Clemons trying to fix property taxi methods

All of us living in Bonner County are aware of the Assessor's Office and the history of determining our property taxes by crystal ball. Typical justifications for increases while dealing with the prior Assessor ranged from "you keep your property up" to someone determining a value based upon their believe your "property might sell for a certain amount in the future." People were so upset with this system that they voted the incumbent out of office. It's likely she wasn't the cause of the problem but simply followed a flawed system.

Jerry Clemons took over the office and from the onset has tried to come up with a reasonable, rational method of assessing our property. So you have to wonder why the Selkirk Association of Realtors is resisting and dragging their feet on reporting the sales price of the property. Everything we buy we pay tax on and it is determined by the purchase price. So you have to ask why is the Selkirk Association resisting something that makes perfect sense?

The benefits of this method are obvious, you have an actual dollar amount to base the tax on, you don't have to spend thousands of taxpayers' dollars on over time, hiring outside appraisers, etc in order to keep up with all the future appeals. It appears to be a win, win situation for the taxing agencies and the taxpayers. So Selkirk Association of Realtors could you please have someone respond and explain the benefits of your position and the benefits and to whom. From out here you're not looking too good.

ED GOULD

Hope