County commissioners did not disagree with the notion that the Assessor’s Office has a lot of work to do or that keeping more detailed property records is a good idea, but they weren’t ready at their February 12 county board meeting to grant Assessor Betty Schultz’s request for a new position in the department.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue (DOR) requires that counties assess at least one-fifth of their properties – called a quintile – each year so that all properties get assessed at least every five years. The DOR is in the process of conducting a review of all Minnesota assessor offices to gauge compliance.
Cook County has not been able to meet the quintile requirement for years, and Assessor Schultz is trying to figure out how her department is going to do it. She said the DOR has told her the county must be in compliance within five years. “It’s a serious responsibility,” she said. “Right now we cannot meet the requirements at the current level of staffing.”
More detailed records
In addition to increasing the number of assessments the department will be doing each year, the board has authorized Schultz to gather more detailed information on all properties and implement a new computer system to track that information. A memo from Schultz to the board states, “The computer upgrade is to provide greatly enhanced uniformity in Cook County with the ultimate goal of a more detailed, equal assessment and equal treatment throughout the county.”
The onsite assessment will involve measuring land elevations, views, access, lakeshore footage, roadways, tillable soils, water, sewer, and electric utilities, and buildings, including quality, condition, story heights, open vault areas, age, decks and porches, differing uses (commercial, industrial, residential, etc.), and percentage finished.
Getting all of the information on onefifth of the properties a year and entering it into the computer system will take time. Assessor Schultz said she believes they should be fiscally responsible but wants to do what’s in the best interest of the county as a whole.
Adding staff
Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk commended the staff and said she thinks they’ll get a lot of assessing done now that Allison Lowe and Cindi Crawford will be working separately. Doo-Kirk said she thought it was premature to add permanent full-time staff right now.
The current system of collecting data does not ensure fair and equitable taxation, Commissioner Sue Hakes said. She said that the state can take over assessor offices and assign their own assessors in counties that are out of compliance.
The state is not asking the county to add an employee, Doo-Kirk said.
“They’re not saying it, but they’re saying it,” said Commissioner Jan Hall.
“I would disagree with adding another full-time position to the payroll,” said Commissioner Bruce Martinson. He supported borrowing staff from Planning & Zoning, where permit requests are down.
Commissioner Garry Gamble outlined several ways they could get more help in the department, ranging from hiring a fulltime permanent employee to hiring a parttime employee who would not qualify for benefits, to hiring a temporary employee, who also would not quality for benefits, during the months the assessors are mostly out in the field.
Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers asked Assessor Schultz if they could reduce staff again after five years if they added a person now. She said that would be a possibility.
Once they add a new position, it becomes very difficult to let it go, Commissioner Gamble said. He said he was reluctant to add permanent staff without pursuing other options first.
Commissioner Hakes said the county had not been in compliance for 20 years. “Clearly we have a problem.”
Auditor-Treasurer Powers said former assessor Ted Mershon implemented GIS technology in order to add efficiency to their work. The county now has two GIS employees working in the Information Systems Department.
County board’s actions
Last spring, former assessor Mary Black was one of several department heads who requested that the board spend $187,000 for aerial photographs of Cook County’s private property. She told the board that aerial imagery aids them in classifying properties, saving them from having to walk through undeveloped land. The board approved that expenditure.
At this meeting, the board passed a motion authorizing a task force to work with the assessor on the staffing issue and come back to the board with a recommendation. It will consist of commissioners Bruce Martinson and Jan Hall, Auditor- Treasurer Powers, Personnel Director Janet Simonen, and Assessor Schultz.
The board also approved a contract with Judy Shire of Brainerd to create the new computer system at a cost not to exceed $6,800. The money will come out of the Land Records Improvement Fund.
In other Assessor’s Office news:
The board voted to hold an auction rather than take sealed bids for the sale of the Tip of the Trail property on Saganaga Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail. The property, roughly 4.6 acres, includes about 323 feet of lakeshore. It was once zoned commercial and operated as an outfitters but is now classified seasonal recreational.
“The appraisal was considerably less than the assessed value,” said Assessor Schultz. The county has assessed the market value at $552,300, but in a recent appraisal it was valued at $350,000. No Saganaga Lake property sales were available as comparables, and the nine most comparable sales were from September 2009 to July 2012.
The auction will be held in warmer weather so prospective buyers can better inspect the property.
The minimum bid will be $350,000.
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