Computers Urged For Assessor Audit Says Problems In Office Old, Numerous

Problems in the Spokane County Assessor’s Office are numerous and long-standing, but commissioners could increase efficiency immediately with computers, a state regulator said Thursday.

Rich Baird, a project manager with the Washington Department of Revenue, updated commissioners on the status of his investigation into the beleaguered assessor’s operation.

“You need automation,” he said. “Five to seven PCs (at about $2,300 apiece) in that office right now would go a long way toward productivity,” he said.

Formal recommendations from his review, which began last August, won’t be released until May or June.

Last spring, Assessor Charlene Cooney came under fire after assessment errors by her staff forced her to slash property values by tens of millions of dollars. As a result, taxing districts received hundreds of thousands of dollars less revenue than expected.

Baird was brought in under a state-county partnership to spot problems and recommend improvements.

Through Jan. 12, he had visited the office 11 times for 40 days and conducted 70 interviews with employees. The cost so far to county taxpayers is $12,748.

The state pays an equal share. When completed, the review will not cost the county more than $35,000 he said. “The problems we see here are old, and they’re deep,” Baird told commissioners. “It’s a lot broader review than what we’ve done in other counties.”

Cooney was not available for comment Thursday.

, DataTimes