On the Road with the Tax Assessor

00:00:00:01 – 00:00:03:21
David Martin:
This is the good government show.

00:00:03:26 – 00:00:45:51
Kasey Lee:
So an assessor is someone that actually goes out and evaluates property. As cliche as that sounds, I truly love working for the people. I’m a taxpayer too. I don’t want to have to overpay, so why should somebody else have to overpay? Before I was an assessor, I spent ten years in ditches. I’m most proud of the fact that I feel like I’ve bridged the gap between people being afraid of what county government can do versus what we can actually do for them.

00:00:45:56 – 00:01:02:15
Kasey Lee:
I think that gap of taxable citizens and the government is very rocky. Be the person that you want to deal with when you come into the building.

00:01:02:20 – 00:01:20:32
David Martin:
How much is your house worth? Your local tax assessor knows and you may not agree with him. But in Fulton County, Indiana, the tax levy created a program to help everyone to understand their tax bill. But more important, Casey gets out of the office and meets people where they are. Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m Dave Martin.

00:01:20:37 – 00:01:43:31
David Martin:
First, help us share the message of good government by liking us and sharing us where we are on social media. Make sure to review us too. We all need to talk about good government. So do you own a home or a building and you have to pay taxes on UG taxes, right? No fun. Well, I won’t say Casey is making it fun, but she is making it easier to understand the tax bill and to help citizens pay their correct bill.

00:01:43:36 – 00:02:02:26
David Martin:
She created a program called the Fulton County Assessors Mobile Office. The idea came to her from her mission to really help people in her county. She takes her office on the road on Saturdays all around the county. Then she extended her office hours. She’s made a difference at no extra cost. Just her time. Time she really didn’t have to commit to.

00:02:02:31 – 00:02:21:37
David Martin:
You’re going to hear from a very impressive public servant. The program is a success. It got off to a slow start. I mean, who wants to talk to the tax assessor? But now, when she shows up on a Saturday morning, there’s a line of people waiting to talk to her. That’s public service. We also talk about pork fried tenderloins and round barns and Tarzan, you’ll hear.

00:02:21:41 – 00:02:32:31
David Martin:
So coming up, Casey Lee, a National Association of Counties Achievement Award winner for taking her office on the road.

00:02:32:36 – 00:02:54:59
David Martin:
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00:02:55:06 – 00:03:17:57
David Martin:
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00:03:18:09 – 00:03:42:10
David Martin:
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00:03:42:24 – 00:03:58:13
David Martin:
Other people in government are really trying to do the right thing. That’s good news for lefties. Listen, we’re listening now. Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m happy to have with me Casey Lee, who is the Fulton County assessor of Fulton County, Indiana. Welcome to the show.

00:03:58:15 – 00:03:59:38
Kasey Lee:
Thank you. Good morning.

00:03:59:40 – 00:04:09:04
David Martin:
Good morning. We are here at the National Association of Counties, where you are about to receive an achievement award for something called the Fulton County Assessor’s Mobile Office. Correct?

00:04:09:06 – 00:04:14:09
Kasey Lee:
Yes, I’m very excited about that. It’s a huge honor for myself and my county.

00:04:14:14 – 00:04:16:50
David Martin:
And I’m sure your your entire team that put this all together.

00:04:16:52 – 00:04:18:04
Kasey Lee:
Yes, absolutely.

00:04:18:06 – 00:04:21:54
David Martin:
All right. So first let’s begin and explain to me where is Fulton County, Indiana.

00:04:21:58 – 00:04:33:14
Kasey Lee:
So Fulton County is about an hour and 45 minutes north of Indianapolis and about 45 minutes south of Notre Dame, right along 31.

00:04:33:19 – 00:04:37:44
David Martin:
And other than parking to, Notre Dame games. What brings people to Fulton?

00:04:37:49 – 00:04:42:26
Kasey Lee:
Well, we are known for Round Barn. So we have a lot of round barns.

00:04:42:26 – 00:04:43:04
David Martin:
Round barns.

00:04:43:04 – 00:04:44:18
Kasey Lee:
Around barns.

00:04:44:19 – 00:04:47:01
David Martin:
So yeah. Okay. I live in Brooklyn. You have to explain. Round barn.

00:04:47:01 – 00:05:02:25
Kasey Lee:
Sorry. It’s literally exactly as it sounds. It’s they’re very old. They’re round barns. They’re very historical. We have several of them in our county. Okay. We have a whole festival at one point surrounding the round barns. We’re also known for.

00:05:02:25 – 00:05:03:08
David Martin:
A round barn.

00:05:03:08 – 00:05:15:30
Kasey Lee:
Festival around barn festival. And our claim to fame is, from what I’m told, is we were the birthplace of the first Tarzan.

00:05:15:35 – 00:05:15:56
David Martin:
Really?

00:05:16:05 – 00:05:35:21
Kasey Lee:
Yes. So way back when, when the first Tarzan movie came out. That gentleman was from Rochester, Indiana. We have a very small museum on the side of the highway where we do, reenactments, because the Trail of Courage goes through the 31 corridor. And during that, you could go through the museum and they have a tribute to the Tarzan.

