Assessor Should Be Independent

* The assessor of Orange County has been criticized for not being a management team player in county government. In fact, in California, the county assessor is not supposed to be on “the team.”

Managing the county through a team approach is probably a good idea as a general concept. It moves managers close to the tough decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources.

The office of the assessor is, however, an exception to the rule because of our government monopoly and his authority to impose property values for tax purposes on the people. That unique responsibility is with the elected assessor.

What role should an assessor play in relationship to other elected governing entities, e.g., the Board of Supervisors? Should the assessor be part of the team that decides what and how much taxpayer money should be spent? No.

Should he work to assure overall program management is efficient and work with others to reflect reasonable consistency in management policies? Perhaps yes.

However, because he determines the level of property tax revenue to be received by the county, there should be at the very least independence and separation from other governing influences.

He should not have the authority to allocate general fund money, and he should not have any influence over that general fund.

It is unethical for an independent property appraiser to fix his compensation as a percentage of the amount of his value estimate. Similarly, the amount of money an assessor receives to accomplish his work should not be contingent upon the resulting value levels.

EARL G. FIELDS

Santa Ana