Shipman Township – Assessor Dana Wagner must resign

Macoupin Co. (ECWd) –

Usually, it takes a fair number of Freedom of Information Act requests and analysis of that information before we really know or understand any given problem in a unit of local government.  It takes quite a bit of malfeasance before we call for a resignation.

Not the case in Shipman Township in rural Macoupin County, several miles west of Litchfield, Illinois.

Not nice to your assessor, be prepared!

Shipman Township Assessor Dana Wagner took to social media to express her opinion on how people should act towards their assessors.

“People should be nice to your tax assessor, remember they determine the value of your home. Being nice goes farther than acting like an idiot or threatening them.”

So far, over a dozen people I shared that comment with have all said this person has no business assessing anyone’s property with that type of opinion.  She basically told the world, if you’re not nice to me, act like an idiot, or threaten me, I will impact your pocketbook as I control the value of your home.   Such a statement throws all the rules of assessment out the window.

We call for her resignation immidiatly. 

We also call for a criminal investigation to determine if Criminal Intimidation by a public official has taken place.

720 ILCS 5/12-6A(6)- ‘Take action as a public official against anyone or anything, or withhold official action, or cause such action or withholding;”

Now for those that will surely try to defend her statement for reasons we will never understand, the rest of the story solidifies our justification for the call of her immediate resignation.

“One of the homes I went to today the home owner parks his truck right in front of my vehicle (he had a huge driveway). But he puts his tailgate down and sets his crossbow on the tailgate.  Really!!!!  I took a picture of it so if I have problems with them down the road I have proof of being threatened.”

So a vehicle parked in front of her with a crossbow on the tailgate is threatening?  Most see her comment about being nice to their assessor since they determine the value of your home as a threat.

According to the owner of this vehicle, there was no action taken by them to threaten anyone.  They were simply moving property from one location to another and the truck had all kinds of personal property in it, including a crossbow.  Of interest is the fact the assessor makes no mention of the fact she went inside the homeowner’s garage without permission.  According to the homeowner who confronted her, she tried to claim a garage is not a home.  Such a position tells she has no clue as to what her limites are when performing her job as an assessor.  She might want to brush up on how the courts apply 4th Amendment protections to attached garages.

After attending the Shipman Township meeting and listening to numerous property owners share their stories, it became clear this assessor needs to simply resign effective immediately.

We have filed numerous FOIA requests and suspect we will find she has not been doing her job as required by law. We will publish the photo she took upon receipt, as clearly it was taken in the performance of her job which makes it a public record.

You can download her social media comment at this link or view below.

Stay tuned for future updates.

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