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Board approves reclassifying position; Tax Assessor aims to do commercial revaluation in-house
Summary
After multiple unsuccessful RFPs, the Tax Assessor's Office will reclassify a Board-appointed position and begin recruiting for an in-house Property Appraiser post; Chief Appraiser William Harris said vendor estimates for a countywide commercial revaluation ranged roughly $700,0002D$1 million over three years while in-house staffing would reallocate about $120,000.
The Board approved reclassifying a Board-appointed position into the Tax Assessor27s budget and authorized the Tax Assessor27s Office to recruit to fill that funded slot as the first step toward conducting a countywide commercial property revaluation in-house.
Chief Appraiser William Harris told commissioners that multiple procurement attempts produced little vendor interest and that "the estimated cost for a vendor to complete the countywide commercial property revaluation ranged from approximately $700,000 to $1 million over a three-year period." Harris said the office could instead reallocate roughly $120,000 to fund two Property Appraiser positions and perform the work internally, which he presented as a more cost-effective approach that would also make assessments fairer and more aligned with current commercial infrastructure.
Commissioner Adam Worsley pressed for transparency about the expected revenue return from a revaluation; Harris and County Administrator John Gorton said an exact revenue increase could not yet be determined until appraisals were complete, but that staff expected a return that would justify the expenditure. Commissioners agreed to move the existing funded position into the Assessor27s budget so recruitment could begin, with further budget detail to come during the budget work session.
