MARTIN COUNTY — Defending themselves from election violation accusations, business struggles, market declines and a growing reliance upon credit cards were in part responsible for four of the five county commissioners reporting decreases in net worth over the past year.

The exception was Commissioner Sarah Heard. She shaved nearly $20,000 off her mortgage and reported increases in the value of her Rocky Point home and land she owns in Dixie County and a retirement account. She reported her income grew by more than $40,000 to $707,678.

As for the other four, three — Patrick Hayes, Susan Valliere and Doug Smith — all remain millionaires.

Still, outside of Heard, the members of the board that decide how to use $141 million in property tax dollars reported in their annual financial disclosure forms individual drops in net worth of between $200,000 and $600,000.

Commissioner Susan Valliere had the biggest drop in net worth from 2007 to 2008, falling from $2.84 million to $2.2 million.

The Valliere Family Trust lost nearly $900,000 in value, while she also owed $80,840 to the Tallahassee law firm of Messer, Caparello & Self. Earlier this month Valliere was fined $2,000 by the state for failing to sign two campaign treasurer’s reports after she and her husband Jim faced 108 allegations of campaign finance violations.

COUNTY COMMISSION NET WORTH

Doug Smith

Salary: $57,174

Net worth

2007: $1,736,567-$1,777,087

2008: $1,417,521-$1,457,521

Homestead

Address: 3293 NE Skyline Drive, Jensen Beach

2007: $620,000-$660,000

2008: $620,000-$660,000

Other Assets: Motor vehicles, $55,000 (down from $65,000 in 2007); timeshares, $40,000 (same); Charels Schwab Account, $32,594 (down from $42,892 in 2007); AIG Valic retirement funds, $94,944 (down from $115,398 in 2007); Bank of America $130,000 (up from $23,271 in 2007); PNC Financial Services stock, $21,070 (down from $28,230 in 2007); boat, $45,000 (same); Douglas F. Smith Grantor Trust, $130,000 (down from $340,000 in 2007); Pineapple Hil, Inc., stock, $301,585 (down from $328,907 in 2007)

Liabilities: None listed (down from $217,755 for Countrywide Home mortgage in 2007)

Susan Valliere

Salary: $57,174

Net worth

2007: $2,842,919

2008: $2,201,132

Homestead

Address: none listed

2007: $0

2008: $0

Other Assets: Seacoast National Bank, $193,535 (up from $39,195 in 2007); Fidelity account, $436,846 (up from $309,913 in 2007) retirement accounts, $94,888 (down from $110,918 in 2007); Valliere Family Trust, $1.5 million (down from $2.39 million in 2007)

Liabilities: Messer, Caparello & Self law firm Tallahassee, $80,840, Chase credit card, $4,282 (down from $16,744 in 2007); Citi Bank Citi cards, $4,519

Patrick Hayes

Salary: $57,174

Net worth

2007: $1,800,796

2008: $1,484,250

Homestead

Address: 18809 U.S. 1, Tequesta

2007: $1.7 million

2008: $1.5 million

Other Assets: Promissory Note, Guanabana’s Restaurant, $54,000 (up from $50,000 in 2007); stock, $30,000 (down from $107,827 in 2007)

Liabilities: Home improvement loan, $82,750 (up from $80,575 in 2007); auto loan $32,005 (down from $21,453 in 2007)

Sarah Heard

Salary: $57,174

Net worth

2007: $665,518

2008: $707,678

Homestead

Address: 4584 SE Williams Way, Stuart

2007: $405,939

2008: $418,114

Other Assets: Nationwide retirement, $98,113 (up from $88,610); land, Dixie County, $123,700 (up from $123,250 in 2007); land, Swain County, N.C., $43,000 (same); farm, Washington County, Ill., $100,000 (same)

Liabilities: Riverside National Bank, $255,949 (down from $274,358 in 2007)

Ed Ciampi

Salary: $57,174

Net worth

2007: $474,298

2008: $238,435

Homestead

Address: 4449 SW Long Bay Drive, Palm City

2007: $590,890

2008: $492,650

Other Assets: Sweet Sarah’s, $301,850 (down from $398,800 in 2007); motor vehicles, $25,700 (down from $27,100 in 2007)

Liabilities: Bank of America, $323,000 (same); chase mortgage, $224,992 (down from $243,900 in 2007); Visas, $15,113 (up from $11,400 in 2007); Mastercard, $8,000 (up from $7,062 in 2007); Auto loan, $21,660 (down from $28,000 in 2007)
By Jim Turner, TCPalm.com

Tags: assets, commissioners, gains, liabilities, losses, Martin County, value

This entry was posted on Friday, July 31st, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under Martin County, Stuart. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.