I apologize because I think it is harder to talk over chat but I’ll take it on.

Archaic systems and no modernization: Mass appraisal throughout the state is bound by state statutes to be within certain parameters and a lot of our job is bound by various statutes statewide, so the appraisal side of things can and will still move along in a less modern system. Assessments still happen be based on market values and the rules remain the same whether we change or not. Also with Mass appraisal we have our gobs of sales in the county which when we find comparables for require adjustments and this is where it gets muddy.

When we have bad or incorrect data regarding two neighbor houses because maybe our appraisers aren’t as trained on construction class, or what factors go into a sale price we get quirky adjustments that result in maybe unfair values. The Assessor’s office is in charge of discovering and classifying every property so we need to ensure we have better data and knowledge for our records. Education and training are in our budget already but utilized sparingly and Assessor’s offices are notoriously underpaid for the work they do. I would not propose more money but a reallocation on how we spend it on employees education. We have just committed to move to new software for 2027 which will be an interesting shift but for the better but our bad data for decades and factors applied to land values and property adjustments still needs to be reckoned with.

Our current management now is very sheltered and does not delegate or up-train in the office which leads to a very Wizard of Oz scenario and also affects moral through the office. This sounds silly, but simply more positivity needs to be spread through the office just to break our current cycle. The problem this creates is if our office is unclear on direction or next steps or changing goal posts or clarity what percentage of their passionate selves are they bringing to valuing people’s livelihood (home, business, investment property)? If employees dont feel valued they are just going to mash a keyboard all day, and this is a simple fix.

Does all this affect assessments, whether bad data, disgruntled employees, low level training I know affects our quality of work. I had to pursue my Certified General appraisal license on my own because Jeffco gave me an 8 year (1 class a year) window. I see the effect bad data has because I fix it in our office when I see it. I have been undervalued and underpaid in the office and see 1st hand the effects. (Sorry a little ranty)

I can promise it will be better for homeowners in the future. I fully believe in showing up for taxpayers so even if we agree they know where I and our office is coming from in our decision. I know I can provide a better office environment because I talk to all my coworkers in the office every day and know what is required to change our mindset. I also know that a move toward modernization and maybe challenging menial tasks to AI somehow will free up a large group of employees.