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Assessor's office cutting its hours to half-days
By Carl Mickelson, Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 | No comments posted.
Facing budget cutbacks, Coos County Assessor Bob Main announced Monday that his department is cutting its hours.
Beginning on Thursday, the Assessor's Office will be closed to the public between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public will be able to visit the office from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. daily to do business.
Main said the reduced hours are necessary because the department will be losing 3.5 positions.
During an interview Monday, Main said the restriction would be in place until the positions are reinstated.
In early January, the Coos County Board of Commissioners announced that due to Congress' failure to reauthorize a federal timber payments subsidy program, the county likely would lay off more than 100 of its 410 employees, from all departments, by March 1. Last week, the Coos County Sheriff's Office outlined a plan to close half the jail, lay off 32 jailers, patrol deputies.
“I don't envy the commissioners' problems,” Main said. “It's extremely difficult for them to try and determine who goes and who stays.
“This is the darkest point in county funding,” he added.
The Assessor's Office still is mired in budget talks with the commissioners, and Main would not rule out the possibility that others within his department would be laid off later.
Main said he, along with key staff, made the decision to cut the hours so his employees could have time to enforce the state's 450 tax laws.
“We are trying to get the job done with the people we have left,” Main said. “And the only way to do that is to cut some of the hours from the phone and the counter traffic.”
The cuts reflect one front office clerk losing his job, along with the decision not to fill two appraisal positions. Main said the clerk, who's worked for the county for less than six months, will be laid off on Thursday.
The public goes to the Assessor's Office to investigate property boundaries, valuation and other legal issues related to mapping county territories, he said. On an average day, he said the office gets about 150 phone inquiries and fewer than 20 people who come to the office.
There already are some plans under way to recoup revenue, Main said. At a recent meeting of the Association of Oregon Counties, assessors from across the state discussed beginning to collect fees from special taxing districts for collection and distribution of taxes, Main said.
Currently, the county provides the service for free, he said.
Another idea being considered, he said, is to increase deed filing fees from $11 to between $30 and $45. Main said the hike would cover the lost revenue in his office, and offset around $1 million typically earmarked for the assessor's office.
“We wouldn't be a general fund (dependent) department anymore,” he said.
Beginning on Thursday, the Assessor's Office will be closed to the public between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public will be able to visit the office from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. daily to do business.
Main said the reduced hours are necessary because the department will be losing 3.5 positions.
During an interview Monday, Main said the restriction would be in place until the positions are reinstated.
In early January, the Coos County Board of Commissioners announced that due to Congress' failure to reauthorize a federal timber payments subsidy program, the county likely would lay off more than 100 of its 410 employees, from all departments, by March 1. Last week, the Coos County Sheriff's Office outlined a plan to close half the jail, lay off 32 jailers, patrol deputies.
“I don't envy the commissioners' problems,” Main said. “It's extremely difficult for them to try and determine who goes and who stays.
“This is the darkest point in county funding,” he added.
The Assessor's Office still is mired in budget talks with the commissioners, and Main would not rule out the possibility that others within his department would be laid off later.
Main said he, along with key staff, made the decision to cut the hours so his employees could have time to enforce the state's 450 tax laws.
“We are trying to get the job done with the people we have left,” Main said. “And the only way to do that is to cut some of the hours from the phone and the counter traffic.”
The cuts reflect one front office clerk losing his job, along with the decision not to fill two appraisal positions. Main said the clerk, who's worked for the county for less than six months, will be laid off on Thursday.
The public goes to the Assessor's Office to investigate property boundaries, valuation and other legal issues related to mapping county territories, he said. On an average day, he said the office gets about 150 phone inquiries and fewer than 20 people who come to the office.
There already are some plans under way to recoup revenue, Main said. At a recent meeting of the Association of Oregon Counties, assessors from across the state discussed beginning to collect fees from special taxing districts for collection and distribution of taxes, Main said.
Currently, the county provides the service for free, he said.
Another idea being considered, he said, is to increase deed filing fees from $11 to between $30 and $45. Main said the hike would cover the lost revenue in his office, and offset around $1 million typically earmarked for the assessor's office.
“We wouldn't be a general fund (dependent) department anymore,” he said.
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