Tax assessor explains new truth-in-taxation documentation rules as court designates assessor for rate calculations

Mr. Warren (S10) told the court the office completed training and cross-trained eight employees to prepare the truth-in-taxation worksheets and the documentation now required by state law. “Most notably, the state law now requires us to create documentation that we can hyperlink to for most calculations on the sheet,” he said, explaining the new step increased time per worksheet.

Warren described that his office performs calculations for four entities (Potter County, Bishop Hills, Highland Park and River Road) and said the county can either retain the maximum optional motor vehicle fees or reduce them. The court voted to designate the tax assessor-collector as the officer responsible for calculating the no-new-revenue and voter-approval tax rates; the motion passed on voice vote.

Warren emphasized creating backups rather than relying on a single person to perform the calculations: he said the office trained multiple employees so the calculation process would be resilient if staff were unavailable. The court asked that the finalized, hyperlinked calculation sheets be uploaded to the county website after the assessor signs them electronically.