The penalty for refusing to participate in politics is to be governed by your inferiors--(Plato)
Workplace Observations -
Gilmer County Assessors Office
by: K T Perry ©2002
Background
:
Every County Assessors office must conform to the Rules, Regulations
and Policies as set forth in the State Statutes for it's
respective
state. On the whole these vary slightly but are in the majority
the same. The Department of Revenue is the department of the
state
(in Georgia) that is responsible at the state level to oversee
and
ensure that each county is following the letter of the law. The
primary objective of a County Assessors office is to produce the
county's Tax Digest in a timely fashion while keeping within the
rules for Uniformity, Fair Market and Taxation. Each County's
Board
of Commissioners (BOC) is required to appoint a Board of
Assessors
(BOA) for the County Assessors Office and work with the BOA on
approving
a yearly budget. This is to insure that the state statutes
regarding
assessment of property is done in an unbiased manner, fulfilling
the objectives of Uniformity, Fair Market & Taxation. The BOA are
responsible for making sure the Chief Appraiser and his staff
adhere
to the state rules and regulations as well as facilitate in areas
of budget, employee complaints, office policy, etc.
Communication, Conflict and Culture
Gilmer County is unique in that although the BOA is supposed to
be an independent board, it is commonly known that it takes it's
directives from the BOC office and County Attorney. This causes
a conflict between the BOA and the Chief Appraiser of the office.
This conflict has caused an alarming lack of communication
between
the office and the BOA and the BOC Office. The lack of
communication
lead to the entire BOA resigning at one time, followed by the
Chief
Appraiser resigning.
Specifically, after many months of memo's being unfruitful or ignored
between the Chief Appraiser, Board of Assessors and County
Commissioners
offices, an item appeared in the County Newspaper that the County
Assessors Office was no longer covered on the County's liability
Insurance policy. This had never been previously disclosed to
either
the Chief Appraiser or the Board of Assessors. Upon the Chief
Appraiser
reading the newspaper and learning of this, he phoned the Board
of Assessors Attorney. It was advised to him by the attorney that
until the details could be obtained, to be safe and protect the
office as well as the employees, that he should immediately park
all county vehicles used by the assessors office. This was done
immediately and memoed to the BOA members as well as the BOC and
County Attorney. By parking the vehicles the appraisers were not
able to perform their duties.
Upon receipt of this by the members of the BOA and then looking
into the matter and verifying the facts, they resigned their
positions
effective immediately all at once. This caused the Chief
Appraiser
to resign his position as well. No one wanted the responsibility
of their positions without the coverage of liability insurance
protecting
their actions.
The communication between the former Chief Appraiser and his staff
did not seem to be affected by the lack of communication between
the boards. I find this attributable to the Chief Appraiser
keeping
his staff fully informed of day to day developments and his use
of motivation in what they needed to do as it relates or impacts
their responsibilities. The Chief Appraiser was often found
discussing
responsibilities in positive ways with members of the staff,
helping
them find ways to improve or taking in comments and suggestions
for future changes or improvements. There were weekly staff
meetings
where everyone was assembled and told how well everyone was doing
and what was going to need to be done in the following weeks,
what
challenges they faced and his plans to overcome any obstacles.
Updates
were given and discussed as how to improve or not. Everyone
always
knew who was responsible for what and this facilitated the 'team'
environment in knowing where you may be needed when done with
your
assignment and before you go on to the next, or in knowing whom
you need to see for a needed answer.
The communication between the new interim Chief Appraiser, his
staff, the Board of Assessors and the County Commissioners is at
best minimal if not absent altogether. The new Chief Appraiser
enjoys
closed door one-on-one meetings and believes that staff meetings
are a waste of time. The members of the staff are often confused
as to who to go to when in need of an answer, productivity is
down
due to the lack of staff members knowing what they are supposed
to be doing due to a lack of direction. Turnover, absenteeism and
conflict are on the rise. The Chief Appraiser seems to make snap
decisions on all things before gathering facts to make an
informed
decision. While he is able to make decisions quickly it is often
found to be an erroneous decision causing added work to the
already
overloaded staff.
Conflict within the ranks is on the rise, something that was not
an issue under the former Chief Appraiser as he had a way of
treating
each person fairly. Staff members are vying for the positions of
'favourites' in order to retain their positions, increase their
pay-checks and get the better assignments. Instead of seeing team
work you are seeing a lot of I's. This lack of good communication
and the added conflict within the ranks has resulted in less
productivity,
lack of quality, and an increasing number of major mistakes.
