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County assessor has no plan to fix errors By Vickie Aldous Sep 11, 2022 01:00 AM A A Jackson County Assessor Dave Arrasmith State audit finds problems with county assessor’s office that will take years to fix Jackson County commissioners raked County Assessor Dave Arrasmith over the coals after he sat on a state audit for nearly two months that identified widespread problems in his office — and never came up with a plan to fix issues. “You’re the leader and the manager of this organization,” Commissioner Dave Dotterrer told Arrasmith in a Thursday meeting. “I’ve gotta tell you something. I’d be embarrassed and chagrined to receive a report that told me that 80% of the things I’m responsible for are a problem. Now one or two things is one thing. But this shows ineptitude that I just can’t believe.” The 37-page July 18 audit found one function of the tax assessor’s office — computing taxes — isn’t being done in compliance with the law. Another 11 functions, including fixing taxing errors, are done in ways that put them at risk of being out of compliance. Five functions are being done in an acceptable, adequate way. Of the five adequate functions, only two are actually carried out by the assessor’s office. The other three are handled by the county’s finance department, said Jackson County Administrator Danny Jordan. The Oregon Department of Revenue, which performed the audit, said it wants a plan by Nov. 1 for how to make sure all the functions are being done adequately. The state agency launched the review after a string of errors by the tax assessor’s office. Some of the office’s practices end up costing taxpayers more money, like counting porches as completed living space for manufactured homes. That inflates the value and property taxes for manufactured homes. Some taxpayers may have spent two decades underpaying. The audit found $20 was frequently listed as the value for infrastructure like water, sewer and electrical work under property, even though that infrastructure is usually worth thousands of dollars. The $20 figures may have been put in as placeholders when the tax assessor’s office was upgrading its system back in 2002. The figures were never updated with real values. The audit found the tax assessor’s office is years behind on the research it needs to do to assess taxes accurately. County commissioners and the county administrator said Arrasmith has not been in communication with them about his plans to fix the problems. At the Thursday meeting, Commissioner Colleen Roberts said Arrasmith was only talking to them because commissioners had called him to the meeting. She pressed him repeatedly, saying she wanted to hear a plan. Arrasmith said it’s up to the Oregon Department of Revenue to develop a plan. However, commissioners pointed out written instructions from the department that were included in the audit. The department said it would work with the assessor, county commissioners and county tax collections to create a plan by Nov. 1 that would detail steps to fix problems and bring the county into full compliance with the law. Arrasmith then asked county commissioners if they had contacted the state about developing a plan to fix the tax assessor’s office. Commissioner Rick Dyer said, “If you expect us to initiate that plan, I think that’s dereliction of your duty because that’s your job.” Arrasmith said it’s not his impression that the state wants him to put together a plan. Pressed again by commissioners to outline a plan, Arrasmith said he didn’t have anything to present at the meeting. He said he could get back to the commissioners with a status report in a week. As assessor, Arrasmith is elected by voters. He can’t be fired by the county commissioners, who are elected, or the county administrator, who is an unelected staff person. The Jackson County Budget Committee, which includes the three commissioners plus three citizen members, has previously punished Arrasmith for errors by withholding raises and knocking him down a pay grade. He will still make more than $120,000 this year . Arrasmith said county commissioners can’t tell him what to do. “You can control the budget, you can make recommendations, but I don’t believe you have the authority to tell me I have to give you a plan,” he said. Arrasmith said his office has been in dialogue with the Oregon Department of Revenue and the department intends to help the office develop a plan. But Arrasmith also said the tax assessor’s office is busy, and working on a plan to fix problems isn’t critical right now. Commissioners blasted Arrasmith for saying his staff are too busy to address problems. Commissioners noted they and the citizen members of the Budget Committee have raised concerns repeatedly about understaffing in the tax assessor’s office. Again and again, they’ve asked Arrasmith to request more funding if he needs more workers. But he hasn’t come forward with budget requests to boost staffing. The whole Budget Committee was especially concerned after destructive 2020 wildfires leveled thousands of Jackson County homes and businesses and massively increased the workload on the assessor’s office. The assessor’s office had to determine new tax values for destroyed and damaged property. It has to add on new tax value as the properties gradually rebuild. Yet Arrasmith didn’t ask for more employees and said in April of this year that his staff are “feeling no stress.” The tax assessor’s office has made errors in calculating taxes on both burned and unburned property in the fire zones. In the audit, the Oregon Department of Revenue said understaffing is one reason why the assessor’s office makes mistakes and is years behind on its work. At the Thursday meeting, Arrasmith said he didn’t ask for more staff in the past because he wasn’t sure if the Budget Committee would approve hiring more people. But not only had the Budget Committee urged him to ask for more staff, other departments that faced higher workloads after the 2020 fires asked for and received funding for more workers. In the wake of the state audit, Arrasmith said he now plans to put in a budget request for more workers. At the meeting, commissioners and county staff members told Arrasmith he will probably need to hire more workers to address the issues flagged by the audit. Arrasmith said he can’t make a plan for fixing issues without knowing what his staffing level will be. After the frustrating back-and-forth with Arrasmith, commissioners heard from a staff person under him who is actually working to develop a plan to address problems. Angela Stuhr, who lost to Arrasmith in 2016 when he was elected, said the assessor’s office is dealing with antiquated software, outdated data and systems that are interwoven and difficult to fix. “You pull a string and say, ‘Oh, no! Now we have to fix that,’” she said. Stuhr said she's getting advice from Linn and Polk counties, which have experience with effective tax assessor systems. The fixes can’t be done overnight, especially because managers will have to learn the systems well enough to start training others in the assessor’s office, Stuhr said. “We’ve sketched out what we think is a first year plan,” she said. “It will take three to five years to say we are in compliance with the Department of Revenue.” Stuhr said problems will have to be addressed over time in manageable pieces. Jackson County Finance Director Shannon Bell, who is also lending a hand, said she’s talking with Stuhr about what staffing and resources the assessor’s office will need to carry out the fixes. Bell told Arrasmith he should be telling the Budget Committee what staffing he needs to stay in compliance with the law. Arrasmith said Stuhr can work on the staffing issue. Dyer, the county commissioner, said he appreciates the work Stuhr and Bell are putting in to craft a realistic plan, even if fixing all the problems in the assessor’s office will be a long, difficult process. He said he heard more from them in one meeting than he heard from Arrasmith in the nearly two months since the audit came out. Jordan, the county administrator, said he wants the staff of the assessor’s office to be supported so they can accomplish their work and be successful. He praised Stuhr for stepping forward, even though leading the office is Arrasmith’s responsibility. “What Angela (Stuhr) presented today I would have liked to hear from you,” Jordan told Arrasmith. “But at least she’s working on it.” Reach Mail Tribune reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @VickieAldous.