00:05:35:23 – 00:05:42:13
Kasey Lee:
The round barns. We’ve got several, round barns that were taken apart and reconstructed on that site as well. Okay. So, yeah.

00:05:42:13 – 00:05:45:06
David Martin:
It’s quite a bit of Tarzan in California, about the same.

00:05:45:06 – 00:05:46:12
Kasey Lee:
So that’s the same.

00:05:46:23 – 00:05:49:34
David Martin:
Now I have to add Fulton County, Indiana for my full Tarzan experience.

00:05:49:34 – 00:05:50:56
Kasey Lee:
Full Tarzan experience.

00:05:50:58 – 00:05:57:43
David Martin:
All right. You are the first person I talked to. You are the assessor for Fulton County. Let’s start here. What is an assessor?

00:05:57:48 – 00:06:21:29
Kasey Lee:
So an assessor is someone that actually goes out and evaluates property, whether it’s real property or personal property, for the purpose of taxation being applied to it. So we evaluate everything from, the business, the business side, industrial. What’s in it as far as, air conditioning, coolers, you name it, we cover it. The same with houses.

00:06:21:29 – 00:06:24:30
Kasey Lee:
We also evaluate geothermal and solar panels.

00:06:24:32 – 00:06:26:04
David Martin:
So you are. You are the tax man.

00:06:26:06 – 00:06:28:42
Kasey Lee:
I am the tax man, I am tax.

00:06:28:46 – 00:06:29:13
David Martin:

00:06:29:18 – 00:06:36:42
Kasey Lee:
Yeah. The debt. Okay. I’m the tax woman. All right. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea for about three months out of the year.

00:06:36:44 – 00:06:37:37
David Martin:

00:06:37:42 – 00:06:39:23
Kasey Lee:
Other than that, people are good with me.

00:06:39:24 – 00:06:41:11
David Martin:
Are people happy to see you? Whether you are us?

00:06:41:16 – 00:06:54:54
Kasey Lee:
Not usually. Oh, really? Not usually. So it’s it’s once every. So it’s a four year system that happens. Our county is broke up into four different districts. And every year, you know, we cover a district and after four years we start over.

00:06:54:54 – 00:06:57:21
David Martin:
So every four years you go back a year.

00:06:57:21 – 00:06:58:49
Kasey Lee:
We go back and start over.

00:06:58:51 – 00:07:06:32
David Martin:
Let’s take another look at this round barn and see where we are. How did you are you an accountant? What’s your. Are you a financial person?

00:07:06:33 – 00:07:34:11
Kasey Lee:
I am none of that. Never in a million years did I think I was going to be doing assessment work. But I love doing government work. So, there, as cliche as that sounds, I truly love working for the people and helping them navigate things and understand things. And so me going out and doing work in the assessment field allows me to have a lot of conversations with people to help them understand things and what they need to do and what they can do.

00:07:34:11 – 00:07:35:38
Kasey Lee:
That doesn’t hurt them much.

00:07:35:38 – 00:07:38:07
David Martin:
As I realized after the conversation. Oh, she’s not so bad.

00:07:38:12 – 00:07:41:26
Kasey Lee:
Yeah, I make more. I make more friends than enemies, usually.

00:07:41:28 – 00:07:56:23
David Martin:
Good, Well, a long, long, long time ago, we had someone on from the IRS, and it was her job to explain, you know, the IRS services. And one of the things she said was, look, we don’t want to take your money. We want to take the money that we’re supposed to have. Right. And we’re here to help to make sure that you pay the correct amount.

00:07:56:24 – 00:07:57:54
David Martin:
I mean, is that a similar issue?

00:07:58:01 – 00:08:17:37
Kasey Lee:
It is very similar. I do not want people to be over evaluated and pay more taxes than they need to. So I try to give them every tool they can. If there’s a will, there’s a way, right? I give them every chance they can to help me through the process so they aren’t over evaluated. And they’re not paying too many, too many taxes.

00:08:17:51 – 00:08:22:40
David Martin:
So you’re actually even though that they may not be happy to see you at first, you’re actually helping them out by showing up.

00:08:22:44 – 00:08:31:38
Kasey Lee:
Yes, absolutely. I pride myself on that. So I’m a taxpayer too. I don’t want to have to overpay, so why should somebody else have to overpay?

00:08:31:40 – 00:08:35:06
David Martin:
Fair enough. Fair enough. What did you do before you were assessor?

00:08:35:11 – 00:08:42:04
Kasey Lee:
Before I was an assessor. I spent ten years in Dutchess. It’s get literally. And just so I was a.

00:08:42:04 – 00:08:43:08
David Martin:
Structured trade, so.

00:08:43:19 – 00:09:04:19
Kasey Lee:
I run, I was a deputy surveyor for my county for ten years prior to doing what I do now. So basically surveying work, for a county level is, ditches, farm field. We survey water, so we lay tile. We do drain plans for businesses to make sure they’re not having water encroach on their neighbors.

00:09:04:24 – 00:09:17:06
Kasey Lee:
We used to have a lot of smaller homes that were original to some of our lakes. People would come in, buy that property, take it down, and then they’d build a huge house, flood out their neighbors. So we make sure that doesn’t happen from water runoff.

