Committee holds resolution asking assessor to include photos and comparable sales on property cards

The Jackson County Intergovernmental Affairs Committee voted to hold Resolution 21843, a legislative request that property cards provided by the Assessment Department include photographs of property inspections and related comparable sales.

Chair Sean Smith opened consideration of Resolution 21,843 and acknowledged an amendment had been circulated. Gail McCann Beatty, director of assessment, said some proposed provisions in the original resolution were not feasible and had been deleted in a revised amendment. "We basically deleted those things," Beatty said, describing removal of clauses that would have restricted use of information provided during appeals and that would have deemed assessments incomplete if additional information was required after the assessment date. She said the department seeks to be transparent and to provide property owners "as much information as we can," but warned that the assessor's processes are dynamic and that property record cards change as the system updates.

Deputy Director Maureen Monahan and Beatty noted technical and privacy issues: some templates do not reliably display photos and interior inspection photos become public record once provided, which raises privacy concerns. Monahan asked the committee to remove wording that said comparable sales were "used to determine fair market value," because the department uses a market-driven cost approach and comparable sales serve to substantiate rather than determine value. Beatty said the department has built a public portal that will allow taxpayers to view property information and that the portal is not yet publicly available because templates and photo display need to be finalized.

Legislators and assessment staff agreed the resolution needs further edits. Sean Smith proposed holding the resolution to reconcile the amendment language and ensure staff and legislators are aligned; the motion to hold was moved and seconded and the committee held the item without objection. Committee members said the final product should mirror what other counties provide and not overpromise data the assessor cannot produce consistently.

The committee did not advance the resolution; staff said the assessment portal exists but is not yet ready for public release. The committee asked staff and the sponsor to coordinate on revised language and technical details before bringing a revised resolution back to committee.