Observations — Organizational Structure and MIS
Organizational Structure
The assessing department consists of two major functions which appear to operate separately
from each other; the assessors, commercial and residential and the administrative staff.
The Chief Assessor is the manager of the department responsible for all functions and the day
to day management of all assessors. The department includes two commercial assessors and
two residential assessors. The supervisor of administrative staff manages the activities of all
administrative staff including the processing of exemptions, abatements, deed transfers and
customer service.
During the review of the organizational structure the following observations were noted:
1) Lack of consistent knowledge throughout the staff of the assessing process and functions
within the department due to the separation of management between assessors and
administrative staff.
2) Limited departmental communication. Lack of departmental staff meetings, limited
knowledge of departmental goals and objectives and functions often operate independently.
3) Limited knowledge on potential improvements to the process or growth of the department.
Limited interaction with other city hall departments and divisions.
4) Job descriptions are outdated and somewhat inaccurate, indicating lack of review of the
internal functions for several years.
5) Absence of internal policies, internal training and personal growth opportunities.
Management Information Systems
During the review of the Management Information Systems the following observations were
noted:
1) Data integrity is at risk due to the use of multiple data systems to support the same
transactions.
2) Lack of efficiency due to data being entered in multiple systems.
3) Underutilization of the AssessPro system for exemptions and abatements; reliance on in-
house programmed systems.
4) Increased costs in software maintenance due to multiple data systems.
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