Candidate for
Assessor-Recorder; County of Fresno

Fresno County Assessor

The job of the Fresno County Assessor is not well understood nor does it often make the news. However, this office is extremely important to the county for a variety of reasons. The main value to the county is this office determines the value of the property owned by individuals, businesses and farms. The value of those properties is the basis that determines the amount of property tax paid by individuals, business owners and farmers to the county.

Fresno County collects of $600 million in property taxes each year. Over half of those funds go to the schools at 60%, Cities in the county, special service districts and libraries receive approximately 25% and the balance goes to the county general fund, approximately 15%. That 15% represents over 80% of the counties operational funds used for public safety, roads and general services. I realize all these percentages can be a bit confusing. The bottom line? Property taxes fund the majority of the Fresno County services that you as a resident expect and need.

So if the property tax payments fund a major portion of the County services we as residents need, then clearly this is a very important office and it needs to be lead by the right person. I believe I am the right person and here's what I plan to do once I am elected as the Fresno County Assessor/Recorder:

As Executive Manager of the Office

I will start with reminding the office staff, or team members, that our purpose is to meet the needs of the tax payers, not the county government. Too often governmental entities on all levels from cities, to counties, to states and the federal government begin to think they work for the government and not the people they are hired to serve. The Assessor's office works for the taxpaying property owners. People like me who own a home and pay property taxes, people who have risked their personal money and time to build a business and farmers who represent the largest industry in our county. We serve them, not the county seat. During my term as Assessor/Recorder the office team will be open to the tax payers we serve and will listen to them and make every effort to include their input in the evaluation of their property.

Another big part of an office this large is how we use the resources we have to be as efficient as possible. During my years as a Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer of the Central California Blood Center one of the main objectives was efficient processes and leading edge technology. During the past 12 years, I have been working with businesses and non-profits of all sizes helping them to become more efficient and apply the latest technology to advance their business. I will combine all that experience and review every process and use of technology in the Assessor/Recorders office and we will become more efficient and we will work to have the best technology available that our budget will allow. We will work closely with the County Auditor Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector office to align our systems to achieve the most efficient results possible.

Assessing Property Values

Summary

• An Experienced Executive Manager who will bring the staff together as a team
• A full-time Assessor/Recorder, I do not have another office or staff to maintain
• The team will know that they work to serve our customers, the property owners and tax payers
• We will work to become more efficient in every way possible
• We will work closely with the Auditor Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector office
• Our calculations will be open and transparent allowing input from interested parties