00:09:17:06 – 00:09:21:06
David Martin:
So your next job, something completely different. Life guard. What do you say to.

00:09:21:11 – 00:09:23:24
Kasey Lee:
Congress? How about that?

00:09:23:29 – 00:09:25:16
David Martin:
All right then, Congress.

00:09:25:21 – 00:09:25:44
Kasey Lee:
Why not?

00:09:25:46 – 00:09:29:16
David Martin:
Would you like to kick off the Casey Leaf for Congress campaign right here? The good government show.

00:09:29:18 – 00:09:31:56
Kasey Lee:
Not yet, but I but I may circle back to that same year.

00:09:31:58 – 00:09:43:10
David Martin:
All right. Well, good. We will be here now as a result of having people not wanting to overpay on their taxes. You have created the Fulton County Assessor’s mobile office. Tell me what this is.

00:09:43:11 – 00:10:06:57
Kasey Lee:
So from my understanding, I’m the first person to do that anywhere. Really? Yes. So basically, what happens is I take everything that I do in my office, I put it out into the county areas, all the different townships I travel to through the month of May to about mid-June. Okay. And when I do that, I typically get four hour window gaps for people.

00:10:07:02 – 00:10:11:32
Kasey Lee:
I do it on Saturdays from usually about 8 or 9 in the morning for about four hours.

00:10:11:46 – 00:10:12:22
David Martin:
So we’re done.

00:10:12:31 – 00:10:33:04
Kasey Lee:
Yeah. And then I also, open my office till about 8:00 at night, a couple times a week, where people can come in and have conversations. Because what I found is that a lot of times, being a rural county, there’s a lot of people that commute out and it’s we also have, a large lake presence where we have second homes.

00:10:33:08 – 00:10:45:45
Kasey Lee:
So people that live out of state don’t always have the opportunity to come in and have conversations. You can email us, you can call us, but it’s not the same as being able to show people in person and explain things on their car.

00:10:45:46 – 00:10:47:43
David Martin:
And they bring on their receipts and.

00:10:47:48 – 00:10:58:22
Kasey Lee:
Everything. Yes, it is so much easier to do in person. So I thought, we’re going to start doing this out into the public. And it was a slow start, but I’m three years deep in it. And usually when.

00:10:58:33 – 00:10:59:36
David Martin:
You’ve done been doing this for three years.

00:10:59:36 – 00:11:00:07
Kasey Lee:
I’ve been doing.

00:11:00:07 – 00:11:01:40
David Martin:
This. All right. Let’s go back to the beginning.

00:11:01:42 – 00:11:02:02
Kasey Lee:
Okay.

00:11:02:13 – 00:11:05:36
David Martin:
You’re there. You are taking your shower, and you go. I have an idea. How did this happen?

00:11:05:47 – 00:11:17:01
Kasey Lee:
So I was running for office, and I said, I am so sick of the government being terrible to people. I’m going to do something that’s going to help them. And this is what came out of it. My mobile office.

00:11:17:03 – 00:11:18:11
David Martin:
Where did you come up with the idea?

00:11:18:13 – 00:11:24:39
Kasey Lee:
Just, I, you know, I just I don’t know how I came up with it one day. I was just doing something and great ideas.

00:11:24:39 – 00:11:25:05
David Martin:
How I need.

00:11:25:05 – 00:11:41:20
Kasey Lee:
To start doing things for my community outside of my office. Okay. And I went to my commissioners, and I went to my council, and I didn’t ask them if I could do it. I just said, I’m going to do this. You can either give me your blessing and say it’s okay or you you don’t, and I’m going to do it anyway.

00:11:41:25 – 00:11:59:40
Kasey Lee:
And they gave me they gave me their blessing. I promised him it wouldn’t cost him any money. No one has paid for the time of this. We just go out. There’s no mileage being paid on it. This is all just out of our free time and good nature. So we go out into the community and just talk about everything.

00:11:59:45 – 00:12:01:17
David Martin:
How many people do you have that do this with you?

00:12:01:20 – 00:12:15:59
Kasey Lee:
It is just me. Oh, so my staff person, it is just me. My staff works in the background. They’re more than welcome to come. And I’ve offered it to them, but I. I do not force my staff to come and work.

00:12:16:00 – 00:12:18:17
David Martin:
They have. They all have have made it out.

00:12:18:22 – 00:12:44:00
Kasey Lee:
You know, I have had some people that’s popped in and checked. I mean, they’re like, hey, do you need help? And this is the first year I probably could have used help in the fields because now when I go to my mobile locations, I actually have a line of people waiting for me before I got there. So it went from maybe 2 or 3 people would show up in my different areas to now I have a line of people and then I have people that are call me that are so upset that they missed it.

00:12:44:05 – 00:12:54:09
Kasey Lee:
They will ask me if I will come to their property, you know, hey, I’m going to be I’m going to go in my house on a Saturday. Will you come? And I’ll and I’ll go there and I’ll stand in their yard and go over stuff.

00:12:54:14 – 00:12:56:27
David Martin:
So the tax assessor makes house calls.

00:12:56:27 – 00:12:59:06
Kasey Lee:
I make house calls. Wow. People love it.

00:12:59:13 – 00:13:00:43
David Martin:
I bet I people love it.

