Continuity Report What Has Happened to Recommendations Made by Prior Juries? After reviewing Jury reports from the past*

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2 ХX Response Mayor Х CIO X Director of Risk Management Assessor/Recorder The Continuity Committee reviewed the report by the 2005-2006 Jury on the Assessor/Recorder. The Committee looked only at the statement in that there was a four year backlog in assessing new properties and properties that had changed ownership. The Office of the Assessor/Recorder has been affected by the economic downturn with a large number of requests for informal review of current assessments. Informal review is a negotiation between the City and the property owner that occurs before a formal hearing at the Assessment Appeals Board. It requires less time as a method of reaching agreement. There is a statutory requirement that reassessment be completed within twelve months of the filing date. As a consequence all resources were diverted to deal with the 1600 requests that were filed affecting the ability to reduce the backlog. Prior to the economic downturn, the backlog had been reduced to two years and has remained at about two years. By the end of the next fiscal year (2009-2010) the Office of the Assessor/Recorder expects to reduce the backlog to a few months with a few assessments, such as those for large commercial properties, requiring as long as twelve months. The current number of employees in the Assessor/Recorder's Office is 118. Due to the 2009- 2010 budget deficit the Mayor has asked all departments for a 25 percent cut, which would further reduce the staff available to address the backlog. Since nearly the entire budget of the Assessor is personnel this would translate into a significant reduction in staff. Twenty-five percent of 118 is almost 30 staff members. The compensation cost of each employee is a very small portion of the revenue produced by that employee's work. To reduce staff would mean a reduction in revenue to the City greater than the savings achieved.