Senior Staff
James P. Schwalls,
CMI
Jim has
over thirty years of highly successful property tax
experience, including fifteen years as a senior officer of a
national firm and over thirteen years as President and CEO
of Jim Schwalls & Associates, Inc. founded in 1995. He
has grown his company from a one man office into a national
firm with offices in several major cities across the
country. Jim is deeply experienced and exceedingly
successful in all aspects of property tax appraisal,
analysis, methodology, filings, presentations and appeals
all over the country. Jim has developed a tremendous
reputation with both property tax officials and his clients
through his outstanding work ethic, integrity, and honest
straightforward approach. Hence, through his ability to
negotiate assessments for a complete range of property
types, sizes and complexities he is able to provide superior
service while achieving maximum tax savings for his clients.
Jim is a licensed Senior Property Tax Consultant in Texas, a
Registered Tax Representative in Tennessee and holds various
certifications in other states as well. Jim is also a
Charter Member and a Senior Certified Member of the Texas
Association of Property Tax Professionals as well as being a
Certified Member of the Institute for Professionals in
Taxation.
Douglas T. Wilson,
CMI
Mr.
Wilson's expertise, encompassing more than 30 years,
includes ad valorem tax assessments and valuation of
tangible personal, real property, possessory interests and
appraisal of machinery & equipment. He began his career as a
County Appraiser in Kansas, and he has held management
positions with various professional appraisal and consulting
firms including Ernst & Young LLP and Tax Resource Network.
His professional designations include Certified Member of
the Institute of Professionals in Taxation, Certified Kansas
Appraiser and he is a licensed Senior Tax Consultant for the
State of Texas. Doug is the recipient of two Presidential
Citations from the International Association of Assessing
Officers, and has served as an "expert witness" in tax legal
cases, including the United States District Court. He has
been active in various professional organizations and has
served as an instructor and a speaker at various educational
courses and tax seminars. He currently serves as an
instructor and committee member for the Institute for
Professionals in Taxation for the Intermediate Personal
Property Valuation Course. Doug attended Emporia State
University and Kansas University.
Rowland Welch, CMI
Rowland
has over twenty years of property tax experience, including
ten years as a Senior Consultant and Regional Manager with a
national firm. He joined Jim Schwalls & Associates in
1997 as a Senior Consultant and a member of the company's
core management team. He is a Certified Member of the
Institute for Professionals in Taxation. Rowland has
developed a great reputation for integrity, superior client
service and achieving maximum tax savings for his clients.
He has negotiated assessments for a broad range of property
types, sizes and complexities. He is a licensed Senior
Property Tax Consultant in Texas and has significant
successful experience in many other states. Rowland also has
several years of experience as a licensed State Certified
General Appraiser in Colorado, Nevada, and Utah.
Cheryl Avery
Cheryl
has over 19 years of property tax administrative experience
including over 11 years as a senior level assistant with a
national firm. She joined Jim Schwalls & Associates in
1996 and is a seasoned senior staff member with a hands-on
approach with her intense focus on providing superior client
service. Cheryl has earned a reputation for integrity,
client service and accuracy in processing client data.
She has extensive knowledge of workflow processing including
appraisal/assessment data, tax statement and client
reporting. She is a specialist in managing critical
deadlines such as value protests, appeal/exemptions filings,
tax payments and exemptions.
Brian J. Masenthin
Brian has
over 19 years of successful property tax management with
many large real estate and personal property engagements. He
has earned a reputation for his tenacity and persistence in
obtaining tax savings for his growing list of clients. His
property tax consulting experience includes; reviewing
applicable tax laws, rules, procedures and practices adhered
to in multiple jurisdictions; the auditing of tax returns,
supporting schedules, records, invoices and other documents;
meeting with tax officials, client accounting, engineering,
managerial and production personnel as well as on-site
physical inspection of client properties and assets;
examining assessing and taxing authority records, files,
work papers and other documents; preparing and filing
amended returns; informal negotiation of values; appearance
before formal Boards of Appeal as well as participation in
litigation and pretrial settlement conferences. Brian is a
Certified Appraiser in several states, a member of
International Association of Assessing Officers, a CMI
candidate and member of the Institute for Professionals in
Taxation as well as a member of the Georgia Association of
Assessing Officers.
