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San Diego County, CA March 5, 2002 Election
Smart Voter

Accomplishments in Office

By Gregory J. Smith

Candidate for Assessor/Recorder/Clerk; County of San Diego

This information is provided by the candidate
Greg Smith has been the County Assessor since 1983 and prior to that was the Assistant Assessor. In 1994, Greg was appointed the Recorder/Clerk for the County of San Diego and assumed these responsibilities in addition to his duties as County Assessor. Greg would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of his recent accomplishments in office:  Responsible for the preparation of the 3rd largest property assessment roll in the State, which now includes 883,012 parcels of real property and 135,840 businesses with a total taxable value of $213 billion.  For the convenience of the public, we now provide full service at our five branch offices (Downtown, Kearny Mesa, San Marcos, Chula Vista and El Cajon). The public can obtain property appraisal and recording information; fictitious business names; birth, death and marriage certificates; marriage licenses and civil wedding ceremonies.  The public can now record documents at our San Marcos and El Cajon offices, making it the first in the State to record documents at branch locations. Document recording is also available in our main office downtown and soon in Chula Vista.  Our Kearny Mesa office is now open six days a week. Every Saturday, this location provides birth certificates, issues marriage licenses and performs civil wedding ceremonies from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Property taxes can now be paid at all branch offices. By sharing our office locations with the Tax Collector, this provides another valuable service and convenience for the taxpayers.  Proactive on informing homeowners of their rights under State law. My office lowered assessments on over 200,000 properties during the real estate recession of the early 1990's.  Significantly improved responsiveness to the public by assigning additional staff to answer taxpayers' inquiries, installing additional phone lines, 24-hour message centers and developing a customer-friendly web site.  Actively supports and promotes programs for seniors including the state's property tax postponement and assistance programs for seniors on limited income, as well as the reappraisal exclusion for seniors for those over 55 buying a new home and the parent/child transfer exclusion.  Personally reviews every letter received and suggestion submitted by the public in a continuing effort to improve and enhance customer service.  Created a "one-stop" shop for public information that includes Assessor, Recorder, County Clerk and Tax Collector public records allowing research to be done at one centralized location at the County Administration Center.  New web site at http://www.sdarcc.com containing important information, forms, current sales, grantor-grantee index updated daily, and other on-line information. In addition, it gives the ability for the public to purchase copies of recorded real estate documents, parcel maps, and certified copies of birth, marriage and death records "online instead of in line."  Moved the office that issued marriage licenses and performed civil ceremonies from the Old County Courthouse to two locations at the County Administration Center; a new remodeled wedding room on the 2nd floor, and a beautiful outdoor wedding arbor with a view of San Diego Bay.  First in the State to offer decorative keepsakes and mementos commemorating births and marriages for those born or married in San Diego County.  One of the first in the state to webcast wedding ceremonies which allows friends and relatives across the country or around the world to witness their loved ones' marriage live through the convenience of their own home computer.  Instrumental in modernizing the Assessor's Office through increased computerization and automation, and in recognition, we received 37 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties.  According to a recent report by the State Board of Equalization, San Diego County is one of the "best managed large assessment operations in the State of California."  Working with our state legislators to increase the homeowner exemption from the $7,000 to 10% of assessed valuation, up to a maximum of $25,000 per year.  Helped small businesses by increasing the exemption on personal property (equipment and fixtures) to $5,000, the maximum allowed under state law.  Promotes the concept of government agencies working together by sharing our Kearny Mesa branch office with the State Board of Equalization which allows local business owners to obtain sales and use tax information in a convenient centralized location.  Fighting fraud by working with DMV to verify the validity of birth certificate information, and collecting fees from recordings to fund the District Attorney's Real Estate Fraud Unit.  A prolific speaker, he speaks to service clubs, real estate organizations weekly, and radio programs regularly to better educate and inform the public about programs and new state laws affecting property assessments, recordings and vital records.

"I have had the honor and pleasure to serve as your elected Assessor since 1983 and was further honored when the services of the Recorder/County Clerk were merged with us in 1994. Based on my many accomplishments in office, I respectfully request the voters of San Diego County to re-elect me so that I can continue to improve and modernize the office, and make it even more responsive to the public."

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