mbg@co.volusia.fl.us

Morgan B. Gilreath Jr. lives in DeLand with his wife, Beth. They have one daughter who lives in Alexandria, Va.

Gilreath served in the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War 1966-69.

He received his bachelor's degree in management and his master's degree in business administration and real estate from the University of Georgia.

Gilreath has been the Volusia County property appraiser since 1992, and was the chief deputy appraiser 1986-92. He previously worked as senior principal for American Management Systems, and as a faculty member at the University of Georgia, where he wrote six course texts.

Gilreath is involved in many community organizations, including membership in the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce, the MainStreet DeLand Association and the Farm Bureau. He is a past president of the DeLand Rotary Club, a board member of Volusia/Flagler Boys & Girls Club and a director for College Arms Towers, and is a mentor with Take Stock In Children and the Spring Hill Boys & Girls Club.

Gilreath is a graduate of Leadership DeLand and Leadership Daytona Beach.

He is a member of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in DeLand, a former member of the Cursillo Commission for the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. He is a member of the Kairos Prison Ministry for Tomoka State Correctional Institution.

Choose whether you agree or disagree on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being "Strongly Agree" and 1 being "Strongly Disagree." Add a 1 sentence comment to clarify your stance with the readers.

It is appropriate for a property appraiser to endorse and campaign for issues such as Amendment 1.

5 — Comment: It is the duty of any constitutional officer to inform the public about important issues and to be able to explain pros and cons on important issue.

The Volusia County Property Appraisers Office moved too quickly to increase values during the real-estate boom.

1 — Comment: My office moved with the Volusia real estate market, as required by law, not in-front of it or behind it, consistent with the legal requirement that all Florida Property Appraisers must place values on the annual tax rolls that reflect market value as of the previous January 1st.

Without additional staff or other resources, appraisals cannot be made fairer.

1 — Comment: Instead of relating to staff size, the “fairness of appraisals” relates directly to the quality, organization and management of our work... data collected by the appraisers, research and analysis performed by our analysts, deeds and mapping work performed by our abstractors and GIS employees, and records and exemption processes performed by our records division.

Accomplishments of which you are most proud: Aside from the honor of representing Volusia’s citizens as Property Appraiser for sixteen years, my office has been recognized as a leader in our industry through many state and national awards of excellence.

Public-service goal you have yet to achieve: I have been and am still trying to inform our taxpayers regarding the various constitutional responsibilities for the component parts of the property tax, namely, the appraisal, the formation of budgets (taxes) and the millage rates, as well as alternative solutions relating to tax reform.

— info@beacononlinenews.com