Longtime Pima County assessor faces former employee in primary

The Pima County Assessor’s Office race has an incumbent facing two challengers, including one in the August primary.

Bill Staples, who has held the office for 12 years, faces Brian Johnson in the Aug. 30 Democratic primary. The winner of the primary will face Suzanne Droubie, an independent, in the November general election. No Republicans are running for the job.

Staples, 55, said he is running because more work needs to be done and he wants to fix the state’s assessment system, which he described as “confusing and complicated.”

Johnson, 61, said he is running because he sees an “urgent need to change the direction that office is going.” The assessor’s office is “inaccessible” to county officials and taxpayers and “overly aggressive” in litigating disputes against businesses and non-profits.

Both candidates are running campaigns on shoestring budgets, with Staples saying he will keep his spending under $500 and Johnson showing $500 raised as of the June 30 campaign finance report.

The two candidates answered a questionnaire from the Star. Below are their answers, edited for length.

What do you think makes you the best candidate?

Staples pointed to his experience as his best qualification, including managing a staff of more than 125 people at the assessor’s office and 20 years of professional real estate appraisal experience.

He also cited serving on the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission and as the former president of the Arizona Association of Assessing Officers and the International Right of Way Association’s Tucson chapter.

Johnson pointed to 10 years of working in the assessor’s office and the county’s property assessment litigation unit, which involved “hands on dealing with the issues and frustrations of all types of taxpayers —homeowners, land developers and commercial property owners.”

Johnson said the knowledge and management skills he developed in the hospitality industry will help him correct problems at the assessor’s office and “create a culture of public service.”

If elected, what would be your top priority?

Staples said his top priority is “ensuring the integrity, accuracy and security of the Pima County assessment roll.”

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Johnson said his long-term goal is to integrate assessor and treasurer information and present it in a map format. In the short-term, he would end the “costly burden” of litigation (over property valuations and tax exemptions) against Raytheon, the Primavera Foundation and others.

What is your opinion of how the county assessor’s office interacts with residential and commercial/business taxpayers? How would you improve the process?

Staples: “The annual notice of value mailed each February to over 400,000 property owners is our primary contact with residential and commercial taxpayers. When I took office in 2005, we mailed a postcard. Today we mail an 8½-by-11” double-sided notice of value containing explanations, contact information, your appraiser’s name and direct phone number and the required valuation data. If you call this office it will be answered by a staff member, not a machine. We will take the time to answer your questions. Our comprehensive website is also available and is visited several million times each year.”

Johnson: The county’s tax helpline goes to the budget division, rather than the assessor’s office, and “gives taxpayers the impression of a run around.”

“The assessor’s staff has the training and the knowledge so why shouldn’t they be the first to answer the homeowner’s call?” he said.

The assessor’s office has “very strained relations” with property tax consultants who represent many commercial and business taxpayers, Johnson said.

Johnson sees a need for more “cooperation and the exercise of reasonable discretion” in property tax disputes, as was the case when the valuations of local hospitals were settled after they were purchased by for-profit Tenet Healthcare.

How much information collected by the county assessor’s office should be made public? Why?

Staples: “Unless classified as confidential by law, all information collected by the assessor’s office is public and is currently available for inspection on our website. The entire assessment roll can be downloaded for free. All assessor maps, photos, notes, sketches, sales, property characteristics and valuations are available for inspection at www.asr.pima.gov”

Johnson: “The assessor’s office collects certain business and other information that is statutorily confidential. Obviously that is not to be made public. All other data that the assessor’s office collects to produce the valuations and property records should be made available to the public is an accessible format. Transparency is the key to trust in government processes. Also, property record data is useful for economic development as it is analyzed by real estate professionals, developers and other governmental agencies.”

Do you think assessor’s staff should be able to go onto private property to do their jobs? Why or why not?

Staples: “During my administration we have not, nor will we enter onto private property without permission. However, the assessor has the right to enter on and examine any property to determine its full cash value .”

Johnson: “Physical inspection of a property is an essential element of appraisal, so the assessor’s appraisal staff needs access to private property. This aspect of their job should be handled in a responsible manner by making appointments and properly introducing themselves and their purpose for the site inspection.”