00:13:00:44 – 00:13:11:43
Kasey Lee:
So I yeah, I house call and I have had one. I have a lot of Mennonite and Amish in my community. I had one that asked me to come out to the farm, and they brought other families into it.

00:13:11:48 – 00:13:13:02
David Martin:
Please tell me. There was a round barn.

00:13:13:07 – 00:13:14:14
Kasey Lee:
There was no round there.

00:13:14:15 – 00:13:14:33
David Martin:
Okay.

00:13:14:35 – 00:13:34:56
Kasey Lee:
They don’t do the round barn. Oh they don’t. No, they don’t do the round barn. And I didn’t get any good cooking out of it either, so I was kind of sad, but I know. But I go in there and they call in other families, and they have a conversation with me. So, I, I try to come across very easy going because I don’t want people to be afraid of what we do or why we’re there.

00:13:34:56 – 00:13:39:30
Kasey Lee:
It’s not a trap. I think at first people thought it was a trap. Right. But then the words.

00:13:39:44 – 00:13:40:34
David Martin:
Look very scary.

00:13:40:36 – 00:13:47:15
Kasey Lee:
I’m not. I’m not like. So it’s gone. Well, I’m going to keep doing it until I’m not there anymore.

00:13:47:17 – 00:13:53:11
David Martin:
So this is way beyond the scope of typical government, you know.

00:13:53:11 – 00:14:14:42
Kasey Lee:
Offices. It absolutely is. And and when I’m out there, I cover things beyond my office. So even though I have left surveying, I have people that tell me that a field tiles broke and they’re, you know, they’re losing crop because the water won’t go away. So I take that back and I talk to my surveyor. I have people, I check exemptions when I’m in the field.

00:14:14:42 – 00:14:27:03
Kasey Lee:
So, you know, if they’re missing, they’re over 65 credit or they’re missing a homestead. I tell them how they can go get it. I bring a lot of paperwork with me into the field so they can fill it out there, and I turn it in for them.

00:14:27:18 – 00:14:28:46
David Martin:
This sounds like very good government.

00:14:28:46 – 00:14:47:28
Kasey Lee:
And it is good government, and I love doing it. I wish I could do it longer, but that window from May to mid-June, it’s there for a purpose because in my state that’s your appeal period, May, June 15th. So I go out and help people understand how they can appeal property that we have wrong.

00:14:47:33 – 00:14:50:23
David Martin:
And I’m guessing you don’t want to work every weekend.

00:14:50:28 – 00:15:05:28
Kasey Lee:
Well, no, I actually I’m involved in a lot of other things. Different scopes of my work kick in after that appeal process is done, and I just don’t have enough time to go out there because reassessment starts in my county. After that.

00:15:05:36 – 00:15:05:59
David Martin:
I say.

00:15:05:59 – 00:15:14:20
Kasey Lee:
And we’re back looking at properties again. And so I that’s just a slower time period for me. And that’s why that’s why I go out and do it.

00:15:14:24 – 00:15:16:12
David Martin:
So this is a three year old project.

00:15:16:25 – 00:15:17:27
Kasey Lee:
Three year old project.

00:15:17:28 – 00:15:20:28
David Martin:
And what’s the progression been over the three years.

00:15:20:31 – 00:15:28:09
Kasey Lee:
So I would say so at the end of my first year I think I only had 17 people.

00:15:28:13 – 00:15:28:28
David Martin:
Okay.

00:15:28:30 – 00:15:56:27
Kasey Lee:
And and I was kind of I felt a little defeated. And I think some of the people that gave me their blessing to do it were, were thinking, okay, this wasn’t going to work. But I told them, I’m still going to keep doing it. This year. I did over 120 people. Wow. Yeah. And when I started, people that would appeal, it used to be, we would have maybe 80 appeals that would go to a board to, try to change their tax values.

00:15:56:36 – 00:16:10:04
Kasey Lee:
By the time I’m done explaining everything. I would say about 70% of them withdraw. And now, before they even appeal, I’m down to maybe having 1 or 2 that go to a board to appeal their property.

00:16:10:18 – 00:16:13:56
David Martin:
What’s the biggest reason why people engage you and meet with you?

00:16:14:01 – 00:16:43:20
Kasey Lee:
Because their value has gone up overall and they don’t understand why? Because they haven’t done anything to improve their house. So they look, we as Indiana, we send a sheet out, and it has to be mailed by law before May 1st. And it shows a comparison from the previous year to the current year. And a lot of times, the land might not change unless it’s agricultural, but the valuation of their buildings when there’s a home always does because there’s market factors involved.

00:16:43:21 – 00:16:44:55
Kasey Lee:
There’s all sorts of things involved.

00:16:44:55 – 00:16:47:01
David Martin:
In the cost of real estate always goes up. Right? Right.

00:16:47:01 – 00:16:52:48
Kasey Lee:
And and most people don’t understand what’s happening, why it’s happening, where it’s going to go from there.

00:16:52:50 – 00:17:06:14
David Martin:
How do you explain that? How do you say. Yes? I know you’re and I’m totally making up these numbers, right? I live in Brooklyn, so my numbers are going to be different than yours, right? But last year, your house was worth $100,000. This year it’s worth 125,000. How do you explain that?

