Editor’s note: In the Oct. 31 edition of the Record-Herald, it was reported that the Fayette County Republican Central Committee has agreed to hold a re-vote and Aaron Coole has agreed to resign as county auditor in order to settle a lawsuit that alleges Coole’s appointment to the Fayette County Auditor position violated open meeting laws.
Although Coole agreed to resign, he is seeking to be re-appointed as auditor at the committee’s re-vote on Nov. 9. In his resignation letter, Coole wrote about several accomplishments during his six-month stint in office. It reads as follows:
-In my short time as auditor we have reduced the staff from seven employees to five by attrition; no one was terminated. I elected not to replace two people who resigned. This decision will save the county around $80,000 annually.
-When I took office, property transfers in the auditor’s real estate software system were nine months behind. I am proud to say that the property transfers are now current in our system to within a few days.
-When I took office, the county real estate software system was in the middle of a software conversion that had been going on since 2008. This software conversion has cost Fayette County since 2008 over $700,000 in payments to the old vendor and over $200,000 in payments to the new vendor, for a total cost of over $900,000 since 2008 for real estate software. The old software was no longer supported by the vendor and needed to be replaced. I am proud to say that currently we are 99 percent complete with the conversion and are moving forward with the new vendor.
-When I took office the Fayette County Auditors Real Estate Web Site was almost a year out of date. I am proud to say the web site is now current and is updated every night with current information. The information on the site has been organized in a way to make the search functions more efficient. There are many additional improvements and functions that I want to add to the web site going forward.
-We have discovered numerous new construction parcels in the City of Washington Court House where the “improvements” (someone builds a new house on a vacant lot), have never been taxed. This is because the Auditor’s office was not receiving the building permits from the City of Washington Court House. I have taken steps to correct this oversight which will lead to additional revenue for the city and the city school system.
I have been privileged and blessed to serve in the role of Fayette County Auditor over the last six months. I am confident that my staff and I can continue to improve and bring good, not harm, to the financial state of our community.
I appreciate your time, trust and support.
Respectfully yours,
Aaron D. Coole