William J. Dearien, CMI
Bill has
over 25 years of proven property tax experience, in both
real and personal property cases. He spent the first 13
years of his career as an agent for George McElroy &
Associates, working out of their corporate offices in
Dallas, Texas. He then went on to assist in in the start up
of American Appraisal Property Tax Services, Inc., the
property tax consulting division of American Appraisal
Associates. AAPTS was acquired by Advantax Group in 2001,
where Bill continued his career until joining Jim Schwalls
in 2006. Because of his hard work ethic and unwavering
integrity, Bill has established himself as not only a leader
with the firm, but also with clients. Although based in
Texas, he works all over the country, and has been
successful wherever he goes. Bill has a BBA in Finance from
East Texas State University, is a licensed Senior Property
Tax Consultant in Texas, and holds the CMI designation from
The Institute for Professionals in Taxation. He has been the
local chair of the IPT Dallas-Fort Worth Local Luncheon
Group since 2005, and has taught at IPT's Basic Property Tax
School for over 10 years.
Raymond Slepski, CMAEIV
Raymond
Slepski is a Certified Senior Property Tax Consultant with
over thirty-five years of experience in the evaluation and
appeal of real and personal property taxes. Ray also has a
tremendous depth of experience and knowledge in the
application of both real and personal property tax
abatements and exemptions. Mr. Slepski has extensive
expertise with a wide variety of commercial and industrial
properties of all sizes throughout the Midwest. Mr. Slepski
has a PHB from the University of Detroit. He has completed
several additional training courses in Law and Appraisals.
He has attended numerous continuing education seminars on
real and personal property as well as served as an
instructor for various Universities and certification
programs. Mr. Slepski is a Certified Michigan Assessor and a
member of several other state and local assessors
associations.
Dane S. Taylor
Dane has
more than 10 years of direct hands on knowledge and
experience with the manufacturing process including machine
tooling, stamping equipment and injection molding equipment.
He has over 10 years of appraisal and valuation experience,
two of which were with the Dallas Central Appraisal District
as an appraiser in commercial real estate valuation and
personal property valuation. Dane has an additional eight
years of real property valuation in the private sector
concerning multi-use land development, apartment complexes,
office buildings, retail development, industrial
development, warehouses, office showrooms, hotels, motels,
assisted living and single family properties. Dane's many
certifications have included State Certified General
Appraiser in Texas and in New Mexico. Dane now has over six
successful years devoted strictly to property tax consulting
services at the national and local levels. He is deeply
experienced in all aspects of tax appraisal and analysis
including the valuation of retail, office, industrial,
multi-family, and single family properties. He is know for
his superior service and ability to achieve the maximum tax
savings for his clients. Dane attended Texas A&M Commerce
and The University of Texas at Dallas majoring Business and
Accounting.
Walter Smith
Walter is
a Senior Property Tax Consultant with over twenty-seven
years of successful experience in the management, valuation
and appeal of real and personal property taxes for both
commercial and private entities. Walter has a tremendous
depth of experience with public and privately owned large
national multiple-location companies in a wide variety of
industries as well as smaller single location entities.
Walter's attention to detail, integrity and dependability
have earned him a tremendous reputation and the respect of
his clients. His tenacious and unrelenting work ethic
translates into substantial tax savings for his many
clients. Walter holds a BA from The University of Texas at
Dallas and his ongoing educational efforts have taken him
through many courses with the Texas Association of Assessing
Officers as well as the International Association of
Assessing Officers.
