Bladen County approves temporary part‑time assessor to handle reappraisal workload

The Bladen County Board of Commissioners voted Dec. 4 to add a temporary part‑time position in the tax office to help with reappraisal and increased data entry workload.

Renee, the county tax administrator, told the board the office faces heavier workload from reappraisal, an incoming wave of building permits and statutory deadlines. She proposed an 18.75‑hour‑per‑week temporary position, initially funded at about $15,000 and scheduled through June with a 90‑day performance review. Renee said the hire would reduce backlog, improve accuracy and provide customer assistance and document management.

During discussion, several commissioners pushed back on adding personnel. One commissioner said the apparent $56,000 “over budget” balance was not discretionary and that the board should avoid increasing county government staffing. Supporters, including a commissioner with prior county tax administration experience, argued the position would prevent incorrect values from being published and shift workload from two existing staff who already perform key data entry tasks.

The board voted by voice to approve the temporary part‑time assessing position. The motion included the amendment discussed earlier to the consent items and passed without a recorded roll‑call in the transcript.

The tax administrator said the county hopes to go live with updated values and processes by Feb. 1 and will monitor the position at 90 days. The meeting record did not specify whether the new hire will be an existing county employee or an external recruit, nor did it list exact salary or benefits beyond the $15,000 estimate.

Next steps: staff will recruit or assign the temporary role and report back to the board per the proposed 90‑day evaluation.