Danny Becton for Duval County Property Appraiser

Republican

Duval City Property Appraiser

City Council Member, District 11,

(Retired Private Sector, 2019)

60

Wife, Linda (30 Years), Two Adult Daughters, Ashlyn (27) & Lauren (21) & Leo (Frenchie)

Degrees in Business Management and Management Information Systems, Valdosta State University

In 2019, I retired my company after 28 years as a small business owner. Over 12 years or more, I became involved in my community and neighborhood in giving back as a volunteer for various boards and commissions. Over that period of time, my experience in public policy and issues along with working with the Florida Dept of Transportation to create Better Baymeadows, a public/private partnership, I gain a wealth of knowledge and relationships that I have been able to use in each step that I have taken to serve. My first elected office was to my Homeowners Association Board representing 739 homeowners. On that Board, I served for 10 years, 2 years as President and 6 years as Treasurer. It was during those years that I excelled in fiscal policy, taking the board from insufficient funding of needed capital improvements to a fully funded budget whereby recently, the neighborhood was able to resurface 10 miles of private roadways (I volunteered as the Project Manager), without any need for a special assessment to its residents.

Also, in 2008, I was challenged by a past City Council Member, Art Graham regarding the issue of redistricting that would be taking place in 2011 as to splitting the representation of the Southside from the Beaches. It was this issue for which I took on, first-hand along with Council Member Gulliford, and helped rewrite the district lines on the South East of the river, creating a new District here in Baymeadows.  Afterwards, I became the first City Council member in Duval County to run “unopposed” for an open seat and have served for the past eight years as the City Council member for District 11.

The reason I am running, I have a great deal of passion, experience and professional qualifications that are perfect for this position. As Property Appraiser, I am able to continue my public service to Jacksonville and as a result of retiring from my 40-year private sector career, I am able to continue to serve, giving back, “not because I have to, but because I want to”.

I have been fortunate to have had a long and lasting 40-year career in the retail industry. Beginning as a bag boy at 18 and working through the ranks, eventually relocating to Jacksonville from my hometown of Valdosta, Ga, I began here, working for Winn-Dixie Corporate. After, Winn-Dixie, I became the Director of Information Technology for Acosta, and then as I was becoming a subject matter expert on a new and growing technology called Retail Space Management, I transitioned to the leading software company of this industry, as a senior consultant in charge of design and installation of these systems in companies across the US. In 1992, upon seeing an opportunity, I founded my company Planogramming Solutions, Inc. as an outsourcing solution for retail companies, internationally. It was companies like Harvey’s Supermarkets, Whole Foods and Earthfare to name a few, that I was blessed to have had a 28-year career as a leading expert on the analysis of financial performance and analytics for the impact of return on investment of retail shelf space for my clients.

What are my qualifications? The Property Appraiser’s office is an important department of our city government with a staff of 110+ members and a $12 million dollar budget. The Property Appraiser’s office manages the assessment revenue of over 65% of our $1.55 Billion city budget serving almost 400,00 parcels and 220,000 homestead exemptions. In respect of this enormous and critical role of our city, I am the only candidate in this race that has owned a small business, managed people, payrolls and budgets while running the day-to-day operations of a business. I have an extensive financial and data-driven background for which this office will demand and as a technology-driven function of our government, I have been an IT professional for over 30+ years. I own both residential and commercial property for which these properties help me understand the process of appraisals and their evaluations and how the Property Appraiser’s role is quite different under these separate evaluations.

Special Announcement: Current Property Appraiser, Jerry Holland has “endorsed” me to follow in his footsteps quoting, “It is my honor to endorse Danny Becton to be our next Duval County Property Appraiser. I believe he is the most qualified candidate to continue to moving our office forward in the years to come. Please join me and vote for Danny Becton for Property Appraiser in the upcoming Jacksonville election”.

Also, my campaign includes over 200 Local Business Owners & Leaders in Jacksonville who Support My Campaign!

As the City Council Member for District 11 over the past eight years, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding the role and need that this very important department of our government commands. I have served on the Value Adjustment Board for 5 years, chairing it once, providing for a unique and critical understanding of the appeal process and decisions that are made accordingly.

In my term, I have also become a subject matter expert on Land-Use and Zoning, with experiences including serving 6-years and chairing this committee twice. In 2019-2020, I was awarded the “Mary Singleton Award” recognized for Outstanding Committee Chair of the Year. This role has provided me a constant need to utilize and experience the city’s GIS system and Property Appraiser’s information on a routine basis.

Also, in my eight years on City Council, I have been part of the review of the Property Appraisers budget each year, noting that this budget is first approved by the Florida Department of Revenue, before coming to the City Council for its oversight and final approval. It has been through my work ethic and attention to detail that I have been recognized for my thoroughness on research and analysis, while being recognized in 2016-2017, my second year on City Council, with having been bestowed the City Council’s highest honor, with the Charles D. Webb Award, by Council President Lori Boyer.

During the next term of the Property Appraiser, the following areas of need must be addressed:

1. The Property Appraiser’s Office requires the implementation of a major software upgrade for their main software system which is over 20-year-old. This system is at its life cycle end and must be replaced in the next term.
2. Continuing the work of current Property Appraiser, Jerry Holland in reducing and eliminating improper homestead exemptions and other fraud and abuse-related activities. Over the past two terms, there has been over $60 million dollars of taxable value placed back on the city’s books, translating to over $18 million of tax revenue.
3. Managing a $12 million dollar budget and a team of 110+ staff member professionals in keeping up with the growth of Jacksonville with the requirement that every parcel in the county which is nearing 400,000, must be inspected every 5 years. To not just grow government in the performance of these services but to use technology in doing the appraisal job smarter, faster and more accurately.

It is the Property Appraiser’s responsibility to accurately determine and update the constantly changing property values of our residential and commercial property owners. As property values have soared over the past few years, it is expected that property values will decline as our economy sees the headwinds of rising interest rates, inflation, along with the slow-down for demand for housing. It will be our residents’ expectations that these values be adjusted just as fast in the decline phase as they were when values were increasing. Property taxes are paid on these market valuations and it should be the Property Appraiser’s priority to always strive to assess property owners, “fair and accurately”.

These constitutional offices and the officer that leads them are very important and demanding roles of our city government. It is the combination of public and private sector experiences that best provides its leader with the proficiencies to work within our system of government and to provide the management that the position demands having to interact with many other agencies.

In addition, the Property Appraiser manages the assessments of over 60% of our city revenues and it demands someone who is a fiscal conservative, highly qualified and competent to do the job. I would add, the voters do not want a bureaucratic who is not qualified and is only looking for a government paycheck.

My career experiences and qualifications have me ready to lead on day one for the citizens of Jacksonville by having benefitted from a 40-year private sector career, 8-years on City Council and 5 years on the Value Adjustment Board. All of which give me the best qualifications for leading the Property Appraiser’s office that no other candidate in this race provides.

In conclusion, if elected, I would promise to continue as a public servant who has always been known for my availability and responsiveness to the needs of the citizens of Jacksonville. As someone who will lead this very important department of our city services with integrity, competency and accomplishments in providing the leadership that is necessary to implement improvements and to move this office forward for many years to come.

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