2010 - 2011 Final Report- Madera County Assessor's Office

The property tax program Megabyte is used to maintain ownership, description, valuation, and tax data for all property within the county. Scanned images of deeds are imported into Megabyte from the County Recorder’s system. This enables staff to do side by side comparison of the deed information with that contained in Megabyte, verify that ownership and description data are accurate, and update Megabyte with the new deed information. Megabyte is shared with the Auditor and Tax Collector for issuance of tax bills and collection of taxes. Updates and modifications to Megabyte have occurred over the past four years at a cost of $224,000 to the County. The software lease cost for fiscal year 2011-2012 will be about $200,000 – an increase of $50,000. The Assessor has determined that the cost to change to a different system would exceed $1,000,000. Megabyte is used by 22 other counties in the state.

Staff accesses the County Resource Management Agency’s permit tracking system to obtain data for reappraisals when new construction occurs.

The appraisers utilize two programs developed in-house, using Excel and ACCESS, to perform appraisals and to determine the appropriate adjustment levels for Prop 8 reassessments. Programs developed by Madera appraisers are being used by assessors in other counties.

AutoCAD is used by the cadastral drafting section in the preparation and modification of the set of maps which shows each parcel of property within the county.

The County’s Geographic Information System (GIS) is maintained by the cadastral drafting section and shared with other County departments. Copies of GIS layers are available for purchase, including the base map containing parcel configuration and assessor’s parcel numbers, ownership layer, tax rate area layer, use code layer, and situs layer which shows the physical address of all parcels.

The department utilizes a spreadsheet for tracking assessment appeals filed with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. There is no automated interface with the Board Clerk’s Office. The Grand Jury found that staffing for the department includes the Assessor, a Chief Appraiser, 3 Auditor-Appraisers, 12 Appraisers, 2 Cadastral Drafting Technicians, 12 Assessment Technicians, and an Assessment Office Manager. Additional allocated positions which are unfunded due to budget cuts are 3 Appraisers, 1 Cadastral Drafting Technician, and 2 Office Assistants. Five of the Assessment Technician positions are budgeted and filled at the Office Assistant level. The appraisal staff is divided among four major areas: business property, agricultural, residential, and commercial/industrial. Each group has a position designated as supervisor, as has the drafting section. The Grand Jury found that some of the current staff members are new to the department. Thirteen long-term, experienced staff, including the Assessment Office Manager, retired in April 2010 when the County offered retirement incentives. The Assessor was allowed to rehire retirees as temporary extra help to provide 400 hours of training for the remaining staff. The department has been allocated $28,000 this year to employ temporary extra help to backfill vacancies during critical times when establishing the assessment roll. The Grand Jury found the Assessor, appraisal staff, and cadastral drafting staff to be very knowledgeable about their assigned functions and the operation of the department. Current staff members in these sections have been able to manage their on-going workload. With temporary assistance in the residential appraisal section, the staff have been able to manage the increased workload in reassessing and reviewing Prop 8 properties from March to June. The Grand Jury found that the Assessment Technicians are learning new tasks which were previously performed by the retirees and are simultaneously assisting and training the new Office Assistants. They have not been able to keep their workload current. In preparation for establishment of the 2011 assessment roll, the clerical staff focused on processing deeds which were several months backlogged. Deed processing for 2010 has been completed, and property ownership records are current. Other tasks, such as exemption application processing, were delayed pending completion of the deeds. The Grand Jury found that the new Assessment Office Manager, hired in June 2010, has not been trained on and is not knowledgeable about Megabyte. She has requested a copy of the system manual from Megabyte and is seeking other training sources. She is experienced in and knowledgeable of the clerical functions of property assessment. The Grand Jury found that available staff work time has been reduced by 2 days each month due to required furlough days. The furlough days do not follow a consistent schedule, causing the public to unexpectedly find offices closed when they attempt to access services. The Grand Jury found that the State Board of Equalization conducts an audit of the Assessor’s assessment practices every five years. Such audit was completed in February 2011, and a report of findings and recommendations will be issued within two years. Conclusions: The Grand Jury concludes that the Assessor’s office is well organized and has more than adequate work and storage space. The Grand Jury concludes that the appraisal and cadastral drafting staffing levels are adequate to handle the normal, on-going workload. An additional residential appraiser is needed annually to assist with the short-term increase in workload for reviewing and reassessing Prop 8 properties. The budget provides adequate funding for this temporary position. The Grand Jury concludes that the Assessor, appraisal staff, and cadastral drafting staff are knowledgeable, proficient, and effective. The Grand Jury concludes that the appraisal staff has shown initiative and progressive thinking through the in-house development of computer programs. The Grand Jury concludes that the Assessor has been diligent in reassessing properties under Prop 8. The Grand Jury concludes that the simultaneous retirement of several long-term clerical employees and the Assessment Office Manager substantially impacted the efficiency and effectiveness of the remaining clerical workforce. The Assessment Technicians were not prepared to assume the duties previously performed by the retirees, and newly hired Office Assistants require a great deal of training. The workload is expected to be accomplished by fewer staff and in less time due to furlough days. The Grand Jury concludes that the new Assessment Office Manager needs to receive training in the Megabyte system. The Grand Jury concludes that while maintenance costs for Megabyte continue to increase, it is the most cost-effective property tax program for the Assessor’s Office at the present time. The Grand Jury concludes that an automated system which interfaces with the Board Clerk’s Office for tracking assessment appeals is needed. The Grand Jury concludes that the public is adversely affected by the inconsistent scheduling of furlough days by the County.