EPHRATA - State auditors found Grant County missed several suggested deadlines in preparing its property taxes.

The state auditor's office issued the finding as part of its 2010 audit of the county. The state Auditor's Office reviews governmental agencies for compliance with state laws and regulations, along with its own policies and procedures. The auditors reviewed the assessor's office, payroll, restricted funds, financial conditions, the county clerk receipting process, bid law compliance and revenue and expense systems reviews, according to the report.

Auditors pointed to five processes which took place after the guidelines set by the state Department of Revenue.

Assessor Laure Grammer pointed to issues with converting to the new property tax software, TerraScan, as the main hindrance to meeting the state Department of Revenue's guidelines.

"The (department) calendar is a guideline created by the Department of Revenue and most of the due dates are not prescribed by law," Grammer stated. "Nonetheless, we all try to follow the guidelines."

The first issue the auditors brought up is the listing and placing of property values should be completed by May 31 of the year before the tax year. The guideline doesn't include new construction or mobile homes, according to the finding. The county couldn't show it occurred before the Board of Equalization certified the values.

The county responded a reduction in staff and a state mandate to convert to annual revaluations strained the assessor's office, according to the county's response.

"The county has had to change vendors to accommodate this requirement and we have had many difficulties," according to the finding. "Many new systems are now in place that will allow the Assessor's Office staff to provide for a more timely submission of certification."

The second issue revolved around when the Board of Equalization certified the property values. The board is supposed to certify the values by July 15 of the year before the tax year. The board certified the values on Dec. 2, 2009 for the 2010 tax year and Dec. 7, 2010 for the 2011 tax year.

"I have been working in this office since 1989 and do not believe that the July completion date has ever been met in Grant County or most of our surrounding counties," Grammer stated. "The property tax calendar does state that the assessment roll should be certified to the local (Board of Equalization) by July 15. I don't believe that the local (Board of Equalization) is even finished with hearing cases from the previous year by the July 15 date."

Grammer described the certification process by the board as taking a snapshot of the entire assessment roll. She pointed out if it were done on July 15, any sales, segregations, boundary line adjustments and plats recorded after July 15 wouldn't be represented on maps until the following year.

"This just doesn't make sense for our county and most of the others. Further, the local BOE does not approve the assessor's value," Grammer stated. "Rather, they must acknowledge that this has been completed before they can assemble as an active board. However, if I get the certification done in August, they would acknowledge it then and so forth."

Auditors noted the listing of new construction and mobile home values are supposed to be finished by Aug. 31 of the year before the tax year. The county listed the values on Sept. 15, 2009 for the 2010 tax year and Dec. 1, 2010 for the 2011 tax year.

The county pointed to continuing issues with TerraScan as its main issues with not meeting the guideline, according to the county's response. The assessor's office put new systems in place to allow more timely submission of new construction.

Auditors pointed out the taxing districts are supposed to receive valuations by September of the year before the tax year, according to the finding. The assessor's office certified the values on Feb. 5, 2010 for the 2010 tax year and July 26, 2011 for the 2011 tax year.

The reports were delayed because of issues with TerraScan, according to the county's response. The software didn't have an option for the report, resulting in creating individual reports. The individual reports needed to be corrected before a list of values could be sent to the districts.

"However, even if I do not get the certified values out to the districts by September, I do send them estimates that they can work from. The actual formula in determining the levy amount within the resolution and certification does not rely upon the value of the property within the district," Grammer stated. "Since the Tim Eyman bill was passed in 2002, taxing districts are restricted in budget growth to 1 percent each year plus any increase due to new constructions and a few other things. So, if they take their levy amount from the previous year and multiply it by 101 percent, you will find your limit outside of the new construction, which is listed in the body of the resolution or certification."

Auditors pointed out Grant County commissioners are supposed to certify the amount of taxes levied by the county by Nov. 30 of the year before the tax year. The certifications weren't completed until Feb. 16, 2010 and March 29, 2011.

The county replied efforts to comply with the requirement have been a long time coming, according to the response. The commissioners haven't certified the levies of the taxing districts for the assessor.

"The assessor actually worked from the submitted resolutions and certifications from the taxing districts, most of which were prepared by the county assessor," according to the response. "We have been working on educating all of our taxing districts and the (commissioners) of the budget process and have provided training sessions for the past several years. We are still working with taxing districts and hope to be fully in compliance with this requirement."

The final issue revolved around delivery of the assessment rolls to the treasurer's office and receiving a receipt, according to the finding. The assessor's office wasn't aware of the requirement.

The county wasn't aware of the requirement and was working to solve the issue.

Grammer stated they are still working with TerraScan to solve some remaining issues. The company presently provides the software for 14 other counties in the state, but they are using an older version.

"We do not have to pay for corrections," she stated. "I have not paid the final billing until all things are working properly. We paid 20 percent for them to start, gave them an additional 60 percent upon installation and training and will not pay the final 20 percent until all things work properly."

Grammer didn't see the delays as a big problem, but would like to work to have the tax rolls finished by August, she stated. Finishing the tax rolls by August has been a county goal for many years, but with cuts in staff and the increase in appeals, it is getting more difficult. The office's staff decreased from 21 to 18, and the appeals rose from 120 each year to 650 a year since converting to annual revaluation.

"Each appeal takes two to 2.5 hours' work to prepare for the local (Board of Equalization,)" she stated. "That means that where I used to spend 300 hours per year preparing for the local (Board of Equalization) I now spend over 1,600 hours. So, if I have six appraisers, this requires that each of them spend approximately 50 hours per year addressing these, they each now spend approximately 270 hours each year. This problem is only going to get worse as there is now 'new ground' to add to the tax rolls, there is only dividing what we already have."