Utah County Assessor Bert Garfin told the commission on Oct. 14 that the assessor's office faces statutory and performance requirements that require more staffing and better imaging tools.

Bert Garfin, presenting the assessor's 2026 budget asks, said the office must complete a mandated detailed review of every parcel every five years and meet an earlier assessment-roll deadline, state sales-ratio tests and an obligation to decide appeals within 60 days of filing.

Garfin said the office currently completed about 37,000 detailed-review parcels last year but needs to average 60,000 per year through 2028 to meet the schedule. To reach that capacity he requested multiple positions and technology investments, including two additional detailed-review appraisers, pictometry (high-resolution aerial imagery) on an annual rather than biennial cadence, a parcel processor to correct data errors, a commercial appraisal officer to speed appeals decisions, upgraded monitors to view higher-resolution imagery and street-level photography to improve parcel records.

Garfin said some investments are tied directly to statutory or administrative mandates: the detailed-review appraiser positions support the five-year parcel review, and the commercial appraisal officer is intended to help complete appeal decisions within the 60-day window the office now faces from the State Tax Commission. Garfin said roughly 1,400 appealed parcels had already been filed this year and that the office planned to request an extension but was not sure how strictly the State Tax Commission would enforce the 60-day requirement in the future. He said pictometry and better monitors would let appraisers measure houses and review imagery accurately; improved street-level photos would modernize data for properties whose pictures are 10 to 20 years old.

Budget trade-offs and commissioner direction: Commissioners reviewed the assessor's priority list and several commissioners said they were ready to support the top priorities if funding permitted. Multiple commissioners indicated support on the first three asks (two detailed-review appraisers and pictometry), a part-time pay increase, and allowing a limited budget transfer this year to replace a printer and buy monitors from unused salary dollars. The parcel-processor request was discussed as "undecided" by some commissioners and received mixed support.

Garfin said the office is actively recruiting and still has several open positions. Commissioners directed staff to model the cost if the commission added prioritized positions and to consider using available one-time salary savings for the equipment needs before including all recurring costs in the 2026 budget.