Shelby County assessor presents $14.0 million budget, warns staffing shortfalls ahead of 2025 reappraisal

Shelby County Assessor of Property Melvin Burgess presented his office's Fiscal Year 2025 budget and preliminary staffing and revenue notes to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners' budget subcommittee. Burgess said the assessor's adopted appropriation for 2025 is $14,038,730 and that salaries and benefits account for the bulk of that total.

"During most fiscal periods, property tax assessments account for more than 62% of Shelby County revenue," Burgess told commissioners, and he emphasized the assessor's role in identifying and valuing property across the county.

Burgess outlined the office's staffing profile: a total complement of about 48 full-time equivalent positions, 24 current vacancies, and roughly 89% of FTEs filled. He said the office had expended about 43% of salary and benefit budgets to date. He described an internal career-ladder program launched in 2019 that he said produced more than 60 promotions and helped reduce turnover.

The assessor identified recruiting and retention as the office's principal operational challenge. "We just can't fill them," Burgess said of specialized appraiser positions, adding that private-sector pay and demand for certified appraisers make it difficult for the county to compete. He said the office has a training path led internally and cited a local program, which he attributed to Javier Bailey, as part of that effort.

Burgess told the subcommittee the office reserves the right to amend position requests or budget lines if inflationary or operational costs rise and said a one-time, budget-neutral appropriation was added to the 2025 budget to support temporary staff for the reappraisal.

On population shifts and long-term revenue implications, Burgess said, "we are losing 2,000 residents a year," and that migration trends complicate long-range planning. He said he is preparing a succession plan that will include more detailed projections and recommendations for how additional staffing might increase property identification and revenue generation; he told commissioners the succession plan will be available in early February for additional review.

Deputy and operations staffing ratios were discussed. Javier Bailey, identified in the meeting as chief administrator for the assessor's office, described the statutory guidance the office uses for deputy-assessor staffing and said the office has reallocated clerical resources toward appraisal work through internal training and organizational changes.

Commissioners asked for more detail on the potential revenue gains from a fully staffed appraisal team; Burgess said he would provide those estimates in his succession-plan materials rather than offer preliminary numbers at the hearing.

The presentation closed with Burgess noting operational investments the office has made, including a recent software migration to a system called Patriot, and reiterating that personal-property audits the office contracts each year have returned roughly $2.6 million in additional collections in past years.