Assessor felt threatened

And now we’re supposed to believe “Keep your door locked, Ralph” was a joke (“Joke misinterpreted as threat,” Jan. 31). Ed (Griffin), you can’t call in bomb threats, joke about hijacking airplanes or threaten public officials. You just can’t. How did I know you were joking? What if you weren’t, and I hadn’t reported it. Enough said.

Now, you say your assessment went up 110 percent. Actually, your home’s assessment went from $226,200 in 2007 to $254,300 in 2008, a 12.4 percent increase. This is typical of Spokane Valley homes in your area. This 12.4 percent increase in value resulted in a $135.54 decrease in your property taxes.

As for your assertion that our doors are not open to serve the public, I can only wonder what you’re talking about. We carefully explained to you why you didn’t qualify for a senior exemption and treated you with utmost respect and dignity. We have friendly employees, who sincerely try to be helpful to all of the citizens we serve. We provide a pleasant, comfortable and modern customer service area for citizens to meet with our staff.

We’ve published the names, job titles and phone numbers of every employee in our office so that you can easily find the appropriate person to call. We all answer our phones and return calls as promptly as we can. Our Web page is the most popular and useful of all county offices. The overwhelmingly positive feedback we’ve been receiving about our office is not consistent with your negative comments.

Perhaps you were just having a bad day. Look at the bright side – your taxes are going down!

Ralph Baker

Spokane County assessor