The Jacksonville Value Adjustment Board on the first meeting of its 2025 cycle approved the special magistrate's recommended decisions and considered a late-file request concerning two Live Local Act exemption petitions.

Jeffrey Kemp, an attorney with Lippus Mathias in Jacksonville, told the board he represents several property owners and asked the panel to defer petitions 12 and 13. "I'm here on behalf of several clients, property owners, who we submitted petitions for, but I did want to make a deferral request on 2 of those petitions, petitions 12 and 13," Kemp said during the public‑comment period.

Board counsel Aaron Thalwitzer told members the request arrived late and that adding a parcel that had been inadvertently left off the original petition would normally require a "good cause" late‑file process. Thalwitzer recommended moving forward with the magistrate recommendations rather than granting a late addition, saying petitioners retain judicial remedies. "If a parcel's left off at this stage, it would have to go through the good good cause late file process," he said, and added that petitioners can appeal: "Within 60 days, they can file an appeal to the circuit court."

Before that exchange, the board reviewed the broader set of magistrate rulings: the chair reported roughly 317 recommended decisions to date, about 259 denials (including 16 who did not appear at magistrate hearings) and about 58 grants. The board also noted many deferral requests originating with the property appraiser's office related to exemption‑check and portability issues; Chris Garrett, with the property appraiser's general counsel office, asked the board to consider briefing and a possible policy to address standing and portability concerns in future cases.

After discussing Thalwitzer's memorandum proposing written procedures and deadlines for processing deferral requests, members voted to defer the petitions listed in the agenda's deferral section and then moved to approve the special magistrate recommendations contained in the packet. The board recorded verbal aye/nay votes and approved those recommendations.

Heather Pellegrin, the VAB chief, told the board a tax representative has filed nearly 4,000 petitions this cycle; approximately half were withdrawn and roughly 700 remain to be scheduled for hearings. The board set its next meeting for Thursday, Feb. 12 at 11:30 a.m. in Council Chambers and adjourned.

What happens next: petitioners unhappy with today's rulings have two primary options: file a new petition with a good‑cause request or appeal the decision to circuit court within 60 days, according to board counsel.