Talk:John Noguez

Correction to Noguez page--justification

I hope I am doing this right; I'm sorry for not posting this explanation before the deletion. I'm new to this. Let me know if I'm screwing this up again. 76.79.193.98 (talk) 17:23, 7 January 2014 (UTC)Theo1954 (talk) 17:25, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

Here is a comparison of the deleted statements in the article and the actual facts:

“Among the properties to receive illegal tax cuts were those owned by Douglas Emmett Inc., …”

The entry incorrectly states as if it were fact that the tax reductions received by Douglas Emmett were “illegal.” In fact, even the article cited never concluded they were illegal, and only raised a question about whether there might be special treatment based on a poorly designed statistical comparison of certain valuation reductions for a few of Douglas Emmett’s properties with others chosen by the Los Angeles Times.[1] Indeed, later in its investigation, when focusing on persons actually under investigation by the DA, the Los Angeles Times itself observed that “The 2010 and 2011 tax refund checks coincided with a sharp downturn in property values, and it is unclear whether the assessor's reevaluations for [these unrelated] properties were out of the ordinary.”[2] Neither Douglas Emmett nor Mr. Kaplan ever employed the tax agents named in the corruption scandal.[3] Unlike the cases which the authorities have been pursuing,[4] there is no allegation that the reassessments of Douglas Emmett’s properties did not include the full process and complete documentation, and none of them was included on the list of 100 to 200 suspect transactions provided by the Los Angeles District Attorney.[5] And in the two years since the investigation of Mr. Noguez started, Douglas Emmett and Mr. Kaplan have never been contacted by any authorities with respect to this matter.

“…whose chief executive Jordan Kaplan and wife were Noguez's top campaign contributors in the 2010 election.”

       The entry incorrectly implies that the Kaplans contributed more than anyone else to the campaign, and that their contributions represented a significant percentage.  In fact, although the Kaplans contributed the legal maximum of $10,000 to Noguez’s campaign,[7] their donations only amounted to about 1% of the money raised by the Noguez campaign,[8] and was no more than those of other contributors.[9] Mr. Noguez was endorsed by 5 of the 6 county supervisors and overwhelmingly won the election.

“In Noguez's first year in office, 23 tax reductions were granted to Douglas Emmett Inc.”

The entry incorrectly cites the article for a claim that 23 tax reductions were granted to Douglas Emmett in 2010, although no such number appears in the article cited. The actual number of properties whose values were reduced was significantly lower, and represented a small minority[10] of Douglas Emmett properties in the County and a tiny portion of the properties receiving reductions.[11]

By substituting “Noguez’s first year in office” for either “2010” or “following the market crash,” the entry insinuates that the increase in the number of reductions for Douglas Emmett in 2010 was tied to special treatment by Mr. Noguez. Instead, the few reductions obtained by Douglas Emmett stemmed from the reduction in values as a result of the market crash, and exactly parallel the rise in value reductions in Los Angeles County generally. Thus, taxpayers in Los Angeles County received an aggregate of only 7,000 reductions in value in 2007; by 2010 that number was 426,000, and it continued to exceed 400,000 in 2011 and 2012, including after Mr. Noguez ceased to act as Assessor.[12] “Kaplan's $21.5 million home …. also received a tax break of $198,000.”''

     In fact, the County Assessor’s Office, after initially deferring action (as happened with most appeals in an era of extraordinary backlogs[13]), refused to reduce Mr. Kaplan’s assessment.[14] (Despite its misleading headline, even the Los Angeles Times makes clear that there was ultimately no tax savings even if Mr. Kaplan’s appeal had proved incorrect.)[15] In any case, in July 2013, after Mr. Noguez ceased to act as County Assessor,[16] Mr. Kaplan won his appeal when the independent Assessment Appeals Board determined that the County Assessor had overcharged Mr. Kaplan for his property taxes during the period in question.[17]

Sources:

