COEUR d'ALENE - County maps were drawn on Mylar when Mike McDowell started working in the assessor's office in 1977.

In the past 40 years, McDowell has seen the assessor's office into the computer age and through several major conversions that have brought more than 1,000 county maps onto the Internet.

As he seeks another term as assessor - a position he has held since 2003 - the office is in the midst of another conversion to make those maps fully GIS-enabled.

"There are a lot of uses for our information," McDowell said. "We should make our information as useful for the public and government agencies as we can, because ultimately that reduces cost."

The county's population has grown significantly since McDowell was first elected, but McDowell said technology has made his office's operations more efficient.

The 59-year-old Coeur d'Alene resident said his office has fewer employees today than in the early 1980s. In the past few years, McDowell has eliminated five positions through attrition at a savings of roughly a quarter-million dollars per year.

"Somebody that's going to tell you they're going to make these big huge savings is pretty naive about how government delivers services," he said. "You can do little things over time that provide more efficiency. You can provide better service for less money or you can provide service, in some cases, for no more cost."

An example, McDowell said, is providing access to assessor's records and parcel information through the Internet. Subscription costs borne by commercial users allow the office to provide the service to others at no additional charge.

One of McDowell's longtime concerns is keeping highly trained staff.

"We paid taxpayer dollars for their education and training," he said, "only to have them hired away for better pay elsewhere."

McDowell said county wages are 16 percent lower than those of competing employers in this region.

"We need to find some way we can rectify that," he said. "Not that we can pay at the top of the market. We just need to be in the game."

McDowell said there are many misconceptions about what his job entails. As assessor, he manages more than 60 employees and oversees the county's vehicle licensing and titling services.

When he's speaking to groups and asks the audience how many think his job is to "raise taxes because the government needs more money," about half the people in the room raise their hands.

"I don't collect tax," he said. "I just do value, but we're always 'the tax guy.'"

He said his job is to make sure the system of "funding local services is fair so that everybody's paying their fair share."

"The measuring stick for that is market value," he said. "Everybody thinks we control that, too, but we don't. We are simply the people who measure it. We try to read the market as best we can and reflect that in our assessments."

Profile:

Mike McDowell

Age: 59

Profession: Kootenai County Assessor since 2003; Senior Deputy Assessor, 1983-2003; Mapping Division Manager from 1977 to 1983.

Educational background: Associate's Degree in Architectural Drafting from North Idaho College, 1977.

Public service: Coeur d'Alene City Council, 1991-96; board of directors, Idaho Association of Counties; past president, Idaho Association of County Assessors; 1992 graduate, Leadership Coeur d'Alene; past member, Idaho Geo-spatial Committee; 2007 Idaho Assessor of the Year; Idaho Panhandle Kiwanis president, 2003; Coeur d'Alene Parks and Recreation Commission, 1991-present; Kootenai County Republican Central Committee; past member, Coeur d'Alene Area Chamber of Commerce; Knights of Columbus; Lake City Senior Center board member, 1991-1996; Centennial Trail Foundation, past board member; past member, St. Pius X Parish Council; Treasurer, St. Vincent de Paul Coeur d'Alene; past president, Coeur d'Alene Men's Golf Club.

How many years as a resident of your city: Since 1973. Fourth-generation Idaho native.

Marital status: Married 34 years to wife, Kathy.

Family: Son, Nick; daughter, Heather; three grandchildren.

Hobbies: Camping, hiking, mountain biking, golf, white-water rafting, scuba diving, kayaking, watching granddaughters play sports, woodworking and being a Zags fan.