Renzo Downey
The Florida Association of Property Appraisers has elected Leon County Property Appraiser Akin Akinyemi its president for the coming year.
Akinyemi, who was elected during the association’s annual conference in Daytona Beach, has been a member since taking office after his election in 2016. He will serve his one-year term atop the association alongside Citrus County Property Appraiser Cregg Dalton as president-elect, Broward County Property Appraiser Marty Kiar as secretary, Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker as treasurer, and Alachua County Property Appraiser Ayesha Solomon as sergeant-at-arms.
“I am humbled by the trust my colleagues have placed in me and I thank outgoing president Dorothy Jacks for her exceptional service. I’m looking forward to a productive 2022 Legislative Session,” Akinyemi said. “Our association allows us to share our unique knowledge and to stay abreast of changes in our industry.”
FAPA is a statewide professional organization of elected county property appraisers and staff. The group’s mission includes “promoting fair and equitable ad valorem tax assessments.”
The association also supplies the Legislature with technical assistance when drafting bills and lobbies lawmakers with legislation they say will increase standards within the real estate assessment industry and provide benefits to taxpayers.
One measure the association backed this year was a bill, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, allowing low-income senior exemptions to automatically renew. The new law removed an annual filing requirement, minimizing the chance of seniors losing the exemption and reducing administrative costs for property appraisers.
In 2018, the association backed Amendment 2, a ballot measure to cap the annual increase on the assessed value of a non-homestead property at 10%. Voters approved that measure 66%-34%.
Lawmakers have started meeting ahead of the 2022 Legislative Session, which will convene for 60 days beginning Jan. 11.
Akinyemi served as FAPA’s vice president during the past term. Additionally, he chaired the association’s legislative committee. That committee included the largest number of former lawmakers now serving as property appraisers.
In 2020, Akinyemi endorsed Tallahassee-area Democrats Sen. Loranne Ausley and Rep. Allison Tant, who are now serving in the Legislature.
Akinyemi was reelected Property Appraiser in 2020. He was a Leon County Commissioner from 2008 to 2012 and served as chair of the commission’s Value Adjustment Board.
He has lived in Tallahassee for more than 30 years. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, he came to the United States to study architecture and urban planning. He ran a regional architecture firm for more than two decades.
Akinyemi holds a doctorate in urban and regional studies from Florida State University, a master’s degree in architecture from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, a bachelor’s in architecture and housing development from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s of environmental design from the University of Lagos.
