Assessing our next assessor

May 7, 2014

There are two candidates for the position of Douglas County assessor. One candidate, Harry McDermott dropped out of the race. Each candidate was asked a series of questions:

1. Why is the assessor’s position important to the county?

2. What experience do you bring to the position?

3. What are some of the issues you see in the Reedsport, western Douglas County area that can be addressed by the assessor?

4. Why has this race been so negative?

5. Closing statement.

The responses may have been edited for format, spelling, punctuation and/or grammar. The responses are presented in the order they came into The Umpqua Post. The Oregon Primary Election is May 20.

Susan Acree

1. The assessor’s office works with 110 taxing districts that provide critical services throughout Douglas County. The purpose of the ad-valorem (according to value) property tax system is to provide a financing mechanism for local governments such as cities, school districts, fire districts, park districts, vector control districts, road districts, cemetery districts, sanitary districts and special districts.

For the most part, the Assessor is an administrative position that follows statutes and Department of Revenue guidelines. It is imperative that the assessor’s office remains unbiased and nonpartisan.

State law requires that the assessor’s office make every effort to adjust the real market value of every property to as close to “100 percent of real market value” each year as is possible via the mass appraisal process.

Some properties are exempt from taxation, such as government buildings and property or that of charitable organizations. Some properties are assessed at less than market value such as farm or forestland. Other property owners are eligible to receive partial tax exemptions, including veterans, senior/disabled and farm/forest assessments.

2. I am an Oregon Registered Appraiser with more than 36 years of experience — appraisal, assessment, management — in the Douglas County assessor’s office.

My professional memberships include the Oregon State Association of County Assessors, Southwest Oregon Assessment & Taxation Coalition, and Assessors’ Administrative Rule and Education Committees. Prior to election as Assessor, I served 10 years as member of Douglas County’s Employee Benefits Committee; currently serving on Douglas County Health Advisory Policy Committee.

When I took my oath of office, I swore to faithfully carry out the office of Douglas County assessor and uphold Oregon laws. My record offers proven experience in managing the legal and ethical needs of this office.

3. Access is important because Roseburg is more than an hour’s drive away. Our professional staff can help and assist with information requests either by phone or in person. In addition to providing face-to-face service at the Reedsport Annex during tax time, we provide 24/7 access via our assessor’s website. The overhauled website has received more than 28,000 hits over the past 30 days.

Taxpayers in Reedsport and western Douglas County understand that nobody enjoys paying taxes but the necessity is undeniable. Taxes fund schools, infrastructure and public and emergency services, like police and fire departments.

Your property taxes should not be based on who you know in Roseburg but rather on their actual value as of the Jan. 1 assessment date.

Roger Hartman’s promises to reduce taxes don’t stand up to the fiscal reality of Measure 50, the voter-mandated “cut and cap” law that limited adjustments in property tax assessments. To fulfill his campaign promises, Hartman would have to work outside Oregon law.

4. Hartman is a retiree who made property tax appeals a hobby. He claims a 90 percent success rate with property tax appeals in Douglas County but the facts show only seven of his 33 appeals were reduced to the value appealed, a 21.2 percent success rate. Last year, Hartman made three appeals in Coos County and lost in all three cases, a 0 percent success rate.

Hartman claims the Assessor’s office is wrong 80 percent of the time. The fact is there were 77,477 taxable accounts in Douglas County in 2013-2014. Only 272 petitions were made to the Board of Property Tax Appeals. That is .0035 percent.

My opponent’s smear campaign isn’t a surprise. Hartman doesn’t run on his resume because he lacks the experience and leadership skills to manage the assessor’s office.

I chose to run for re-election to ensure the improvements and efficiencies we have made over the past four years are not reversed by a candidate who is cavalier with Oregon laws.

5. My entire career is in public service for Douglas County. I am honored to serve the public and I am proud of the people I’ve worked with and the staff I manage today.

I will continue to protect Douglas County property owners’ confidentiality while administering and upholding the laws and statutory obligations included in Oregon’s property tax system.

Former Douglas County Assessors Ron Northcraft and Leland Svarverud Jr. endorsed my campaign. Other endorsements include my former opponent, Harry McDermott; and five southern Oregon assessors — Coos County Assessor Steve Jansen, Curry County Assessor Jim Kolen, Josephine County Assessor Constance L. Roach, Klamath County Assessor Leonard Hill and Lane County Assessor Michael C. Cowles. These professionals understand the importance to having someone with experience in the assessor’s office.

I have more than 36 years of experience, including supervising and managing a budgeted staff of 27 employees with an annual staff budget of roughly $2 million. Hartman has less appraisal experience than the most junior member of my staff.

Over my career, I’ve appraised and analyzed thousands of county properties and sales in Douglas County. Hartman’s experience is basically nonexistent. He has never completed an Oregon county appraisal or Department of Revenue appraisal.

The difference in this campaign is that Hartman wants a job. I’m doing the job.

Roger Hartman

1. The Assessor’s job is to value each piece of property (residential, commercial, industrial, farm and personal) in the county, fairly and accurately, and place it on the tax rolls. Unfortunately, the value on far too many tax accounts, is artificially inflated. This needs to be addressed.

2. I bring over 40 years business experience in several different businesses including owning a sporting goods store, a construction and developing company and I am also an Oregon Registered Appraiser. This enables me to “think outside the box” for solutions to problems, instead of just following the old adage “this is the way we have always done it.” When someone has worked at just one job for over 36 years they typically get stuck in that type of rut. In addition, for the past seven years I have represented hundreds of tax accounts in appealing their values that were on the tax rolls. During those seven years, I have been successful in getting the values reduced in almost 95 percent of the cases and also got my clients a tax refund! This makes me uniquely qualified to be your next assessor.

3. The main issue in western Douglas County/Reedsport area is many of the tax account values are artificially inflated, resulting in higher property taxes. The assessor’s office has not kept up with the real estate market and has not made adjustments to values based on those sales in the last several years.

4. I have not “attacked” my opponent, I have only pointed out some of the problems and issues in the assessor’s office and said how I would fix those problems, when elected. Unfortunately, my opponent has insisted on “attacking” me personally instead of addressing the issues or her record for the last four years.

5. The assessor’s job, as I said earlier, is to simply make sure that all property in Douglas County is valued fairly and accurately and placed on the tax rolls. Unfortunately in far too many cases this has not been done. One simple way each property owner can determine if their property value is artificially inflated, is to look at your property tax bill and ask yourself one question: “Can I sell my property for the figure on that tax bill?” If the answer is no (which far too many say no) then your property is in fact, inflated. If you don’t know what your property value is, contact a Realtor. They can do a “CMA” which stands for a comparative market analysis. They typically do these for free, and almost always are “spot on” with their value conclusions. Then compare that figure with the one on your tax bill.