Jack P. Hanna, II
Jack is a
Senior Property Tax Consultant with over twenty-two years of
property tax experience. He represents many types of
properties specializing in the valuation and appeal of both
real and personal property for large office buildings,
banks, industrial and manufacturing entities,
telecommunication facilities, all types of restaurants and
multi-family residential properties. Jack successfully
represents several nationwide clients with valuation
experience in numerous western and mid-western states in a
very large number of jurisdictions. He has successfully
presented valuation appeals at all administrative levels
including the County Board of Equalization and the State
Board of Assessment Appeals. Prior to joining Jim Schwalls &
Associates, Jack was the Senior Property Tax Manager for a
large petroleum company where his responsibilities included;
compliance, valuation, filings, and appeals for over 600
company owned refineries, pipelines, terminals and service
stations. Mr. Hanna holds a BS in Real Estate from
Metropolitan State College and has successfully completed
numerous courses and seminars offered by the International
Association of Assessing Officers, the State of Colorado
Division of Property Taxation, and the University of
Colorado Real Estate and Appraisal Program. He is currently
licensed as a Certified General Appraiser in Colorado and
Utah. Amy
Longstreet
Amy is a
Senior Property Tax Consultant with over eight years of
experience in the valuation and appeal of real and personal
property taxes. She successfully represents many types of
properties for many types of businesses with exceptional
success in the senior care housing industry. Amy has
successful appeal experience in many major metropolitan
areas and jurisdictions across the country although her
primary focus is the south eastern United States. As a
member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation she is
currently a candidate for their CMI certification
designation. Amy holds a Bachelors of Science in Finance and
Business Administration from the University of Central
Florida. Prior to entering the property tax industry she
worked in the banking industry for several years.
Michael Thome
Mike has
over six very successful years of experience in real and
personal property tax consulting. From assets classification
and property valuation to applying for and maintaining
abatements, filings, and appeals; he has been able to keep
his clients very happy with his ability to continually
minimize their tax liabilities. Mike's experience includes
the representation of many types of properties with an
emphasis on commercial and industrial properties. His
clientele includes companies with nationwide entities and
properties. As a result, Mike has experience and
relationships with jurisdictions all over the country while
he also continues to focus on the mid-western United States.
His excellent results have placed him in very high regard
with his clients and his referral list continues to grow.
Mike is a member of the Institute for Professionals in
Taxation where he is candidate for their CMI certification.
He has a Bachelors of Science in Finance and Economics from
the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Prior to entering the
property tax industry, Mike was a financial analyst for a
real estate consulting company for several years.
Jason S. Miller
Jason
Miller has been in the business of successfully producing
property tax liability reductions on behalf of his clients
for over seven years. His client responsibilities include
property tax representation and consulting services
concerning real estate and personal property tax assessments
in Texas and Louisiana. Jason successfully prepares business
personal property returns and real estate appeals. His
ability to precisely affect market value, equalization,
comparative and uniform analysis for both real estate and
personal property have earned him a tremendous reputation
with his growing list of clients. Jason's areas of success
and experience include hotel, office, residential,
multi-family, industrial and retail property types.
Including the seven years of successful property tax
representation, he has a total of thirteen years in the real
estate industry, including former positions in
valuation-appraisal, portfolio management and property
development services. Jason obtained both a Master of
Agriculture degree in Land Economics and Real Estate; and a
Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Economics from
Texas A&M University. Jason is a licensed Texas Property Tax
Consultant and holds the Texas Real Estate Brokers License.
He is voting member of the Texas Association of Property Tax
Professionals.
Blake Schwalls
Blake
grew up in the property tax business as a son of Jim
Schwalls, our CEO. After graduating from The University of
Texas with a BA, Blake ventured into a start up company
where he was able to utilize his degree with outstanding
results. His life long exposure to the property tax industry
continued to keep his interest throughout this venture and
he made the decision to join the company 2 years ago. His
naturally innate knowledge of property tax, his dedication
and great work ethic has already propelled him into
the ranks of a well respected and productive Property Tax
Consultant. He is a licensed Property Tax Consultant in The
State of Texas and has experience in other states as well.
Blake's ability to understand the issues surrounding the
various aspects of valuations and appeals continues to bring
him above average success. His commitment to excel is
obvious with his focus and intensity.
Todd Smith
Todd is a
Property Tax Consultant with eleven years of experience in
the valuation and appeal of real and personal property tax
assessments. Since the beginning of his career in the
property tax industry, Todd has successfully represented
many types of properties with above average results for
multi-family residential complexes, restaurants, commercial
banks and hotel properties. His extensive experience in
reviewing and preparing personal property returns for
various industries include but are not limited to commercial
manufacturing, banks, movie theaters, mining companies,
credit reporting agencies, restaurants, newspapers and
aviation. With clients nationwide, Todd has successful
appeal experience in many major metropolitan areas with his
main focus in the south eastern United States. He is
licensed as a Property Tax Consultant in Texas and holds
certifications in other states as well. Prior to entering
the property tax industry Todd worked in the banking
industry for over ten years. |