Klamath County assigns interim oversight for code enforcement and tax/property sales amid supervisory vacancy

Klamath County Board of Commissioners on an unspecified date agreed to interim coverage for its code enforcement and tax/property sales operations after a supervisory vacancy left no dedicated supervisor for code enforcement.

County staff described the departments as three separate operations—property sales, tax, and code enforcement—with limited overlap. County Building Official Stephanie (last name not specified) told the board she is already compensated in part from code enforcement duties and volunteered to assume short-term supervisory responsibilities for code enforcement. Staff said the code enforcement group comprises three code officers and one administrative employee, and that the tax/property work has a deputy who can cover that department in the interim.

The matter matters because the county lacks a designated code-enforcement supervisor and county staff said they want to avoid service gaps while a longer review of departmental structure is completed. Commissioners and staff discussed moving some planning tasks off Stephanie’s plate to the public works director, who now oversees planning, and keeping Kayla (last name not specified) responsible for tax and property sales in the short term.

Commissioners flagged that larger reorganization decisions should be considered as part of forthcoming budget and structure discussions. An unnamed commissioner suggested the county consider placing nuisance-code enforcement under the office of the sheriff, saying he had discussed the idea with the sheriff and that the sheriff had “leaned very much the same direction.” That commissioner said the proposal was prompted in part by repeated occasions where both deputies and code officers responded separately to the same locations, producing duplicated responses.

Board members emphasized the interim assignments were short term. No formal vote was recorded in the transcript; the board indicated consensus to proceed with the interim coverage and to discuss broader structural options during regular budget and organizational reviews.

The board also noted the need to clarify liaison assignments: Stephanie said she currently serves as building official and planning contact and that Commissioner Minty is liaison for building and Commissioner Nichols is liaison for planning; staff suggested moving the partial planning duties Stephanie handles to the acting planning director in public works.

The commissioners instructed staff to proceed with the interim plan while preparing for a structured review of departmental responsibilities during upcoming budget discussions.