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Assessor outlines revaluation program as commissioners debate incentive pay and staffing
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Summary
Colfax County assessor presented a maintenance and reappraisal plan showing a $55.6 million increase in assessed value and requested overtime/stipend authority to cross‑train staff for mapping work; commissioners debated certification incentives and tabled larger salary restructuring for further review.
Colfax County Assessor Christie Graham presented the office's maintenance and reevaluation plan, described recent increases in county assessed value, and requested temporary overtime or stipend authority to cross‑train staff to cover mapping duties after a resignation.
"My name is Christie Graham. I am the Colfax County assessor," Graham said as she opened the presentation, and she told commissioners that total assessed value increased "$55,600,000" and market value rose about "$166,800,000," driven largely by residential improvements. The assessor said the office uses the county 1% fund for door‑to‑door reappraisals and that reappraisal cycles run every three to four years.
Graham requested authority to pay overtime or a stipend so a chief appraiser can assume mapping duties while the assessor's office recruits replacements and provides training. Commissioners and staff discussed training options (AutoCAD and GIS), funding sources (about 70% of the position is paid from the 1% fund and 30% from the general fund), and whether the county should require certificates before awarding incentive pay.
Separately, commissioners debated amendments to a salary restructuring resolution and the structure of certification incentive pay (whether stipends "stack"). That broader resolution drew opposition focused on the fiscal cost — one commissioner said the estimate had grown from an earlier $250,000 projection to roughly $486,000 annually — and commissioners voted to table the comprehensive restructuring pending attorney review and return with a consolidated resolution at the next meeting.
On the assessor's operational request, commissioners approved overtime for training but asked the assessor to return with revised job descriptions and the formal position paperwork at the next meeting.
The commission also approved advertising to fill a vacant deputy clerk position in the assessor's office and asked that future agenda items identify positions by title rather than "vacant position."
