2008
Dean Langevin
513/942-2222
513/520-7244

Zettler claims Reynolds was caught lowering his

own tax valuation, then changes public records
Butler County’s Interim Auditor Roger Reynolds was set to give himself a significant reduction in his
home’s tax valuation while giving the average homeowner an increase in valuation of 5.95 percent,
according to Jack Zettler, Reynolds’ opponent in the upcoming November 4 election. After his
reduction was discovered on Reynolds’ own website, the interim auditor then engaged in a scheme
that changed the records so it appears Reynolds increased the tax valuation of his half-million dollar
Liberty Township home.

The claims come at a time home values have fallen, but Reynolds allowed flawed reappraisals to stand
without fighting the unfair and inflated tax valuations.

“On September 23, interim auditor Reynolds’ public records on his own website showed two tax
records that must be combined to yield the true tax valuation of a property.” said Zettler, the
Democratic candidate. “According to the auditor’s website on that date, Reynolds lowered his home’s
tax valuation by $20,720, which represents a four percent reduction.”

Zettler challenged Reynolds about the reduction during a meeting at which both candidates appeared.
Days later, the records on Reynolds’ website were altered so that the only record available falsely
represents that Reynolds’ tax valuation increased from $499,740 to $535,200. The amount now listed
still differs from the 2007 total tax valuation, which was $536,480, still representing a reduction in
value although not nearly what it was going to be, according to Zettler. The auditor’s own website on
September 23 showed that Reynolds was to accept a tax valuation amounting to $515,760.

“The fact that interim auditor Reynolds was going to give himself a four percent reduction is bad
enough after he raised property tax valuations an average of six percent to our Senior Citizens and
hard working homeowners,” said Zettler, “But now when he was caught giving himself a break, he
changed the records so that they now look like he increased his tax valuation. I contend that the
interim auditor is altering the records for his own political benefit. It’s just another political game.
Only when the Zettler campaign caught him giving himself a break were the records changed.”

MORE MORE MORE

Zettler contends that the interim auditor is taking advantage of a complex tax arrangement called a
Residential Incentive District (RID) where Reynolds planned to hide his tax value reduction. Under a
RID, a taxing authority can effectively freeze a tax value of a home for purposes of earmarking tax
funds from the homes in the district for a specific purpose. Any increases in the tax valuation of the
property is then listed on a second public record.

“It was on that second public record that the interim auditor Reynolds was set to get a 55 percent
reduction in his 2007 tax valuation, giving him a net four percent reduction when the two records were
combined,” Zettler said.

The value history of that second listing is no longer available for public review. Anyone checking that
listing now sees a heading “NO DATA.” The only record now available is the main listing that gives
an appearance to an uninformed taxpayer that interim auditor Reynolds incurred a tax valuation
increase.

According to a media report in the Journal News on Sunday, October 12, Reynolds claims the
information was in error.

“The only error is that the interim auditor forgot to hide the public records fast enough,” Zettler said.
“I find it interesting that he is doing all this within a month of election day and after our disclosure of
his records as of September 23.”

Zettler has also contended that the interim auditor has also lowered tax valuations for Reynolds’
political allies and several fellow office holders.

“Some unfortunate taxpayers had to receive substantial increases far in excess of six percent to
compensate for his reductions. But if taxpayers are interested in checking just how much the
decreases were, they better hurry in case those records are altered as well,” Zettler said.

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September 23
Screen Captures
showing Reynolds’
reduction in tax
valuation
October 13, 2008,
Screen Captures
showing Reynolds’
altered tax
valuation
records