Commissioners and outside appraiser detail widespread assessor office errors, commission reallocates resources for fixes

An independent appraiser told the Carbon County Commission that systemic problems in the county assessor's office led to hundreds of incorrect property valuations, prompting the commission to bring in outside help and reallocate funds to complete commercial appraisals and correct the tax roll.

Kevin, the contracted independent mass appraiser hired to address errors identified by the Utah State Tax Commission, told commissioners he found PUMA (the county's mass appraisal system) disorganized, inconsistent and missing written standards. He said staff lacked adequate training, administrative tax codes were misapplied between PUMA and the county tax system (COINS), and the office had more than 700 errors in residential-exemption filings that he had personally corrected.

Kevin described steps taken this year: dividing residential and commercial parcels into consistent neighborhood buckets, creating attribute tables to account for steep slopes and undevelopable (partially underwater) parcels, cleaning and reducing admin codes, providing MLS access at no cost to county appraisers, and correcting about 600 costing errors from the recent reappraisal. He said those measures should make valuations more consistent and compliant with state rules.

Commissioners said the problems were long-running. They described a period of low on-site presence and staff turnover under the assessor, missed state deadlines for submitting tax rolls and a sequence of adjustments that left valuations inequitable across owners. The commission said it recorded roughly 913 recommended adjustments in a prior phase that reduced assessed value by about $90 million and that the pace and documentation of those changes raised concerns.

Commissioners noted the county has hired contractors to assist with valuations and that funding for commercial appraisals was removed from the assessor's internal budget so the county could directly pay qualified firms. One commissioner said that investment was necessary because the assessor's office had not delivered timely commercial valuations.

Kevin and commissioners emphasized training as a continuing need. Kevin said two employees who previously lacked sketching and system-entry skills have been taught to perform those tasks and that the assessor's staff now have MLS access to verify sales and property characteristics. He added that a written guidebook for procedures is partly missing in the office though some job aids (flip charts and checklists) are now in use.

The commission did not take disciplinary action during the public remarks but approved the staffing and contracting approach the board said would ensure the 2024 assessment roll is completed with fewer errors and in compliance with state law. Commissioners said they want to maintain closer oversight and regular reporting as remediation continues.

The commission ended the discussion by directing county staff to continue working with the contractor, complete remaining commercial classifications, and report progress at upcoming meetings.