00:17:06:19 – 00:17:15:17
Kasey Lee:
I look at everything, and they. Some of them I’ve seen every year, and I look at it every year. And most of the time, it has to do with the market factor and sales.

00:17:15:17 – 00:17:16:00
David Martin:
Do they understand.

00:17:16:00 – 00:17:23:20
Kasey Lee:
They can’t help? By the time they leave me, they’re they’re still not happy, but they understand. And you know, I, I’ve had people.

00:17:23:20 – 00:17:23:51
David Martin:
Call you part.

00:17:23:51 – 00:17:41:32
Kasey Lee:
Friends. Yeah. And sometimes, sometimes, I very rarely have had anyone say, you know what? I just don’t get this. I throw their arms up and leave. I make sure that they have my attention as long as they need it. And I explain it as best as I can to them and break it down as simply as possible.

00:17:41:37 – 00:17:44:03
David Martin:
What about this project are you most proud of?

00:17:44:08 – 00:18:11:16
Kasey Lee:
I’m most proud of the fact that I feel like I bridge the gap between people being afraid of what county government can do versus what we can actually do for them. So in educating them, they educate me a little bit. And, I think overall when when people are done, they come to my office. First things that we have nothing to do with, but we make sure they get to the right spot going forward.

00:18:11:26 – 00:18:15:26
David Martin:
So they come in with all kinds of questions about highway problems or parking problems.

00:18:15:33 – 00:18:32:31
Kasey Lee:
I really do believe from phone calls, emails, people come in and we walk them to where they need to be. We stay with them until they get their questions answered, because I find that a lot of people don’t know how to ask what it is they need. So when they start explaining it, once we get it, we get them to where they need to be.

00:18:32:31 – 00:18:38:36
Kasey Lee:
And once we’ll ask them, are you okay? Do you want us to go? And they either say yes or no. My staff is excellent at that.

00:18:38:41 – 00:18:51:13
David Martin:
Have you, have you? I don’t know quite how to put this. I have you shaved. Have you shaved other government officials in your county into, being a little more, outgoing or having a little more outreach?

00:18:51:27 – 00:19:13:19
Kasey Lee:
A little bit? Not much. I do have, there is another office. The recorder’s office. They work very well with people, you know, they they go over and above, and and I feel like it might be catching on a little bit, but I think most of the time when people, say something about what I do, I think it low key kind of irks some people.

00:19:13:23 – 00:19:19:04
Kasey Lee:
But that’s okay, I don’t care. I, I do me and I do it for the people. I it doesn’t matter to me if.

00:19:19:09 – 00:19:26:08
David Martin:
What would you tell someone in another, county or another city about what it is that you do and you know how beneficial is to set it up.

00:19:26:11 – 00:19:50:28
Kasey Lee:
You know, it is immensely beneficial because I think that gap of taxable citizens and the government is very rocky. And it helps so much to be a good liaison for that and break down those barriers, because everyone’s had a bad experience at the DMV. They just assume government in general is going to be awful, or they’ve had a bad experience with the IRS.

00:19:50:28 – 00:20:09:40
Kasey Lee:
So everyone at local governments going to be awful. And that’s not how it works. So I, I would highly encourage, you know, everyone to try to step out of their comfort zone and their own offices and just be a good person, be a good human, and be the person that you want to deal with when you come into the building.

00:20:09:40 – 00:20:16:08
Kasey Lee:
So, you know, I’m always trying to to push people to do, do better, including myself there. There’s always room for improvement.

00:20:16:09 – 00:20:18:07
David Martin:
So all right. Always room for improvement.

00:20:18:07 – 00:20:18:31
Kasey Lee:
Always.

00:20:18:42 – 00:20:22:58
David Martin:
What’s the next what’s the next step. What’s the next level of this program?

00:20:23:02 – 00:20:30:14
Kasey Lee:
Well I’m going to keep doing it. Well, okay. We’ll see. We’ll see where it goes from here. But I always have.

00:20:30:19 – 00:20:32:14
David Martin:
Are you happy with it? Are you happy with it? Or is the.

00:20:32:14 – 00:20:37:51
Kasey Lee:
I am very happy with it. I don’t know that there’s anything I tweak about right now. And.

00:20:37:51 – 00:20:47:37
David Martin:
This is for people who, you know, they work 9 to 5 and can’t get to the office, or they work too far away and and, you know, it’s, too long a drive and they can’t make it in the time that you’re there.

00:20:47:37 – 00:21:10:52
Kasey Lee:
And we close at 4:00. Oh, okay. So who and and if you. So if you appeal your property and you have to go to the board, it’s during the day, which means you have to take off work. Why should I penalize you and make you leave your job where you might catch a point, or you don’t have the ability because you work in a factory to call me, so you can’t have a conversation and I take work home with me.

00:21:10:52 – 00:21:26:29
Kasey Lee:
So if I can’t get to your phone call, if people want to talk to me, they get me. So if I can’t get to your phone call and my 8 to 4, I’ll take a stack of paper home. I’ll sit in my home office. I call people from home. I tap into my stuff through my laptop. Okay. So I, you know, I.

