Since November 19, 2002, the City Council has required by policy that “a person promoted to a management position must be or become a resident of the City of Peoria.” In August 2006, when then-Assistant Fire Chief Kent Tomblin was applying for retiring Chief Roy Modglin’s job, the Journal Star reported, “Tomblin, 50, a 27-year member of the department, lives in Dunlap but owns a house on Maplewood Avenue near Bradley University and plans to move there within the year, he said Wednesday.”
Tomblin got the job on February 19, 2007. He still owns a home at 1120 N. Maplewood. But he also still owns his home in Dunlap — at 13104 N. Duggins Rd. This is not one of those Dunlap addresses that is actually in City of Peoria boundaries. It’s outside Peoria completely. If you look up the tax records for both houses, they both say, “owner occupied.” So, where does the Fire Chief live?
One way to establish legal residency is by the address on your utility bills. The telephone is a utility, and in the phone book under “Kent Tomblin,” guess what is listed as his address? You got it: 13104 N. Duggins Rd., Dunlap — and a Dunlap phone number, too. I’ve heard from a reliable source that it’s the address that is on his personal checks as well.
It’s hard to escape the conclusion that the fire chief still lives in Dunlap over four years since he was promoted. Not only that, but one has to wonder how he can legally claim both residences as “owner occupied.” You can only occupy one house or the other.
Whether the City should have a residency requirement or not is a topic for another blog post. The fact is that the City does require it for the fire chief, and he should follow the rules. He should be setting an example for the men and women under his command.
What really gets me is the brazenness of it all. He’s listed in the phone book as a Dunlap resident. I mean, he isn’t even trying to hide it at this point, apparently because there are no consequences for breaking the rules at City Hall.
On your Federal income taxes you can claim a second residence and take a deduction for it ie a ‘vacation home’. We did this for a brief while when we were saddled with two homes after relocating. There is no real distinction between primary, secondary, and no occupancy test other than it be you who would live there. ie renting it out all year is not a secondary home. Time sharing it, is another matter.
You can claim both are ‘owner occupied’ for purposes of property taxes. We were the only ones theoretically staying there. There is no meaningful duration test that I know of. If you could have stayed there one day, it is ‘owner occupied’. Whether you did or not is irrelevant it seems.
On your state taxes you can only claim your ‘primary’ residence.
The question would seem to me, what is he doing with the Maplewood house. If he is renting it out then yeah it would seem he is violating the spirit as well as possibly the letter of the law. If the Maplewood house is just empty of people, then he would be violating the spirit but maybe not the letter of the law. It is a dodge to be sure.
You can’t really stop people from having second residences.
The one question I have about the fire department is how does the person who drives the fire vehicle always have family members in the car. I don’t know who it is but have seen it several times. I thought these vehicles were for business only. Lets take away the car and have them use their own personal vehicle.
I heard some months ago, I think on Rush’s show, that the state of New York considers you a resident if you just own a house there even if you don’t actually reside ever in the state. That is so New York can charge you state income tax. As a side note; the police chief of Bartonville lives in a subdivision – “White Tail Ridge” – in unincorporated Peoria County.
watch out CJ you are peeing on the third rail, the fire department. We now have nearly as many fireman as police men, but not anywhere close the number of fires as we have crimes. You could end up with inebriated council person on your doorstep poking you in the chest. I’m just sayin’
Heck, He served as city manager also.
Many people who have Dunlap mailing addresses are still considered living in the City of Peoria. In fact, more than half the people who have Dunlap addresses still vote in COP elections. You’d have to look at his property tax bill to know for sure, but you could be wrong on this.
District Watcher — Did that. I thought I made it clear in my post that (a) I am aware that some Dunlap addresses are in Peoria and (b) Tomblin’s is not one of them. Also, I did check the property tax records before I published the post.
CJ – My apologies. You are correct. I didn’t read your post thoroughly enough. The Fire Chief can only claim owner/occupancy on one residence, as an owner occupant is entitled to a $5,000 credit off of the FMV on their tax bill. If in fact he has been recieving two 0/0 exemptions, he can be billed retroactively as soon as the error is discovered by the Assessors office. It happened to me. Of course, that was because I was complaining loudly about my assessment. Could be they only do it punitively. If they personally like the Fire Chief and he falls in line and rarely complains, he’ll probably be fine.
Correction to above – the owner occupancy tax exemption in Peoria County is $6,000 not $5,000, and I have been told by the Peoria County Supv. of Assessments office that only one propery in Peoria County, for purposes of this tax credit, can be considered your principal residence. If that isn’t the case, a lot of people would like to know.
That address (on Duggins Rd) is nowhere near the city limits of Peoria.
This reminds me of the still on-going situation with one of the city’s managers – who also claimed to be moving into the city limits, claims he cannot afford a house in Peoria proper…even though he has a $400,000 + house in rural Dunlap…