Neil Nick Nikkinen
Available reports...
  • M2 3/11/2019
  • M3 4/10/2019
  • M4 5/10/2019
  • M5 6/10/2019
  • M6 7/10/2019
  • M7 8/12/2019
  • M8 9/10/2019
  • M9 10/10/2019
  • M10 11/12/2019
  • M11 12/10/2019
  • M12 1/10/2020
  • M1 2/10/2020
  • M2 3/10/2020
  • M3 4/10/2020
  • M4 5/11/2020
  • M5 6/10/2020
  • P1 6/19/2020
  • P2 7/3/2020
  • P3 7/17/2020
  • P4 7/24/2020
  • P5 7/31/2020
  • P6 8/7/2020
  • P7 8/14/2020
  • TR-P 11/16/2020

Contact Information

Address
1411 SE 49th Ave
Ocala, FL - 34471
Phone
352-390-6865
Candidate's Statement

Dear Citizens of Marion County,

I have been blessed with a career calling.

For nearly 30 years I have worked as a real estate appraiser, including 25 years in the assessment field. I have worked for large and small companies, and in large and small counties. At every step of my professional life I have gained greater knowledge, enhanced my experience and improved my skills.

The elected office of Marion County Property Appraiser is one of public trust. I am expertly qualified to perform the job and fully prepared to run the office – efficiently and effectively from day one. I have served in senior level management positions in appraiser’s offices for a quarter century. I have led teams of people to not only appraise and defend property assessments, but develop standard operating procedures, determine appropriate staffing levels and craft fiscally responsible budgets while constantly working to improve processes.

I have the experience and knowledge, the temperament and tenacity to take the office to the next level – to improve service so that you, the customer, can trust that County properties are appraised fairly and that County tax dollars are spent wisely.

It has been my honor and privilege to work with, and for, the Honorable Villie Smith as an Assistant Property Appraiser. Should I be fortunate enough to follow in his footsteps as the next Marion County Property Appraiser, I pray for the same wisdom, fairness and humility that has served him well for many years.

I hope, after learning more about me and my candidacy, you find me worthy of your support. Please… Pick Nick for Marion Property Appraiser!!

 

Early Days

I was born in Lake Forest, Illinois in July, 1962 to working class parents. Ever since Kindergarten I’ve been called Nick since my classmates couldn’t pronounce Nikkinen (Nik-i-nin). After graduating Lake Forest High School in 1980, I went onto earn an Associates of Science degree in business administration from the College of Lake County and attend business and aviation classes at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before leaving school early to co-administer my deceased father’s estate.

After a successful career as a department manager for Walgreens in Lake Forest and Deerfield, Illinois the location of their corporate headquarters, I moved to Brooksville Florida in 1985 bringing along my mother who relocated to St. Petersburg working as live-in caretaker. My sister and her family dabbled in thoroughbred horses and Brooksville was selected as a midway point between Ocala where the horses were bred and trained, and Tampa where they were raced.

 

Real Estate and Appraisals

I entered the real estate industry in Brooksville as a salesperson in 1985 working for ERA Harry Timmons Real Estate where I was consistently a top producer. Before the Savings and Loan crisis and subsequent appraisal regulation, I performed appraisals under my salesman license for local condemning authorities in right-of-way acquisition and local banks for commercial lending.

With the advent of the first Uniform Standards of Appraisal Practice (USPAP) in January, 1989 and subsequently FIRREA (Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act) in August, both enacted to preserve the public trust in appraisal practice, I became a Florida State-Certified General Appraiser (RZ1643) in 1992 and concentrated my career in commercial appraisal work.

In 1995 I began my career in the property assessment field working for the Honorable Les Samples, the Hernando County Property Appraiser as the Director of Commercial Properties and GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Over the next 15 years I worked in several other positions in the office including Chief Deputy and Director of Special Projects. These diverse positions offered me great exposure to every facet of the office from GIS mapping, exemptions, classified use and mass valuation. During my tenure in Hernando I was able to obtain the CFE (Certified Florida Evaluator) and AAS (Assessment Administration Specialist) designations.

I married Rosalind “Roz” Vandeven of Ocala in 2009. Seeking to find a similar position closer to home, I ended my career in Hernando County in 2010. I contacted the Honorable Villie Smith, Marion County Property Appraiser about obtaining a similar job in Marion County and he said that the recession had caused him to significantly cut the budget and layoff staff and that no openings were available.  Consequently, I accepted the job of Director of Real Property Assessment for the Honorable Tim Parker, Putnam County Property Appraiser, a position that I held for three years.

I was offered the position of Deputy Director of Real Estate Assessment in Orange County for the Honorable Rick Singh in 2013. Before accepting this position, I contacted Villie once again and inquired about an opening. He said that the recession had hit Marion County hard and that he was still cutting the budget and was not hiring. Although the Orange County position required me to stay in an extended stay hotel during the week and only come home to Ocala on the weekends, it was a tremendous opportunity for me to work with, and oversee, a real estate staff of 54 in the 4th largest county in Florida, who were responsible for the valuation of over 430,000 parcels with a total market value over $110 billion dollars. I held this position for two years during which time I became a certified in-state instructor for the IAAO (International Association of Assessing Officers) the preeminent association for the property assessment field with over 7,000 worldwide members.

During this time, I also served the assessment community through many leadership positions in the 1,000-member Florida Chapter of IAAO beginning in 2001 and culminating as its president in 2013-2014.

After working out of county for over seven years, I came home in 2016 when the economy began improving and I joined the Honorable Villie Smith, Marion County Property Appraiser as an Assistant Property Appraiser. Over these past years, I was able to finish my MAI designation bestowed by the Appraisal Institute. A MAI is generally considered to have experience and education roughly equivalent to a ‘doctorate level’ of commercial real estate appraisal.

Additionally, I obtained the CAE (Certified Assessment Evaluator), the highest appraisal designation bestowed by IAAO.

 

Community and Family

My involvement in the Ocala/Marion County community began with the Kiwanis Club of Ocala where I serve as the Chairman of the Camp Kiwanis Foundation Trustees, Golf Committee Co-Chair and club photographer. Through my connections with Kiwanis, I was nominated and accepted to the Board of Directors for Interfaith Emergency Services and also serve on their Finance Committee.

Roz and I are both active partners at Church of Hope serving on the First Impressions Team.

Roz and I have four grown children between us ranging in age from 23-33 and three grandchildren from 2-12, who we don’t see near enough!

Thank you for reading about me to earn your support. Please contact me at (352) 584-3475 should you have any questions or want to learn more.

PickNickforMarionPA@gmail.com

Facebook@PickNickforMarionPA

 


Note: The candidate's photograph and statement are supplied by the candidate and are not endorsed by the County Supervisor of Elections or checked for accuracy.
The following financial reports are available:
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Candidate qualifying forms and miscellaneous documents