00:21:26:29 – 00:21:30:09
David Martin:
Hear your husband is sitting right next to us as we talk. Should we bring him into the conversation?

00:21:30:14 – 00:21:36:15
Kasey Lee:
Here’s what this should all be like. I gotta I gotta go to the office and work for a little bit, or I’ve got to call these people. I should do the dishes.

00:21:36:15 – 00:21:36:58
David Martin:
I’ll be right back.

00:21:36:58 – 00:21:42:55
Kasey Lee:
Yeah, I so I’m there’s that window. I just, I belong to the people and that’s where I’m at.

00:21:42:55 – 00:21:51:22
David Martin:
All right. Well, it is called the Fulton County Assessors mobile office. Yes. It certainly sounds like good government. So that was the easy part. Coming up, we’re going to get to the hard part.

00:21:51:22 – 00:21:55:48
Kasey Lee:
Okay. All right.

00:21:55:53 – 00:22:19:30
David Martin:
The Good Government Show is sponsored by our. That’s. Oh you are for our community. Get involved. We hear that all the time from government leaders. Our co-branding with your government’s name and logo, your staff and the people you serve are connected and part of your community. From any device your members provide reliable data and meaningful feedback. Ask a question like, do we want more parkland or better homeless services?

00:22:19:43 – 00:22:31:25
David Martin:
More engaged conversations come through the our app. Visit our Co that’s who you are.com and book a demonstration.

00:22:31:29 – 00:22:54:56
David Martin:
After you get done with this episode, hear more good government stories with our friends at How to Really Run a City for mayors. Kasim Reid of Atlanta and Michael Nutter, a Philadelphia, and their co-host, journalist and author Larry Platt talk with guests and other mayors about how to really get stuff done in cities around the nation. Check them out where you’re listening now or through their nonprofit news site, The Philadelphia Citizen.

00:22:55:01 – 00:23:08:21
David Martin:
Dot org slash podcasts. So we have a few questions we’d like to ask everyone here who’s a guest on the show. Sure. You’ve been in government, the county government for it sounds like about 20 years now.

00:23:08:23 – 00:23:09:46
Kasey Lee:
What, 16, 16?

00:23:09:46 – 00:23:11:52
David Martin:
I was 16, right? To define good government.

00:23:12:06 – 00:23:45:20
Kasey Lee:
To make good government is being a good steward of the people. It’s being open is being useful properly of their tax dollars, not overspending. It’s listening to them just because people are talking and you hear them doesn’t mean you listen. Now, you can’t make everyone happy, but you have to find common ground. And when you find that common ground for the people that feel like they’re being left out, you need to have that conversation so they understand either why it can’t be included or where we’re going in the future with it.

00:23:45:31 – 00:23:53:27
Kasey Lee:
So to me, good government, it’s more than just one act. It’s the whole encompassing of just doing your best for the people.

00:23:53:27 – 00:23:57:09
David Martin:
And if the people don’t like what you’re doing, if they’re frustrated, what should they do?

00:23:57:16 – 00:24:15:19
Kasey Lee:
Have a conversation. I find that there’s a lot of people that you can have that conversation with and they’re yes, people, they’re going to make you feel good that you’ve you’ve left them and you’ve been heard, but they’re going to turn around and not do anything with that. And I think that frustrates me the most in government.

00:24:15:24 – 00:24:28:38
Kasey Lee:
But, you know, if if you feel you aren’t being heard, go to someone else. Or I always tell people, find me, I am your best advocate, okay? Because I will either, you know, I will either fight as best when.

00:24:28:39 – 00:24:31:22
David Martin:
You knock on the door of the county commission. Did they say, oh, what did you want?

00:24:31:22 – 00:24:37:04
Kasey Lee:
Now sometimes I feel like I call and they’re like, oh God, no. All right.

00:24:37:09 – 00:24:40:27
David Martin:
So what drew you to public service? What what, what made you do this?

00:24:40:40 – 00:25:02:05
Kasey Lee:
I’ve always been a people person. Always. And I love being able to help people fix problems. So when I went into the surveyors office, and I. And I got a job there, I was fixing things for farmers. And I loved that. And I miss that job, and I love that job, but I needed to move on. I had the absolute best boss I could ever have.

00:25:02:05 – 00:25:23:40
Kasey Lee:
And he was a very good steward of government. He taught me a lot. And really, I thank him a lot for everything he’s shown me and how to deal with employees, to how to deal with the public. And, you know, he always said the most you can do is truly listen to what they say. Because when people are mad, all they want to do is vent and know someone hears them.

00:25:23:53 – 00:25:29:27
Kasey Lee:
But then take what they say and figure out what you can do to help them. And if you can’t help them.

00:25:29:27 – 00:25:30:28
David Martin:
What’s the real problem?

00:25:30:29 – 00:25:34:06
Kasey Lee:
Find you know. Get them to the area that can help them.

00:25:34:08 – 00:25:35:56
David Martin:
What did you study in college? What did you do?

00:25:35:56 – 00:25:36:57
Kasey Lee:
So I, I see.

00:25:36:57 – 00:25:38:28
David Martin:
Some of your like a history major or something.

