Monday, July 14, 2008

Assessor's Race in the News

Ashland alderwoman offers county choice

Like many people across the country, Barb Bishop was horrified as she watched the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina three years ago unfold on television. The event prompted thousands of people to donate money and volunteer, and it became the catalyst to jolt Bishop into local governance.

“It really upset me,” Bishop said. Governments at “every level dropped the ball there, I thought. I sat there going, ‘You know, if more of us would be more involved in government instead of just sitting back and saying that they are taking care of me — .’


Sparks fly in forum for assessor candidates

As he made his opening remarks, Boone County Assessor Tom Schauwecker said his public office was running smoothly and cited the adage "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it."

"I disagree with my opponent," challenger Barb Bishop said in her opening. "I think it is broken."

Another audience member brought up a publicized incident from 2005 in which Schauwecker used profanity in a voice-mail message to a constituent who had called with questions about her camper’s assessed value. "In the assessor’s office under Barb Bishop, the only F-word would be f-a-i-r," she said.


Democratic candidates for assessor find plenty to disagree about

During their opening and closing speeches, and in response to voters’ questions, incumbent Tom Schauwecker and challenger Barbara Bishop addressed the most prominent campaign issues, including public disclosure of home sale prices, the use of vehicle identification numbers, or VINs, for vehicle assessment and invocations of “change” and “fairness.”

Home sales surveys stir challenger: Assessor says data key for valuations

● Issue: Voluntary questionnaires sent by the Boone County assessor’s office to collect sale price information about homes. Missouri law does not require public disclosure of a home’s purchase price.

● Challenger Barbara Bishop said the questionnaires are not clearly enough labeled as voluntary and fears completed questionnaires can be misused to raise property values for other homes in a neighborhood where a sale occurs.


● Assessor Tom Schauwecker said his office uses the surveys to obtain market data that help make property appraisals for tax purposes. He said the information is only used to estimate value of the surveyed home.

[Clarification: I would do away completely with the "certificate of value" survey my opponent currently uses. It is not mandatory; therefore only a few people turn it in; and therefore it provides incomplete and often inaccurate information about a critical issue: the sales prices of homes.]