He’s the guy you hate because of your tax bill. But you can’t blame him anymore

After 35 years and six uncontested elections, Franklin County’s tax man is stepping down.

Assessor Steve Marks, 64, retires this month after deciding not to seek a seventh term. Republican Peter McEnderfer, the chief appraiser, is transitioning into the role and formally takes office in January.

Like Marks before him, McEnderfer ran unopposed for a job that touches the wallets of every resident and business in the county.

A retirement celebration for Marks will be held from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday at the Franklin County Courthouse, 1016 N. Fourth Ave.

In a county with its share of conflict, Marks has maintained a low profile.

From a nondescript office in the basement beneath Franklin County’s splendid courthouse rotunda, he and a staff of about 10 have presided over one of the fastest-growing communities in Washington.

What’s an assessor do?

While he’s been in office, Franklin County has grown from about 13,000 tax parcels to more than 32,000, as farms and vacant land were subdivided into neighborhoods, business districts and industrial centers.

Over the same period, the combined assessed value of land exploded by a factor of eight, from roughly $1 billion in the early 1980s to $8 billion, not adjusting for inflation.

Through it all, the assessor’s job is to keep track of the subdivisions, fairly assess the taxable value of the property and validate the tax rates for each of the 20-plus taxing jurisdictions in Franklin County.

Those districts include the county itself, four cities (Connell, Kahlotus, Mesa and Pasco), five school districts, two ports, five fire districts, two cemetery districts, a hospital district and the Mid-Columbia Library District.

It’s a low-key job, but it plays a big role in county government.

Property taxes support almost every public service you can name — schools, police and fire protection, parks, roads, courts, noxious weed control, mosquito control and pest control, among the myriad of other government functions.

The one thing the tax man doesn’t do is actually collect taxes.

The assessor rolls up all the data and gives it to the treasurer, who sends tax notices around Valentine’s Day each year.

“No one likes taxes, but most understand the value,” Marks said.

‘We just liked it here’

Marks, originally from the west side, didn’t set out to make Franklin County his home.

He’d spent three years in the Klickitat County assessor’s office when he secured the job in Pasco.

With his wife expecting their first child, he went ahead and toured the area with a Realtor. A windstorm raged that day, but the agent told Marks it wasn’t a real Mid-Columbia windstorm if rocks weren’t rolling down the street.

The couple moved when their son was just 5 days old.

Eventually their “10-year plan” faded away.

“We just liked it here,” Marks said. He and his wife raised three children in Pasco.

He was appointed assessor in 1994 when Shirley Morrow retired early.

He was a Democrat back then, but later switched parties, saying his values were more aligned with the Republicans. The move coincided with a rightward shift in Franklin County and attracted few complaints, he said.

Marks said he loves all aspects of the work, interacting with people and the challenges of a role that has been transformed by technology.

Computer complications

In 1983, the assessor’s office was a pen-and-paper affair. Field workers hit the streets in suits and ties, carrying clipboards with forms to fill out.

They were expected to knock on every door and when possible, to tour the insides of properties and confirm what tax records said, like a home having three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

For the most part, homeowners welcomed them. Marks recalled being invited into a home and being offered fresh cookies and milk by the homeowner, who took him on a tour.

Technology was about to change the nature of government, and Marks turned out to be an early adopter.

At a colleague’s suggestion, Marks decided to learn how computers worked. He signed up for a Microsoft DOS programming class at Columbia Basin College and began building computers at home.

He helped string the coaxial cable that formed the backbone of the first network in the county courthouse.

Today, field workers hit the streets not with paper and pen, but Microsoft tablets, digital cameras, measuring tapes and wifi connections.

Technology makes for instant and more transparent evaluations, but the impact hasn’t always been good.

In 35 years, the assessor’s team has dropped by three people while the number of tax parcels more than doubled.

By law, the office physically reviews one-sixth of all properties annually and updates the rest using statistical models. Properties are assessed each year.

“It has been a challenge to keep up with it,” Marks said.

Limits all around

Washington law limits governments to a 1 percent increase in the dollar amount they collect in property taxes each year, outside of voter-approved increases that pay for schools, fire gear and the like.

On Tuesday, the Franklin County Commission will formally set its 2019 expense levy at $8.95 million, or $89,551 more than 2018.

It previously planned to levy an additional 1 percent it had banked from a prior year. After taxpayers complained, the commission is considering not using the banked amount.

Marks calculates the original increase would have added about $4 to the typical tax bill.

As he prepares to leave office, Marks said one of his main regrets is not being able to do more to clear up misunderstandings about the complicated world of assessment and taxation.

Marks said staff are happy to help taxpayers understand their tax bills and where their money is going. For those who want to dive into the numbers, the assessor’s office publishes a detailed tax book in the spring.

The current edition is posted at bit.ly/Franklin2018TaxBooklet. The 2019 tax bills won’t be finalized until early next year.

Marks said he and his wife Estelle plan to spend time camping, kayaking and traveling to visit their children and grandchildren.