Commissioners also to blame for appraisal mess

Regarding Ester Gilchrist's kudos for the Bonner County commissioners May 2, welcome back from your interplanetary travel!

Last month I chastised the commissioners and Judie Conlan in the Bee. My comments were based on reporting by the Bee.

After checking the actual facts, I sincerely apologize to Ms. Conlan, but not the commissioners. Facts include communications between Idaho Tax Commission, our assessor's office, our not-so illustrious commissioners, the assessor's budget submitted May 16, 2005 and the Idaho Statutes for Revenue and Taxation.

The budget requests' top priority item was $82,718 for two additional residential appraisers to help value all the new construction the commissioners loved and approved. Actually, the reevaluation problem started surfacing the preceding year, hence the request for more assessor's office funds.

The assessor's office is relatively independent in function, but must depend on funding by the commissioners, who in actual fact, denied the funding. The monies were given instead to most of the county employees' pay raises (read voters). Being understaffed for all the new unprecedented construction encouraged by the realtors and developers, its no wonder that reevaluation got behind to the tune of 1,385 new constructions.

The letters belie the commissioners' claim "oh, we didn't know." (That last sentence was written to be politically correct).

Will the current plan to get all properties reevaluated (appraised) cost more than the requested $82,000? You bet!

If the commissioners do not go retroactively to pick up the "should-have-been-paid" taxes, it will not be fair to those of who have paid full-fare taxes to subsidize you-know-who.

Remember this at the polls this month. We need a clean sweep out.

PETER D. HERAPER, M.D.

Sandpoint