O.C. Assessor to Hire 10 Employees

In a move aimed at slashing the time residents must wait to appeal their property tax bills, Orange County’s newly elected assessor persuaded the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to hire 10 new employees.

Webster J. Guillory had warned supervisors that without the added help, his office would have difficulty meeting a June deadline to complete the county’s tax rolls, a failure that could delay when the county allocates the nearly $2 billion in property taxes it collects each year.

The meeting marked a new chapter in the relationship between supervisors and the county assessor. Guillory’s predecessor, Bradley L. Jacobs, was repeatedly at odds with the board, and supervisors took the unprecedented step of admonishing him for refusing to apply for a state loan that would help his office process property tax appeals more quickly.

Guillory said Tuesday that he agreed to apply for the state loan to help pay for additional computer upgrades that would speed the office’s work.

Guillory now supervises 306 workers and an $18-million budget. The county has more than 950,000 parcels of property and its assessment roll is worth more than $200 billion, ranking it the fifth-largest in the nation.

During his first meeting as assessor, Guillory found an ally on the board: Supervisor Todd Spitzer, in supporting the request for new hires, said the assessor’s office needs adequate funding to get the job done.

“When we have statements that if the assessor doesn’t get this funding, it could jeopardize the ability to complete the rolls by June, that’s an alarm. That concerns me,” Spitzer said.

Supervisors initially wanted to postpone the assessor’s request for three weeks, until a midyear budget review.

But Guillory argued that “each week” supervisors wait, it hampers the assessor’s ability to recruit new positions to handle the increasing workload and meet deadline.

“It’s increasing stress on the office,” Guillory said. “I need additional resources to finish the property rolls by June.”

For years, the assessor’s office has been the subject of criticism because of a backlog of cases, especially property tax assessment appeals filed by property owners who believed their tax bills were too high.

At one point, that backlog topped 36,000 appeals. The county lost millions in tax money when some cases dragged on beyond the two-year deadline, after which appeals are automatically decided in favor of the property owner.

The culprit, in part, is the county’s healthy real estate market. The last five months alone has led to increased property turnover, swamping the assessor’s office, Guillory said.

Guillory said a successful assessor’s office is critical to Orange County because property taxes generate about $2 billion in annual revenue for schools, county government, cities and other functions.

Supervisor Tom Wilson wanted to postpone Guillory’s request because it might cause “a run” of similar requests by other county department heads.

“I feel like I’m in a crisis management situation,” Wilson said. “If we don’t do this then the county will fall apart.”

But supervisors unanimously approved Guillory’s request. The board postponed action on an additional request to earmark $90,000 to solve the so-called “Y2K” problem, adjusting the office’s computers to recognize the year 2000.