Assessor’s Race a Fierce Debate Over Efficiency

A growing debate over the efficiency of the Orange County assessor’s office has turned a lackluster election campaign into a hot battle between two candidates with opposing views on how to run the operation.

Webster J. Guillory, a 21-year veteran of the assessor’s office who is seeking the top spot, argues that most of the criticism comes from unwarranted attacks by political foes of departing Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs. They simply want the office to be less autonomous, he says.

“There is an issue of politics over integrity going on here,” Guillory said. “This office operates within a body of laws and the state says that we are doing an exceptional job.”

But James S. Bone, an accountant with heavy support from local Republican leaders, asserts that the office is running amok, failing to process assessment appeals in a timely way and overtaxing businesses in the process.

“We need a change,” he said. “They say they’re public-service-oriented, but too often the public isn’t served and I’m frustrated about it. My opponent will continue the practices of Brad Jacobs. He will continue the war with the supervisors. I will stop it.”

Jacobs, the assessor for 22 years, decided not to run again after a rift developed with the county Board of Supervisors over his refusal to apply for a state loan to help his office process property tax appeals quicker.

The assessor’s office evaluates property values and levies taxes based on those values.

Jacobs came under criticism for failing to lower assessments quickly during the long real-estate-fueled recession in the early 1990s. Yet, after the county’s historic bankruptcy in 1994, pressure mounted on him to keep values stable because his was one of the few agencies that generate revenue for the county.

Guillory pointed out that the state Board of Equalization, which oversees the assessment process, gave Jacobs good marks last year for the way his office calculated property values.

But this week, Gov. Pete Wilson signed into law a measure that would halt Jacobs from a new way he was calculating taxes for certain homeowners. The law was aimed at stopping him from including the cost of sewers, roads and other public improvements in the value of the properties.

Jacobs has said, however, that he has no plans to alter taxes charged to the 1,000 to 2,000 affected homeowners.

Bone and Guillory emerged from a field of seven candidates in the June primary. Guillory garnered 26% of the countywide vote, Bone 17%. Each has raised about $25,000 since the primary for the final run.

Bone, 57, earned a bachelor’s degree at San Diego State in 1965 and a master’s in business administration at International University in San Diego in 1971. The Mission Viejo resident had been a member of the Orange County Assessment Appeals Board for 11 years.

Bone’s endorsement list is laden with local political leaders, including nearly all of the state and federal elected officials from Orange County, the influential fund-raising Lincoln Club and the Republican Party of Orange County.

“The assessor’s office is really the one area where politicians can create a windfall of tax revenue, so you need someone in there who is going to protect the taxpayer,” said Bruce Peotter, an Irvine finance commissioner who finished fourth in the June primary. “I think Jim will be a much better protector of the taxpayer.”

Guillory, 44, of Newport Beach, earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Northrop University in Inglewood in 1966 and a master’s in engineering from the University of Southern California in 1972.

He joined the county office in 1977 and rose through the ranks to become managing deputy assessor.

That his endorsement list is thin on top political folks doesn’t upset him, he says. Guillory, who is registered as an independent, insists that the assessor’s office must not become political.

“The assessor’s office is best left in his hands,” said Guillory supporter Dolores Seroy, a member of the Pro-America women’s civic group. Guillory “learned from the master, and the master did the job quite well,” she said.

Jacobs, in one of his most controversial decisions recently, resisted efforts by county supervisors to have his office apply for a $6.8-million state loan to help the county process property tax appeals.

His defiance prompted supervisors to warn assessor candidates about a potential pay cut based on job performance. County officials, hoping a new assessor will apply for the loan, also lobbied for a state law that extends the application deadline.

Guillory supports Jacobs’ decision and agrees with his boss that the county does not need the extra money because appeals are being processed in a timely manner.

But Guillory did not rule out applying for the loan. He cautioned that the loan would probably have to be repaid, something that Orange County taxpayers are not likely to support.

“I don’t see a need for the money at this time,” he said. “There is an insatiable appetite for more money in government. We have the responsibility to pay attention to how we spend your money and what we use it for.”

Bone, who has the backing of all five county supervisors, said the loan would not have to be paid back if the assessor’s office follows guidelines in a plan approved by the state. The extra money, he said, would help the county office become more efficient.

“If you meet the goals of the plan, then the state considers the performance the repayment,” he said. “If the county doesn’t use the money correctly, then they have to pay it back.”

If elected, Bone said, “I will see to it that we use it correctly.”

Bone asserts that the assessor’s office is unfriendly to taxpayers and is “nationally known” for being hostile to businesses.

By failing to lower property assessments quickly and, later, overvaluing property, he charged, the office has essentially been overtaxing business and residential owners.

Bone also contends that the office is running behind in processing appeals of property assessments. He said that if properties were assessed correctly the first time, the number of appeals would be lower.

“We have to stop treating people badly. People deserve a fair answer without having to go to an assessment appeal hearing,” he said. If the right values are put on the rolls the first time, he said, it would save both the county and the taxpayer time and money.

Guillory charges that Bone is trying to politicize an office that should remain independent and immune from outside pressures. He said the assessor is simply following the rule of law in determining property values--whether it’s a large, influential developer or a small homeowner.

“Over 100,000 businesses that work with us every day recognize that we are a very user-friendly place,” Guillory said. “We recognize that nobody likes taxes, but we get way more applause for what we do than . . . criticism.”

He said that of the 850,000 assessments done in the county last year, only 6,700 were appealed this year. Of those appeals, he said, 70% are usually withdrawn after his office explains the process to the individual appealing.

“When you look at the number of appeals versus the amount of work that we do, is that an unreasonable number [of appeals]? I don’t think that is unreasonable,” he said. “It just sounds good for my opponent to make those kinds of statements.”