FRANKFORT, Ky. – The wife of the appraiser whose work led to Gov. Matt Bevin winning the appeal of the property tax value of his Anchorage house last summer has landed a state job that pays $90,000 a year.

In an appointment approved by Bevin, Shellie A. May began work on Jan. 8 as executive director of the Kentucky Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs.

May, of Louisville, said in a telephone interview that she has the most important qualification for the job — she raised a son with special health care needs.

Doug Hogan, spokesman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said May was hired “because of her experience in working with exceptional children. Her nursing and managerial credentials, coupled with 22 years of personal experience as a caregiver to a special needs child, allow her to understand the unique challenges those families face every day.”

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“My heart beats, and I have a passion, for kids with special needs and their families. Because until you have lived it, you will never know what I and my family go through with having a medically fragile son,” May said.

May holds a bachelor’s in nursing from Bellarmine University. But Nathan Goldman, general counsel for the Kentucky Board of Nursing, said board records show that May has never been licensed as a nurse in Kentucky.

Prior to going to work for the commission, May worked as executive assistant to Jeffersontown Mayor Bill Dieruf. At the time of her departure, her salary in Jeffersontown was $60,269, according to a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office.

May said she was one of six persons interviewed for the appointment. And she said she is confident that her husband John May’s appraisal work for the governor last year had nothing to do with getting the job. She noted she served briefly as a member of the commission by appointment of former Gov. Ernie Fletcher on his last day in office in 2007.

“I’ve been actively involved with the commission,” she said. “... I have served this community with Easter Seals, the Louisville Pediatric Therapy Center. I have worked with home health agencies … It’s something I’ve pretty much lived for 22 years, having a medically fragile child.”

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She succeeds Jackie Richardson, of Louisville, who held the executive director’s job about six years until last fall.

As executive director, May oversees an agency with 11 offices across the state and an annual budget of about $21 million. The agency, according to its description in the state budget, works to assure that services to children with disabilities are comprehensive, community-based, family-centered and coordinated. It provides an array of preventive, diagnostic and treatment services, including medical care, case management, therapy, transportation and nutrition education.

Last August, Bevin won a high-profile appeal to the Jefferson County Board of Assessment Appeals of the value of his house as set by the Jefferson County property valuation administrator. The appeal was based on an appraisal by John May, a certified appraiser who has served as both Jefferson County PVA and Kentucky Revenue commissioner by appointments of Gov. Fletcher.

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The office of current Jefferson PVA Tony Lindauer valued the Anchorage mansion and 19 acres that surround it at $2.97 million — $2.13 million for the house and $840,000 for the 19 acres. Lindauer said that value was based on his office’s standard, computer-assisted process that considers recent sale prices of comparable properties.

The PVA’s value drew attention because it made the $1.6 million price that Bevin paid for the house and 10 of the 19 acres last March seem very low. Bevin bought the property from a company of Neil Ramsey, the president of an investment company and donor to Bevin political committees whom Bevin appointed in 2016 to the board of the Kentucky Retirement Systems.

But Bevin and Ramsey said Lindauer’s appraisal was far too high and appealed. The key part of their appeal was John May’s appraisal that said the house and 10 surrounding acres that Bevin bought was worth $1.39 million – $210,000 less than Bevin paid for it. May’s appraisal said the house and original 19-acre tract was worth $2.15 million.

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At a hearing before the board, May argued his assessment was based on values of properties in Anchorage far more comparable to the Bevin-Ramsey property than the properties considered by Lindauer. He also said the Bevin house had some structural problems. He concluded the PVA had “grossly overvalued” the Bevin house.

The board, a panel of three local real estate experts, inspected the house. News reporters were barred from attending the inspection. And Lindauer complained that the board was prevented from inspecting the second and third floors of the house or inside a barn.

The board accepted the value established by May and Lindauer decided not to appeal the board’s decision.

Tom Loftus: tloftus@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @TomLoftus_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/toml