[1] The Times compared the tax reductions received by Douglas Emmett on its successful appeals after the recession to those received by other properties in the five years beginning in 2005 (which missed the last three years of price run up prior to the crash) to as late as 2009 (the year after the market crash had already occurred). Because further market declines after 2009 would have been trivial and because values in 2005 and 2006 missed a significant portion of the value run up prior to the crash, buildings purchased over that five year period obviously declined less than buildings—like those of Douglas Emmett—purchased in the peak years of 2007 and 2008. Independent experts, including Moody’s and CoStar, estimate that the decline in office building values in Los Angeles during that period actually ranged from more than 30% to as much as 45%. Similarly, Douglas Emmett’s stock price on the New York Stock Exchange (which reflects the value of its properties) declined by 77% from a pre-crash high of approximately $28.80 on February 2, 2007 to only $6.45 on March 6, 2009.

[2]Jack Leonard and Jack Dolan (June 14, 2013) “Builder investigated in alleged campaign money-laundering for Noguez”. Los Angeles Times.

[3] Dolan, Jack; Doug Smith (2 July 2012). "Noguez donor's firm got big cuts in property values". Los Angeles Times.

[4] Gene Maddaus, (19 April 2012) “The Scandal Roiling the L.A. County Assessor's Office Suggests Your Tax Bill Is All About Who You Know, and How Much You've Donated to Assessor John Noguez. LA Weekly.

[5] See Dolan, Jack “Corruption probe of L.A. assessor examines more than 100 properties.” Los Angeles Times, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/la-assessor-corruption-probe.html.

[7] Dolan, Jack; Doug Smith (2 July 2012). "Noguez donor's firm got big cuts in property values". Los Angeles Times.

[8] Lin, Rong-Gong (4 November 2010). "John R. Noguez easily wins race for L.A. County assessor". Los Angeles Times.

[9] For example, “Salari and his immediate family contributed $10,000 to Noguez’s campaign, county records show.” See Dolan, Jack “Corruption probe of L.A. assessor examines more than 100 properties” Los Angeles Times http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/la-assessor-corruption-probe.html

[10] Douglas Emmett owns over 60 properties in Los Angeles County. See map of Douglas Emmett, Inc. properties on p.4 of its Supplemental Report to the Securities Exchange Commission. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1364250/000136425013000025/dei2013q2ex99-1.htm

[11] Less than ten of the 426,000 properties in Los Angeles County which received tax reductions in 2010 were owned by Douglas Emmett. Los Angeles County Assessor Annual Report for 2012, p.18 http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/News/rollrls2012.pdf.

[12] See Los Angeles County Assessor Annual Report for 2012, p.18 http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/News/rollrls2012.pdf

[13] The California State Board of Equalization reported that less than one third of the 69,630 appeals in the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office in 2008-2009 were resolved by the June 20, 2010; by June 30, 2011 the backlog had grown to 96,607, and less than half of the pending appeals were resolved that year. Approximately 80% of cases pursued to a decision resulted in reductions after the recession. Report on Budgets, Workloads, And Assessment Appeals Activities In California Assessors' Offices [1]: 2008-2009, p. 15; 2009-2010, p.16; 2010-2011, p.19.]

[14] Dolan, Jack; Doug Smith (2 July 2012). "Noguez donor's firm got big cuts in property values.” Los Angeles Times.

[15] “If the fair market value of the house is determined to be higher than $11.5 million — a figure based on a 1997 appraisal — Kaplan will get a bill for the difference between the taxes on the old value and the new value for the time he has owned the house.” Dolan, Jack; Doug Smith (2 July 2012). "Noguez donor's firm got big cuts in property values". Los Angeles Times.

[16] Dolan, Jack; Ruben Vives (1 June 2012). "L.A. County assessor takes leave amid probe of his office". Los Angeles Times.

[17] A copy of the Notice of Board Action is attached. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Theo1954 (talk • contribs) 01:37, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

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