What is an Assessor?
In California, an Assessor maintains the records of all taxable properties, and legally records the values connected with these properties. These values, known as assessments, are used to calculate property tax. The Assessor is responsible for sending this data, known as an assessment roll to the Tax Collector’s Office, which issues tax bills if appropriate to do so. The first California State Constitution of 1850 established the position of County Assessor as an elected office with these responsibilities, such that Assessors would be held accountable to the public for civic leadership as well as providing fair and accurate assessments.
This highlights two main aspects of being an Assessor:
The first is that an Assessor is a manager of employees and an administrator who does not make laws.
The second is that an Assessor is a civic leader at the beating heart of their county’s property market, who can lend their insight to stakeholders for public benefit. This combination provides many opportunities for public service - any Assessor’s public service being determined by who the voters choose to elect as Assessor.
As Assessor Andrew Crockett, my goals for the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office are:
Provide clarity and assistance for residents selling, buying, or inheriting real estate - especially if they are grappling with these duties for the first time.
While no Assessor’s Office can provide legal advice, ensure Silicon Valley’s Assessor’s Office is a center of public service where any resident with assessible property concerns can book a no-out-of-pocket-cost appointment with a skilled Appraiser.
Innovate to offer remote consultations via video chat.
Make sure employees of the office receive the necessary training to provide this service in a culturally responsive way, to ensure that no relevant information is omitted.
Make assessment roll data available for free to nonprofits, government agencies, research agencies, or other stakeholders who can use the data to fight the housing crisis, improve appraisal models, or generally aid the public good, as is standard for most counties across the United States. Compare this to incumbent Larry Stone, who presently blocks data transparency with a $47,195.00 paywall for Santa Clara County’s Property Characteristics File.
I believe the Assessor should be a civic leader and a natural advocate for and facilitator of data-driven discussions involving property ownership and the decline of homeownership and business ownership here in Santa Clara County. While the Assessor cannot pass laws, just as a Treasurer or CFO has a duty to not just accurately record financial information but report it to relevant stakeholders, the Assessor should have a duty to provide the factual data this office collects to our elected representatives and community leaders. This allows them, in turn, to craft fact-informed, data-driven precision-guided legislation to serve us all.
