In Our View: Van Nortwick for Assessor

During four years as Clark County Assessor, Peter Van Nortwick has compiled a notable list of accomplishments. For example, this year, for the first time in 24 years, the office has sent out property valuation notices before the stipulated deadline. For another example, property assessments coming from Van Nortwick’s office have shown improved accuracy during his tenure.

For these reasons and others, The Columbian recommends a vote to retain Van Nortwick as Clark County Assessor in his race against challenger Darren Wertz. As always, this is merely a recommendation. We encourage members of the public to examine the issues and to seek out information about the candidates, trusting that voters are well-equipped to make intelligent decisions based upon their own criteria and their own personal values.

That being said, Nortwick has built up strong credentials to suggest that he should remain in office. One of the most telling measures for an assessor’s office is its accuracy in evaluating the worth of a property; if a property sells for $100,000 and has been assessed at $90,000, then it was assessed at 90 percent of its actual value. This is important because property taxes are paid based upon assessed value; if a property is undervalued, the burden shifts to other property owners in order for the county to reach its stipulated revenue. Under Van Nortwick, Clark County appraisals have gone from 92 percent accuracy to 96 percent. While 100 percent might sound like perfection, it actually is unrealistic; accuracy of 100 percent would mean that many properties are over-assessed, which would not be fair to the owners as they pay taxes.

Of course, this points out just one of the technical aspects of a highly technical and wonkish job. And because the Assessor’s Office deals with taxpayers and determines how much they owe the county, it is certain to ruffle some feathers. Wertz, who has served for 11 years on the Board of Equalization — which is where taxpayers go when they wish to appeal a property assessment — has tried to seize upon that dissatisfaction in opposing Van Nortwick. His bottom line: “Is it being done fairly and efficiently?”

Yet Wertz struggles to make a case that proves the Assessor’s Office is unfair or inefficient. As a 2014 levy audit by the state Department of Revenue found, “It is apparent that the Assessor takes great care in ensuring that the levy calculations are within the limits of the law.”

Van Nortwick has worked with the offices of the county Treasurer and the Auditor to streamline services, cross-training employees to serve customers rather than passing those customers off to other departments. The results show a reduction in average wait time for multi-transaction customers from 27 hours to 1.6 hours. And finally, as Van Nortwick writes in his campaign material, “In the most recent budget year, we saved $632,990 that was returned to the general fund as a result of operational efficiencies.” He points to even greater expected savings this year, telling The Columbian’s Editorial Board: “I didn’t just hold the line, I’ve reset the cost curve. You have to live within your means; I’ve done that.”

Van Nortwick clearly has grown into the job over the past four years. He ran in 2010 as an outsider, one who questioned why property valuations were not meeting the 100 percent standard, and advocating a stricter limit on the time period that property owners have to appeal their assessments. Experience has led him to find some middle ground between serving taxpayers and serving the county, and it has made him worthy of re-election.