Re-elect Jim Avery, assessor

Published 6:00 am Saturday, September 2, 2006

“Charter is smarter.”

Now there’s a phrase you haven’t heard in a while, not since 2002 when Kitsap voters decided charter was actually dumber and trounced an attempt to recast county government along provincial lines.

The charter plan was indeed irreparably flawed, but in at least one area it made sense – it would have made such elected county positions as assessor, auditor, coroner and sheriff non-partisan.

Surely, it can’t matter to citizens whether there’s an “R” or a “D” after the name of the assessor, an apolitical official charged with distributing – not imposing – the county property tax burden.

But there it is. And with the unusual confluence of contested primaries, uncontested general elections and court-imposed “pick your party” balloting, several Kitsap County races will be determined in the Sept. 19 primary by voters of a single party: Democrats will pick Kitsap’s next sheriff, while Republicans will determine the assessor.

The sheriff’s race is of small relevance to the incorporated island (we have our own police force), and we won’t venture an endorsement; in the latter race, the Review endorses Republican Jim Avery for a third term as Kitsap County assessor.

Avery, a Navy veteran, MBA holder and former real estate broker, was elected eight years ago, using his professional credentials to crack a courthouse that had been a Democratic bastion. In his two terms he has run an efficient department – paring his staff by about 20 percent – while championing technology to make property assessment more efficient and transparent. He is praised by county officials of both parties as a team player and a professional.

Avery’s second term has coincided with a wild real estate market in which home valuations have skyrocketed. Perhaps that’s why his challenger, property rights activist Kris Danielson, has declared that “we must stop taxing people out of their homes.” Hard to argue with that – and if the assessor had any real influence on the tax burden, we might pay more attention. But Danielson’s comments suggest that she has little idea what the assessor actually does.

Briefly, the assessor’s office is charged with tracking the sale of residential and commercial property throughout the county and assigning an official “valuation” based on each parcel’s market worth. This is not done arbitrarily, but is based on regular inspections of homes and commercial properties using standard criteria to determine their worth relative to the parcels around them. Then, when taxing agencies (the county, cities, schools, fire and park districts) decide how much tax money they need to operate – capped by law at a 1 percent revenue increase each year – the assessor apportions the burden and bills are sent out to property owners.

But – remember this – higher valuations don’t mean higher taxes; anymore, property taxes really only go up if the voters themselves raise them. The county assessor isn’t “taxing anyone out of their homes”; that’s simply not how the system works, and to portray the office otherwise is ill-informed.

Jim Avery has been effective, fair and helpful as Kitsap’s assessor, and there’s no reason to unseat him. Those who choose the “R” side of the Sept. 19 primary ballot can do county voters of all stripes a service and reelect him.

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Correction

• A Wednesday sports feature on tennis pro Ross Eaton omitted his affiliation with Bainbridge Athletic Club.