Assessor outlines cyclical reassessment plan, pictometry and permitting challenges

At the budget hearing the county assessor discussed preparations for the next cyclical reassessment, said she had issued a request for bids for commercial and ratio‑study work and expects a contract to be ready for commissioners in November, and described technology options to improve property change detection.

The assessor said she will attempt to perform more in‑house work on residential reassessment and limit outside contracting to commercial and industrial parcels; she has budgeted to buy commercial ratio study services and expects tighter contracts following an October bid opening. “We’re putting that out for bid now. Hopefully, at the November 4 commissioners’ meeting, I’ll have a contract ready for them to sign,” she said.

She outlined pictometry and flyover imagery as a way to detect property changes remotely and said the county could use software that compares successive flyovers and flags new features such as swimming pools or additions. She also discussed using drone technology in the future but said certification and operational rules will be factors. The assessor requested modest training and part‑time help lines; she said she had not spent the full amount budgeted for the current year and proposed returning some line items to prior levels.

The assessor also raised permitting and data‑sharing issues with municipalities. She said some towns provide building‑permit information but others do not; as a result parcels with unrecorded building work can go undetected until the next cyclical inspection. She described outreach she had done to town offices but said responses varied.

No new contract was approved at the hearing. The assessor asked commissioners to approve a contract after bids are received and to consider funding for pictometry or targeted flyovers as part of future capital planning.