Our Executives
Richard (Dick) Cunningham — Chief Executive Officer
 Dick has Domestic and International financial and tax management experience and
has been working with clients for 50 years. He has managed the Tax Department for
the Aircraft Engine Division for General Electric. Dick also worked as the Assistant
Treasurer and Tax Manager for NCR Corporation. While there, he co-managed the Domestic
and established the International tax department. Dick worked on mergers, acquisitions
and FASB implementation, managed worldwide tax litigation, Federal and State tax
audits, as well as provided extensive testimony as expert witness in Accounting
and Tax trials and was a registered tax lobbyist. Dick established the State and
Local tax function for Grant Thornton in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dick served as an Auditor
and District Manager for the Ohio Department of Taxation in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dick
is a graduate of the U.S. Army College-Officer Candidate School and served in the
Military Police Corps. He is a former member of the Executive Committee on State
Taxation (COST). He has lectured for the Tax Executive Institute (TEI) and a member
of Federation of Tax Administrators and Institute for Professionals in Taxation.
Dick has been published in the Journal of State Taxation for the article entitled
“Container Decision and the Footnote 5 Theory.” He is a graduate of the University
of Cincinnati’s College of Business, with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration
in Finance and Accounting.
George Schneider — President
George leads the real estate assessment and sales and use tax management divisions
of our firm and will assist in servicing new clients. He offers more than twenty
eight years of property tax experience successfully managing valuation, appeal,
incentive, planning audit and compliance matters for a wide range of large and complex
properties in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition, he
has more than twenty years of sales and use tax experience successfully managing
audit, planning, incentive, appeal and compliance activity for General Motors Company
and their finance subsidiary. George has been a certified member of the Institute
for Professionals in Taxation in both property taxes, since 1987, and sales and
use taxes, since 1997. He has also served as a lecturer for a number of IPT programs.
George is a graduate of the State University of New York with a Bachelor’s degree
in Economics.
Michael (Mike) Cunningham — Executive Vice President
Mike has worked in the personal property tax field for the past 12 years with various
projects involving Fortune 500 companies. His primary focus has been in the automotive,
petrochemical and food processing industries with experience at over 65 sites worldwide.
He has managed teams on large projects throughout the United States, Europe, Asia
and Mexico. His experience includes extensive work on fixed asset inventory projects
where he has helped clients save millions of dollars in property tax. Mike also
has experience in corporate accounting, preparing income statements, balance sheets,
and other accounting related reports. He successfully completed the Institute for
Professionals in Taxation Intermediate Personal Property Tax program. Mike has also
served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and was a graduate of the Military
Intelligence and Electronic Warfare School at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. His civilian
education includes a Master’s Degree in International Management from Thunderbird-Garvin
School of International Business and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from
the University of Notre Dame.
Sarah Gelter — Chief Operating Officer
Sarah has worked in the personal property tax field for the past 10 years with projects
involving Fortune 500 companies. Sarah is directly involved and manages many of
our engagements and has worked with clients worldwide. She is highly skilled in
securing tax savings for various organizations from her knowledge in performing
and analyzing fixed asset inventories for reclassification and disposal. She has
conducted work in several types of manufacturing industries such as: petrochemical,
automotive, textile, pharmaceutical and food processing throughout North America
and Europe. Sarah also has experience in working with various fixed asset software
systems and assisting in the data upload of the final product to the clients’ software
system. She has been directly responsible for the overall management and quality
control for many projects with respect to the accounting and tax work and ensuring
all changes were accurately incorporated into the clients’ software systems. She
has attended national training seminars for widely used tax preparation software
utilized by many organizations nationwide. Sarah is a graduate of the University
of Cincinnati’s College of Business, with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration
in Finance and International Business.
Jason Walter — Senior Vice President, Field Operations
Jason has worked in the property tax field for 10 years and serves as one of our
primary project managers and specializes in complex properties found in high-tech
manufacturing, chemical, automotive, and power utilities. He is an experienced specialist
in fixed asset inventory management and analysis for tax filings and tax compliance.
Jason also conducts on-site physical audits of our client’s personal property, where
he checks for over-assessments and then establishes a corrected filing basis for
more equitable returns in the future. He also implements policies and procedures
to manage Sarbanes Oxley compliance in our clients fixed asset accounting to strengthen
their internal controls. Jason is a graduate of Cincinnati State with a degree in
Mechanical Engineering.
