CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – After speaking up about flooding off Love Street in Clarksville, William Lange recently worked with the Montgomery County Assessor of Property’s Office to not only reduce his land value by 50%, but six other nearby parcels as well – a move that will save them hundreds in taxes as they work toward a solution.
Assessor of Property Erinne Hester told Clarksville Now in situations like these, where only one property owner brings an issue to their attention, and they find that others are being affected too, her office has the responsibility to treat everybody the same way.
Through the use of aerial images and looking at the elevations in the area, the Assessor’s Office was able to see where the water repeatedly rose to, and they determined at least seven parcels are being affected. Hester added that Danielle Luntz’s videos published on Clarksville Now also contributed to the short-term mediation and showed the severity of the flooding.
Video contributed by Danielle Luntz
Hester and her office reduced the land’s assessed value by 50%. Once the drainage in the area is corrected, those properties will go back to full value, Hester said. The 50% land value reduction allows the seven property owners to pay taxes that are more accurate to their situation.
‘I’m speechless’
“It’s never been about me, but this showed me somebody cares; I’m speechless,” Lange told Clarksville Now. “That my voice, for my community, got heard, but I can’t get it where I really need it. … I’ve tried every way in my power to try not and shame this city that I love so much. … I knew the city had screwed up, because they didn’t want to take ownership of it and told me to push forward or tear it down. They should not have that much power to do that.
“When I went to Erinne (Hester), Erinne did it. Her team showed up to the cause. That tells me our county is proud, they’re pushing to the future. … That makes me happy, and it humbles me. This has been exhausting, it’s like, How can the county show up, and I can’t even get the city to truly take notice? It’ll be six years in October, that’s how long this has been going on.
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“The infrastructure of our city has been broken, and it’s been broken for so many years now. We’ve got to take a notice to it and try to fix it, because my problem isn’t the only problem in this town,” Lange said.
Lange did commend the City Council for their actions, specifically Councilperson Deanna McLaughlin who proposed amending the 2025 fiscal year budget to include two drainage mitigation studies in the areas of Elberta Drive and Love Street. Also, Councilperson Joe Shakeenab who has spent many hours with Lange and Luntz.
When reached by Clarksville Now about the property revaluation, Pitt declined to comment. But he has said this is a priority for the city, and they’ll move forward when they have a viable solution.
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