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Council hears request to add assessor clerk ahead of upcoming valuation work
Summary
Town Manager Perlow and assessor staff described a proposal to add a clerk to the tax assessor’s office so the assessor can perform property inspections and prepare for an upcoming statistical revaluation and a full revaluation the council will need to fund.
Coventry — The Coventry Town Council received a request during budget hearings to add a clerk to the tax assessor’s office so the assessor can get back into the field ahead of upcoming valuation work and ensure the office remains staffed while personnel recover from long-term absences.
Town Manager Perlow said the assessor’s office is currently down staff and that the requested hire would allow the assessor to “get out there, and get some eyes on some of these properties.” He told the council the assessor has been unable to perform field inspections due to staffing shortages and that the new hire would restore the office’s ability to handle in-person assessments.
Revaluation funding and timeline
Perlow outlined a multi-year funding approach for revaluation work: the current budget line for valuation-related costs has been reduced from $50,000 to $15,000 for the coming year, with a plan to increase to $25,000 the next year and continue at that level to build funds for a statistical revaluation and a future full revaluation. “We know our full valuations costing 579,000,” Perlow said, noting the escrow fund will show a temporary deficit when full revaluation costs occur but that the town plans to recover the expense over subsequent years.
Council members asked whether there are staffing benchmarks in Rhode Island or nationally for assessor offices; staff said there is not a statewide standard they could cite, though they compared Coventry with nearby towns for context. Councillors asked staff to include comparative staffing information from peer communities for future finance-committee discussions.
Board of review and volunteer recruitment
The assessor’s office also sought volunteers for the Board of Assessment Review. The department noted openings for community members from District 1 and District 4 and described the board’s low meeting frequency.
What was not decided
No council vote on hiring occurred at the hearing. Staff said the assessor-hire request and the revaluation funding schedule will be considered in subsequent budget and finance-committee meetings.
