Meet the Team

Esq., JD, AAS

Principal/Counsel

Mr. Lee acts as founding Principal for PAA and offers more than 37 years of experience in the property assessment field.  He worked for the Comptroller of the Treasury, State of Tennessee for 30 years before retiring in February 2015 when he started a solo law practice.  He has worked extensively with local assessment officials on property assessment issues. 

Robert began his career with the Comptroller’s Office after graduating from Tennessee Technological University in 1984. From 1984 to 1987 he served as a field appraiser for the Tennessee Division of Property Assessments and became the Personal Property Appraiser in 1987 responsible for the oversight and assistance for personal property assessments.  After obtaining his law degree from the Nashville School of Law in 1989, he moved into the position of Staff Attorney for the Tennessee Division of Property Assessments.  In 1993, Robert became the Staff Attorney for the Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury providing legal assistance for all 11 divisions of the Comptroller’s Office.  Robert was named General Counsel in 2001 where he was responsible for providing legal guidance to the Comptroller, working with legislative issues and overseeing the legal staff for the Comptroller’s Office.  

As a frequent speaker and presenter on property valuation and assessment issues and author of Tennessee Assessment Law courses offered by the Tennessee Division of Property Assessments, Mr. Lee offers the utmost in technical and historical knowledge to serve your property assessment needs.   

Robert has been a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) since 1994 and earned his Assessment Administration Specialist (AAS) designation in 2018.  He has served three terms on the Legal Committee / Legal Task Force for IAAO and has served as IAAO State Representative for several years. He is a Senior Specialty Instructor for the IAAO teaching Assessment Administration and Tax Policy.   He also serves as an instructor for TEAM Consulting, LLC.   

Mr. Lee’s primary area of legal practice is in the areas of property valuation, local finance and general governmental issues.  He has tried numerous appeals through the administrative process before the Tennessee State Board of Equalization, Tennessee Chancery & Circuit Courts and Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Founding Member

Sonya Bowling-Brown offers over twenty years of experience working in property assessment, beginning in the Putnam County Assessor’s office then moving to the State of Tennessee Division of Property Assessments in administration of personal property assessments.

While with the State, she was instrumental in the implementation of the personal property audit program for Tennessee.  She was an Assessment Valuation Coordinator for the Middle Tennessee area and was responsible for the training and monitoring of twenty-one counties.  Sonya also conducted training seminars and classes across the state.  She assisted in the development, implementation, and training of both the current computer assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) system and online filing used by the State of Tennessee.  She holds both a Bachelors and a Masters degree from Tennessee Technological University and has successfully completed various courses on property assessment and administration through the International Association of Assessing Officers.

• B.S. & M.S. from Tennessee Technological University
• Worked in personal property for the past 20 years, 19 with DPA, one year within a county
• Began working for the State of Tennessee when the personal property section was initiated
• Responsible for training, monitoring & assisting 21 counties in all aspects of personal property
• Instructed several classes and seminars across Tennessee
• Assisted with the development of the personal property section of the current CAMA system used in Tennessee
• Taken numerous classes from the International Association of Assessing Officers 
• Assisted with implementation of online filing for State of Tennessee
• Experienced with property assessment audits in Tennessee

CPA, CFE, CGFM

Founding Member

Connor Courtemanche holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and has experience performing Tennessee County audits throughout the State.  She has worked in a personal property auditing capacity for over six years in Tennessee.  Ms. Courtemanche offers over 25 years of experience in governmental-focused audit, financial management, business valuation and litigation support services.  She is a Certified Public Accountant (certified through the State of Arizona), Certified Governmental Financial Manager, and a Certified Fraud Examiner.  She has been accepted into the Judicial Court system as an expert witness in Business Valuation.

Specifically, Connor has worked on Tennessee county personal property audits for over six tax years and has demonstrated her ability to effectively communicate with the counties and individual auditees.  Further, she has been instrumental in assisting Tennessee counties with personal property assessment issues, including highly complex audit engagements comprised of multi-parcel audits (multiple parcels, Industrial Development Board abatements, nonstandard valuations, etc.). 

Ms. Courtemanche’s experience includes the following qualifications:   

• Prepared and / or testified for over 200 business valuations
• Bachelor of Science in Accountancy
• Certified Public Accountant (via State of Arizona), Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Governmental Financial Manager
• Over 25 years of governmental audit and financial management experience
• Coordinated and instructed numerous courses, including classes eligible for CPE (continuing professional education)
• Former “Big Four” and regional Public Accounting Firm, including Senior Manager position
• Accepted as expert witness in Business Valuation within the Court system
• Over six years of Tennessee personal property tax experience, including appeal support and testimony

Founding Member

Mandy Hunt graduated from Murray State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business with an area in Accounting.   She started her career at a public CPA firm in Paducah, Kentucky conducting audits, valuing year end inventories, preparing tax returns, etc.  Shortly thereafter, she began working in the personal property section of the Division of Property Assessments for the Comptroller of Tennessee. 

Mandy spent the next 18 years deeply involved with personal property issues, audit review, and county assistance across the entire state of Tennessee and in all 95 counties.   She assisted in the development, implementation and training of the current computer assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) system as well as the online filing system used by the State of Tennessee.  

She has successfully completed various courses on property assessment and administration through the International Association of Assessing Officers.   In July 2018 Mandy began working for a personal property auditing firm conducting personal property audits across Tennessee.  Ms. Hunt offers the following experience and qualifications:

• BSB from Murray State University with an area in accounting 
• Began career at a small CPA office conducting audits and preparing tax returns
• Worked in personal property for over 18 years with the Division of Property Assessments • Assisted with the development of the personal property section of the current CAMA system used in Tennessee
• Assisted with the development, implementation and training of the current online filing system for the State of Tennessee
• Taken numerous classes from the IAAO