Marin Assessor-recorder offers vision for managing office

By Nels Johnson

njohnson@marinij.com @nelsjohnsonnews on Twitter

Rich Benson

In a presentation that one county supervisor said made him look more like a philosopher or academic than Marin's top property appraiser, Assessor-Recorder Rich Benson outlined a vision involving management, teamwork and increased productivity in the office.

In an unusually frank, wide-ranging discussion with the Board of Supervisors as part of his annual planning and performance session with the board, Benson said the challenges he faces include how to increase the quality and quantity of work his staff produces during a time of mounting workload.

"Are we really doing the best in terms of quality and production?" Benson asked. "We are pretty much at the bottom of the heap," when compared to averages across the state, he conceded, referring to property appraisals. "Our model wasn't working."

At the same time, with Marin posting more remodeling activity than other locales, home sales increasing and values soaring, there is more work to do than ever as hiring continues to fill a half dozen office posts, he said.

"The process of increasing productivity is extremely difficult," as is trying to measure appropriate production, he said. "We have to work smarter," in part by mining data that indicates reasonable, average valuation increases applicable to such things as kitchen remodels in various communities.

Yet appraisers increasingly must return to the practice of on-site field inspections to get the job done, he said.

"We're going to have to do more appraisals," Benson told the county board, absent supervisors Susan Adams and Steve Kinsey. "That means going out and inspecting the properties."

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Marin Assessor-recorder offers vision for managing office