00:25:38:41 – 00:25:46:50
Kasey Lee:
Yeah I, I love history. I actually have an associates degree in environmental science okay. So applied science.

00:25:46:50 – 00:25:49:05
David Martin:
So, so helping farmers is in the wheelhouse.

00:25:49:07 – 00:26:09:08
Kasey Lee:
Yeah. Helping farmers is in the wheelhouse. But then I saw there was a need across the hall, in the assessor’s office. And in my time, I thought was pretty well at a close for doing ditch work. And, and I jumped ship and went across the hall. I still help out. And the surveyors office, you know, they they run stuff past me and say, hey, what’s your thought on this?

00:26:09:22 – 00:26:18:15
Kasey Lee:
What do you think we should do with this? So I still kind of get involved with that a little bit, but you know, assessments I it’s a whole different animal. But I really love it.

00:26:18:25 – 00:26:20:24
David Martin:
Who inspires you? Do you have like a political hero?

00:26:20:31 – 00:26:27:19
Kasey Lee:
Ronald Reagan is like my favorite. He is my favorite president. Really? But of all.

00:26:27:19 – 00:26:27:50
David Martin:
The presidents.

00:26:27:57 – 00:26:36:49
Kasey Lee:
All the presidents. But I am a lover of American history, so this is a perfect place for me. When I’m done here, I’m going to take a little tour.

00:26:36:49 – 00:26:38:33
David Martin:
Oh, we’re in Philadelphia. Okay.

00:26:38:37 – 00:26:41:12
Kasey Lee:
Okay. Yep. It’s it’s my thing.

00:26:41:12 – 00:26:44:06
David Martin:
So did you always see yourself in public service?

00:26:44:21 – 00:26:56:18
Kasey Lee:
No, I never saw myself in public service. I actually in the 80s, I was a page for the 106, representative session. Oh. So, I did.

00:26:56:29 – 00:26:57:23
David Martin:
At the state House, the.

00:26:57:23 – 00:27:09:12
Kasey Lee:
State House in Indiana, and never after that did I think I would ever be in government. I actually had aspirations to to be in the medical field. Okay. So, you know, life, you weren’t.

00:27:09:17 – 00:27:09:57
David Martin:
A senior class.

00:27:10:00 – 00:27:17:51
Kasey Lee:
No, I was not president in the senior class, but, yeah, I, I jumped into government and I’ve embraced it full on. So.

00:27:17:58 – 00:27:21:55
David Martin:
So you’re the county assessor. What would you like people to know about your job?

00:27:21:59 – 00:27:46:29
Kasey Lee:
I think what people need to know about my job is we are there for just the valuation of of the buildings itself, not what’s in it, not how you take care of it. Not the landscape around it. We are totally different than an appraisal for a bank or for real estate. Really, all we care about is the construction of it, how it’s made, how old it is.

00:27:46:34 – 00:27:51:47
David Martin:
16 years in government, two different departments in government. What would you like people to know about government?

00:27:51:52 – 00:27:54:27
Kasey Lee:
It is. It is tricky.

00:27:54:32 – 00:27:54:54
David Martin:
Okay.

00:27:55:06 – 00:28:06:27
Kasey Lee:
It is tricky. It is full of red tape, but it is always navigable. Always. You just have to find someone that’s willing to help you understand.

00:28:06:32 – 00:28:07:42
David Martin:
What’s the best part of your job?

00:28:07:54 – 00:28:17:26
Kasey Lee:
The people. Yeah, I love it. I love my interaction with the community and the people I love. The people come to me and they look for answers. I love that I can help them.

00:28:17:26 – 00:28:21:13
David Martin:
What keeps you up at night, though? Oh, everything.

00:28:21:20 – 00:28:46:15
Kasey Lee:
Everything keeps me up at night. Policies. What? We’re not doing good. What we need to change. Why people won’t change it, and the yes people. Why they’re not doing their follow through. That. That really bothers me. It really bothers me because we’re small. Yeah. And you know, when you’re smaller, it’s more noticeable. And I don’t like it when we are not doing the best we can for our citizens.

00:28:46:20 – 00:28:54:56
David Martin:
So you’ve talked a little bit about, Fulton County and you talked a little bit about the, I think Mennonite and the Amish that did not feed you what you were looking for. No, I don’t cookie.

00:28:54:56 – 00:28:56:24
Kasey Lee:
I just wanted to you.

00:28:56:29 – 00:29:04:27
David Martin:
So if I was coming to Fulton County and I was going to try the one dish you must have. What is the cuisine of Fulton County? What are we having in farm country?

00:29:04:31 – 00:29:07:03
Kasey Lee:
Pork fried tenderloins.

00:29:07:07 – 00:29:08:19
David Martin:
Pork fried tenderloins.

00:29:08:21 – 00:29:15:29
Kasey Lee:
They are the size of a dinner plate. It’s a sandwich. That is, it’s. I find that you don’t find it much outside of Indy.

00:29:15:31 – 00:29:16:21
David Martin:
I’ve never heard of it.

00:29:16:21 – 00:29:34:12
Kasey Lee:
So. Yeah, a tenderloin, bro. You know, you can get them grilled if you’re feeling a little health conscious. But let’s face it, if you’re eating a pork sandwich, what is truly health conscious about that? Okay, so it’s a deep fried tenderloin. You could get them at our fairs. Almost all the restaurants serve them. It is a thing. And they are massive.

