Allan Curtis wants to lower property tax assessments in Clark County. That’s the biggest reason he is challenging the current property valuation administrator in the Republican primary.
“I want to be able to help prevent overtaxation and provide easier methods to challenge increases,” he explained in an interview. “I don’t think valuations can outpace economic development, and when people start looking at Clark County, valuations are part of that.”
Curtis is running against PVA Jada Brady in the GOP primary, and whoever wins that election next month will face former Democratic PVA Jason Neely in the November general election.
The 50-year-old former county road supervisor has never held elective office or been a candidate, but he wanted to run for PVA to protest what he sees as excessive property assessments and, if elected, do something about them.
PVAs are local elected officials, but they answer to the state Department of Revenue and can be removed from office for willful error. They do not set tax rates or collect taxes; they only determine the property’s fair market value.
“Fair is the key word,” Curtis said. “Fair is fair. You have to figure out whatever method you’re going to use, whatever cost approach you’re going to use, and you have to stick to it.”
“You can’t worry about anything else other than doing a fair assessment,” he said.
Curtis said that educating the public about the process is a good start, but he would also like to talk with property owners about their assessment before they get a bill in the mail.
“I think they need to be part of the process when it comes to establishing that value,” he said.
Candidates for county magistrate and judge-executive have said there is no need to raise tax rates because assessments have increased. Yet there have been times when they weren’t sure if they had enough money in the bank to meet payroll.
But that isn’t the tax assessor’s concern, Curtis said.
“I don’t think that’s the PVA’s job” to be the one “generating the money for them to spend,” he said.
“What they do with the money or how they get the money, that’s all up to them,” he said.
But from his own experience as county road supervisor, he believes local governments can be more cost-efficient. He said that during his time of overseeing the road department, he had a $2–3 million budget and had a carryover every year.
“I don’t believe in cutting government services, but I proved that you can run a department efficiently if you care and you know what you’re doing,” he said.
Curtis actually doesn’t like property taxes at all and thinks maybe there should be more emphasis on consumption taxes, such as the state sales tax. Getting rid of property taxes, though, would require state legislative action and a constitutional amendment.
“I don’t believe that property values should be increasing without some types of checks and balances because that leads to overspending, potentially,” he said.
Curtis was born in Winchester, but is “actually from all over,” he said.
He lived in 17 different places by the time he graduated from high school, including one on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma, because his mother is part Cherokee, he said. His grandparents lived on Pine Ridge, and in Clark County; he spent part of his childhood on Trapp-Goff’s Corner Road.
“My family has been here for over 200 years,” he noted.
The candidate earned an associate’s degree in applied science from Maysville Community College and a bachelor’s in engineering and technology management from Morehead State University. He took an online course in U.S. foreign policy through Harvard University, he said.
Curtis served in the Marine Corps from 1994 to 1998, then joined the Army Reserve until 2001, when he joined the Navy Seabees as a reservist for three more years. When he left active duty with the Marines, he thought about becoming a state trooper, but a cousin got him a job running heavy equipment and trained him to do it, which proved a useful skill in the Seabees.
He also inspected storage tanks, did construction work, and performed other jobs.
“I love working with my hands,” he said.
Curtis said that when he was in the service, he never went to war.
“In the 1990s, we were pretty much at peace with everybody, and 9⁄11 changed everything,” he said.
By that time, though, he was in the Seabees doing infrastructure work.
Curtis said Judge-Executive Chris Pace hired him to be the county road supervisor in 2019, but last year, Les Yates decided “to go another route.” Now he mostly does contract work.
“I do my own thing,” he said.
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Curtis and his wife Trish have five kids, four grandsons, and, at the time of this interview, were expecting their first granddaughter.
Although he has never held elective office, Curtis has extensive government experience, having served on several boards and committees, including Homeland Security and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), as well as road committees and a technical review committee for planning and zoning.
Curtis said that ever since civic classes in school, he has been interested in public service.
“I like to be involved,” he said. “I believe in serving your community and your country and protecting your family. That’s my core beliefs.”
