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ASSESSOR: Expertise essential

| May 20, 2020 4:01 PM

I do not personally know the three individuals selected for consideration to become the County Assessor. All three may be eminently qualified. The article mentioned that two had experience being in real estate and one had been a political candidate previously. Again each of these men may be well qualified to serve as our assessor. There is some other information that should be considered in my opinion.

An assessor should have a designation as an appraiser and should have conducted appraisals. Possibly have been a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) would be good.

Experience in an assessor’s office might also serve us well. Assessing property isn’t the same as selling it. Valuation for taxation requires the knowledge of sales in the area for comparison to insure my property value is fair when compared to others. This is essentially a market value approach. Rental properties are not assessed on property value but uses an income approach which requires a review of rental logs. New construction may not have a ready comparison and requires knowledge of construction costs.

This is an extremely important position and should require substantial expertise. Any person selected should be well equipped to address both fairness and the current growth in Kootenai County. I hope our County Commission makes the best choice for the good of our community.

PHIL WARD

Coeur d’Alene