00:29:34:17 – 00:29:35:35
David Martin:
Pork fried tenderloin.

00:29:35:39 – 00:29:37:18
Kasey Lee:
Fried tenderloins.

00:29:37:18 – 00:29:42:17
David Martin:
All right. So this is other other than working at going to the county center. What do you do for fun?

00:29:42:22 – 00:30:05:20
Kasey Lee:
So this is terrible. So my son is actually doing work within the Republican Party. So I’m the president of the women’s Republican group. I’m a vice chair for, the Central Committee. For that, I’m a delegate to the state. So my fun is actually we go out, we do a lot of service projects, within the community.

00:30:05:20 – 00:30:30:39
Kasey Lee:
We promote business with women. So, but I take the Republican values away from that. We’re just there to help. I know that sounds bad, but we’re there to help support our community. And to me, that doesn’t say no. I’m a Republican. Taking that that label off of me, we are there to, just promote the business as a whole and and just for community awareness and, and spend some money there and help out.

00:30:30:39 – 00:30:39:10
David Martin:
So we’ve talked about the Fulton County Assessor’s mobile office project that you’re about to win an award for. Give me another example of good government in action that you’ve had a hand in.

00:30:39:24 – 00:31:11:26
Kasey Lee:
Oh, geez. So I’m actually part of. Yeah, I’m also part of the emergency management. So good government is when we have a mass of volunteers that go out when there’s a crisis and without asking, we just go in and help. We cut trees, we clear roadways, we bring people out of floods. We bring food. There’s there’s all sorts of stuff that we do on the emergency management side that go beyond just directing traffic for festivals or fireworks or what have you.

00:31:11:28 – 00:31:41:18
Kasey Lee:
You know, when when there’s an actual need. We go out, we take pictures. We’re a gateway to FEMA for people. So there’s to me, that’s good government as well. It’s funded at at the source by the county taxpayers. But there’s a system of volunteers in the background. And those people, to me, they’re excellent example of good government, because if it wasn’t for the government being there, they wouldn’t be volunteering in this capacity.

00:31:41:23 – 00:32:03:50
David Martin:
Tracy Lee, the Fulton County assessor, the first assessor we’ve had of the show. So thanks for that. Congratulations on the Fulton County Assessors Mobile office on your achievement award. It sounds like really good government and, you’re seemed to be as quite a self-starter and plowing ahead with it. And I’m sure it’s a service that everybody who uses it really appreciates it.

00:32:03:50 – 00:32:08:55
David Martin:
Especially when someone from government, actually you know, does a house call. That’s that’s pretty incredible.

00:32:08:59 – 00:32:40:43
Kasey Lee:
Yeah. I, I thoroughly enjoy it. And thank you for having me. I was thrilled when your title is Good Government, I actually have a good government initiative that I do good. And it’s, it’s partnering with the school systems to teach them and help them understand what they do once they grow up. So I partner with them through their, senior government class, and I can go in and talk to them about what it’s like to own a home, what what it’s like to understand your taxes, mortgages.

00:32:40:43 – 00:32:45:18
Kasey Lee:
Like, I cover the whole gamut. More good government, more good government initiative.

00:32:45:18 – 00:32:49:23
David Martin:
So, Tracy Lee, Fulton County assessor, congratulations. Thank you for coming.

00:32:49:30 – 00:32:53:16
Kasey Lee:
Thank you.

00:32:53:20 – 00:33:11:13
David Martin:
Want to hear more about good government? Check out another show I host leading Iowa good Government in Iowa cities. I host the show with Brad Cavanaugh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talk to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

00:33:11:17 – 00:33:19:47
David Martin:
Join us right here. We listening now that’s leading Iowa. Good government in Iowa. Cities.

00:33:19:52 – 00:33:39:05
David Martin:
I really like this. She said her goal was not to make people afraid of government. I’m sure we’ve all had rough experiences waiting in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or zoning laws that don’t make a lot of sense or badly time road construction. As Casey Lee says, government is tricky, but she wants to bridge the divide to show that government can help.

00:33:39:10 – 00:33:56:40
David Martin:
I really like how she directs her staff, she tells them, be a good person, be a good human. Be the person you want to deal with. When you walk into a government office. If everyone did that, government would improve for all of us Congress. I hope she runs. Good luck, future Representative Casey Lee. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening.

00:33:56:40 – 00:34:16:58
David Martin:
Please like us and share with your friends and review us right here where you’re listening, and check out our website. Good Government show.com for extras. Help us keep telling stories of good government in action everywhere. Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

00:34:17:03 – 00:34:38:39
David Martin:
The Good Government show is a Valley Park production. Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin, that’s me and David Snyder are the executive producers. Our show is edited and produced by Jason Stershic. Please subscribe, then share and like us and review us. That’s the best way to make sure we’re able to keep telling these stories of our government working for all of us.

00:34:38:54 – 00:34:54:02
David Martin:
Then listen to the next episode of The Good Government Show.

00:34:54:07 – 00:34:56:47
Narrator:
This podcast is part of the democracy Group.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.