Pablo Ramos, the county assessor, told hosts of the Government 101 podcast that his office values property for taxation and is handling appeals from notices of value mailed March 1. “The notices of value went out March 1. Their appeal deadline was April 29. Right now, we're working on those appeals. We have until Aug. 15 to give a decision on those appeals,” Ramos said.

Ramos said the assessor’s office “locate[s], identify[s], and assess[s] property. So we go out, we measure the buildings, grade them, the materials, and we give them a value.” He described the field-to-office workflow: staff obtain building permits from municipal jurisdictions, visit and physically measure improvements, record components such as roof and wall types, and draw the improvements before loading the data into the office’s computer-assisted mass appraisal system (referred to in the interview as the Grama system) to produce a value that is sent to taxpayers for review.

Why it matters: property values set by the assessor are the basis for tax bills issued by multiple taxing authorities, including school districts, fire and flood districts and the county. Ramos said those taxing authorities apply their individual rates to the assessor’s values to generate tax revenue for operations.

Ramos also summarized programs administered by the assessor’s office that can reduce taxable value for qualifying owners. “We have the senior freeze program. We have the exemptions. We have the veterans' exemptions. We have the nonprofit exemptions,” he said, adding that the office is available to help residents apply.

Ramos described practical challenges of field appraisal work, including weather and distance to remote properties. He said some long site visits have required travel to remote areas such as Parker Lake and outlying communities; the time to inspect and then draw and enter an improvement can vary by location.

The interview included procedural details residents may use: after the March notices and the April appeal deadline, the office will send revised notices covering changes through Sept. 30 and reopen an appeals window when that revised notice is issued. Ramos said taxpayers may take unsatisfied appeals beyond the office level to tax court.

No formal policy changes or council actions were taken during the recording; the segment was an informational interview about the assessor’s duties and current administrative timelines and programs.