Commission replaces county MCAT representative after debate over funding, structure
April 04, 2024 | Carbon County Commission and Boards, Carbon County, Utah
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The Carbon County Commission voted to replace Gillen Bishop as the county’s representative on the Multicounty Appraisal Trust (MCAT) after an extended discussion about the trust’s funding, scope and governance.
Bishop, the county assessor, spoke at length to defend his work on MCAT and to explain why he opposed portions of proposed legislation labeled in the meeting as House Bill 270. He said the substitute bill would have grown MCAT’s budget from about $7 million to more than $10 million in the first year and to roughly $18 million the next year, and that the change would have increased Carbon County’s contribution from roughly $36,000 to about $106,000 in two years. "How much of a tax increase is worth fighting for?" Bishop said, explaining why he opposed the measure and why he pushed for changes to preserve local control.
Some commissioners raised concerns about whether MCAT or a related service provider had adequate transparency and questioned whether the software and processes used by the assessor’s office (referred to in the meeting as PUMA and COINS) had been applied consistently. One commissioner said parts of the county’s valuation process have produced repeated property value issues and noted the county did not use the PUMA program for some workload in 2023.
Commissioners also discussed a potential conflict if an association that represents counties appointed MCAT’s trustee and the trustee then selected software or services from the same association. Bishop warned this could create a closed loop in which oversight and vendor selection are too closely linked.
After discussion, the commission took a motion to replace the county’s MCAT board representative and appointed Barry Horsley, the county IT director, to the MCAT board. The motion was seconded and approved by the commission.
The action follows several rounds of public and internal review of MCAT’s role, and commissioners and staff said they will continue to monitor MCAT work and related state-level actions. The commission did not adopt any additional direction for MCAT in the meeting record.
The commission moved on to other business after the vote.
Bishop, the county assessor, spoke at length to defend his work on MCAT and to explain why he opposed portions of proposed legislation labeled in the meeting as House Bill 270. He said the substitute bill would have grown MCAT’s budget from about $7 million to more than $10 million in the first year and to roughly $18 million the next year, and that the change would have increased Carbon County’s contribution from roughly $36,000 to about $106,000 in two years. "How much of a tax increase is worth fighting for?" Bishop said, explaining why he opposed the measure and why he pushed for changes to preserve local control.
Some commissioners raised concerns about whether MCAT or a related service provider had adequate transparency and questioned whether the software and processes used by the assessor’s office (referred to in the meeting as PUMA and COINS) had been applied consistently. One commissioner said parts of the county’s valuation process have produced repeated property value issues and noted the county did not use the PUMA program for some workload in 2023.
Commissioners also discussed a potential conflict if an association that represents counties appointed MCAT’s trustee and the trustee then selected software or services from the same association. Bishop warned this could create a closed loop in which oversight and vendor selection are too closely linked.
After discussion, the commission took a motion to replace the county’s MCAT board representative and appointed Barry Horsley, the county IT director, to the MCAT board. The motion was seconded and approved by the commission.
The action follows several rounds of public and internal review of MCAT’s role, and commissioners and staff said they will continue to monitor MCAT work and related state-level actions. The commission did not adopt any additional direction for MCAT in the meeting record.
The commission moved on to other business after the vote.
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