Stephanie Roos – Compliance Manager
Stephanie has been working in the personal property tax compliance area for the
past 8 years. She has extensive experience in analysis of the financial and fixed
asset records for tax filing and compliance for our clients including reclassification
and various tax opportunities such as software, not reportable, engineering and
pollution. She has completed personal property tax returns for multiple areas including;
automotive, petrochemical, food processing, pharmaceuticals, hotel and banking to
name of a few. She has property tax experience in every state that has a personal
property tax filing requirement. She has attended national training seminars for
widely used tax preparation software utilized by many organizations nationwide.
Stephanie is a graduate of Cincinnati State with a degree in Accounting.
Scott Ackerman — Manager
Scott is a Certified Public Accountant with over 12 years of experience in public
accounting. He has extensive knowledge in the areas of audit and taxation for both
corporations and individuals. His client base represented a wide range of industries
including real estate development, manufacturing, service, retail, healthcare and
finance. He has worked with businesses to manage their cash flow, ensure accurate
and timely financial reporting is in compliance as well as provide tax savings through
strategies and planning. Scott serves as a project manager where he utilizes his
auditing and compliance background to conduct on-site physical audits of our client’s
personal property. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants and the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Scott is a graduate
of Xavier University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree
majoring in Accounting.
Miles Caunin — Manager
Miles has over 7 years of experience working in the personal property and real property
tax arenas. His experience includes working with large multi-state clients on tax-saving
measures and refund claims in several states, particularly in the Midwest and Southeast.
Miles has also had success with state audits, exemption and incentive issues, as
well as with appeals. He has provided tax consulting services to clients, both large
and small, in various industries including manufacturing, distribution, and income-producing
properties. Miles previously worked with a national tax-consulting organization
and Big Four firm prior to joining our firm. He continues to broaden his tax knowledge
with involvement in the Institute for Professionals in Taxation (IPT), the American
Bar Association- Taxation Section, and the National Tax Association. As a ROTC scholarship
recipient, he earned a U.S. Army commission upon receiving his Bachelor’s degree
and served several years, which included selection into the Judge Advocate General’s
Corps (JAG). Miles is a graduate of the University of South Florida with a Bachelor
of Arts degree and later received a Juris Doctorate from the Cleveland-Marshall
College of Law.
Bryan Kennedy — Manager
Bryan has worked in the property tax area for over 6 years. He serves as a project
manager and specializes in complex properties found in the automotive, petrochemical,
high-tech manufacturing, food processing and pharmaceutical industries. He is an
experienced specialist in fixed asset inventory management and analysis for tax
filings and tax compliance. Bryan conducts on-site physical audits of our client’s
personal property, where he checks for over-assessments and then establishes a corrected
filing basis for more equitable future returns and increase ROI. He has attended
national training seminars for widely used preparation tax software utilized by
many organizations nationwide. Bryan is a graduate of Wilmington College with a
degree in Accounting and Business Administration.
Frank Buettner — Manager Real Property Tax
Frank has 35 years of real and personal property tax experience in North America with both industrial and commercial properties. He specializes in reviewing and identifying real and personal property tax issues relating to the client's business environment. Frank's knowledge and experience provide the expertise to allow him to adjust, negotiate and defend lower client tax values at an informal and formal level. He is also versed in the tax incentive, abatement, and certification process affecting large industrial and commercial properties. Prior to joining our firm, Frank worked with a national tax consulting organization and has held Property Tax Manager positions with both TRW and BP Oil Company. He has lectured at various IPT events as well as the National Business Institute. Frank is a graduate of Dyke College (David N. Meyers College), where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting and holds an LLB from LaSalle Extension University.
Christopher Coucke — Manager Real Property Tax
Christopher has 6 years of property tax experience successfully managing valuation, appeal, incentive and compliance matters for a wide range of large and complex properties in the United States. He also offers several years of experience handling assessment administration at both the local and county levels. Prior to joining our firm, Christopher served as a Property Tax Consultant for Thomson Reuters Property Tax Services Group. In addition, he previously worked with the St. Clair Department of Equalization (MI) as well as the Berlin Township Assessors Office (MI). Christopher became a certified member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation in property tax in 2011. Christopher holds a Level 3 Assessing Officer certification from the Michigan State Tax Commission, is a Certified Tax Representative in the state of Indiana, and is a graduate of Central Michigan University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting.
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