The culture of this county government is outdated at best. While
the rest of the state and country has been moving forward, this
county has been standing still. Coming here for the first time
you
are taken in by the beautiful views the Mountains (actually
foothills)
bestow upon you. You are encouraged by the friendliness you
encounter
from the locals. You see a quiet, quaint, beautiful town, "just
like you remember growing up in". Once you move here, you quickly
learn that this county is stuck in the past. You realize the only
kind of people you see besides yourself (caucasian) are latin
american,
and they work in the poultry plants. Reading the local newspaper,
you are reminded of the old sitcom 'The Dukes of Hazard'. Once
you
gain employment in the county office you realize that the idea of
'The Dukes of Hazard' came from this beautiful place you call
home.
You now work for the 'good 'ole boy system'!
Technology
Technologically the office has improved greatly. Thirteen years
ago the office staff were still manually recording everything in
actual books, manually making all calculations, corrections and
entry's. The entire system of county offices had one copy machine
located in the Clerk of Court's Office. They have since stepped
into the age of computers, first with a COTT system, then to a
DOS
based system and now they are utilizing a Windows system with GPS
and Digital Imaging capabilities. The office has a copy machine
of their own, as well as a Mylar map copier.
The problem they are experiencing technologically is inadequate
education and implementation of the technology. The staff members
do not know how to harness all the capabilities of the system,
have
not been trained in it's use, and there has not been any
communication
that they will receive training. Each person is 'learning as they
go' which of course is keeping them from being able to do the
work
as quickly and accurately as offices in comparable counties, as
well as causing frustration in those members who are not very
computer
literate to begin with.
Their mapping system is being installed, yet they have not acquired
new digital maps to utilize with the system, they still have to
use their Mylar maps from a 1986 flight. This not only causes
additional
problems for the mapper, but also the appraisers who need up to
date maps to locate parcels, but is also a waste of money and
time
when the computer based mapping system would facilitate more
accurate
and quicker work.
They have recently moved from standard Polaroid cameras for documentation
of field work to digital cameras that are downloadable to the
specific
parcel within the system, that is if the users of the cameras are
properly trained to download to the corresponding parcel. If
training
is not given, this can cause an added workload for the staff in
correcting any association problems.
Recommendations and Public Awareness
One item that this office could do, which would alleviate much
of the 'front counter' work would be to install a public "view
only"
terminal. This would allow the real estate researchers to do
their
own research instead of waiting in line for the front desk clerk.
The use of Public "view only" terminals in other counties has
proven
to be such a benefit that the need for a fulltime front desk
clerk
has been eliminated. The 'front desk clerk' is now available to
lend assistance to other overloaded members of the office.
Other reccomendations for this office would be for the new Chief
Appraiser to take classes on mangement and employee relations as
well as the state DOR courses for new Chief Appraisers. The staff
should be provided with training in the use of the computer
systems
and equipment as well as being kept up to date on changes in the
state statutes.
Recently, there has been an increased awareness by the citizens
of the county of their county's governing practices. More
citizens
are showing up at public meetings and asking questions of the
elected
and appointed officials. I contribute this increased awareness to
the growing population of the county and the more informative
news
reporting by the county newspaper.
It is the hope of the staff members of the assessors office that
public pressure on the County Commissioners and Board of
Assessors
will ultimately lead to a better managed office, that will be
able
to produce an on time, accurate Tax Digest and an office in which
they (the staff) can enjoy their work and service to the county.
Copyright © KTPerry 2002
May 2002
Recently the Gilmer County Commissioners Office and the Gilmer
County Assessors Office have been the headliners of the Times
Courier.
Many of you 'newcomers' have been wondering if these "latest
reported
issues are the exception and not the rule or the future".
I will assure you, that the latest issues have been the rule, not
the exception. Hopefully with the Gilmer County Citizens
Voice,
we can prevent it from becoming the future.
I have been blessed with copies of public records obtained from
the County by the now defunct Gilmer County Information
Council.
After going through these records, I found that many of the same
issues that are so prevalent today, were prevalent 10 and 12
years
ago. The only difference is that some of the players have
changed.
As time allows, and hopefully as membership and awareness grow,
we will post here as much of the information from then and now,
as possible and in doing so ensure that these kinds of issues
become
a thing of the past.
We all need to be informed, we all need to monitor our elected
and
appointed officials. We all need to tell them when we feel
they are not performing their duties to our satisfaction as well
as letting them know when they are performing well.
It will take us. Our community, as a whole to steer our county
into
the proper direction for the coming years, to make all of these
"issues" a thing of the past and to unite all of us together for
one common goal "A Better Place to Live".
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