Jelena Butler will officially announce her intent to run for Hamilton County Assessor of Property at the Greater Chattanooga Democratic Women’s Club meeting on Tuesday. She is currently a director in sales and leasing at Keller Williams Commercial.
Ms. Butler said she is running because, “Sixteen years is a long time to leave a vital function unchallenged. Hamilton County deserves an assessor who recognizes the complexities of our county and has the real estate experience to set fair values for our taxpayers.”
She said her top priorities are fair and equitable assessments, accountability, and customer service for property owners.
“People are confounded by the appraisal process.
They don’t understand why valuations differ so greatly among seemingly similar homes or why their properties appraised for much more than they feel they could sell them for,” said Ms. Butler. She continued, “The county assessor must be accountable to property owners and fairly assess and evaluate what are often our biggest investments: our homes.”
Ms. Butler is past president of the South East Chapter of Certified Commercial Investment Members, and past president of the Downtown Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. She has served on the Tennessee Association of Realtors (TAR), Commercial Forms Committee and is a graduate of TAR’s leadership program. She pointed out that the Property Assessor needs to have relevant working knowledge of the real estate market in the area.
She said, “Taxpayers deserve to have someone with the motivation, energy and ability to implement technology that keeps vital information current, simple to understand and easily accessible. If elected as Hamilton County Assessor of Property, I can promise property owners a fair and rational review.”