RATHDRUM — The first 13 months of Bela Kovacs' term as Kootenai County assessor has been anything but typical for the official and his staff.

In the midst of property assessment season, Kovacs spoke Thursday with attendees of the Rathdrum Chamber of Commerce luncheon to break down his experience and department responsibilities.

Kovacs was appointed to his assessor position on May 20, 2020, after the passing of his predecessor, Rich Houser.

Before his selection, Kovacs spent 22 years in real estate and 19 years at the director level of county government in neighboring states. However, he had no formal assessor training.

That was not a make-or-break factor for his position — which by statute does not require a background in the field — Kovacs said, as newly elected officials typically receive training under the Idaho State Tax Commission and the Idaho Association of Counties.

"Last year was far from typical, to say the least," Kovacs said.

The assessor's office had a particularly shaking year, he explained, for several reasons, like:

• The passing of Rich Houser

• The departure of several long-term employees and loss of institutional knowledge

• COVID-19 closures, restrictions and other repercussions

• Unprecedented migration to Idaho

• A state-mandated change in DMV computer software

"It's been one year now, and I have not yet received the training," Kovacs said with a laugh. "But I'm hoping to get that accomplished in August."

Five different divisions encompass the assessor's office: residential appraisal, commercial appraisal, mapping and land records, administration and vehicle licensing.

In total, Kovacs said, those divisions are operated by about 65 employees after several months of staff turnover.

Another difficulty, he explained, was the recent property tax bill — HB389 — passed by the Idaho Legislature. It reduced the ability of tax entities to take revenue from growth and increased the homeowner's exemption.

Kovacs noted that while the homeowner's exemption was increased to $125,000, there is still no relief for a residential property assessed at $200,000 or less.

"When they did not address that, and yet they gave relief for those residents that own something of more than $200,000, that creates a shift," Kovacs explained. "Now we have people who are perhaps not in the best position to pay those taxes bearing a greater burden than what they had in the past."

As a solution, Kovacs said he hopes legislatures work more closely with assessors to gather perspective about possible impacts rather than "trying to ram through some legislation in the waning hours of the session."

Kovacs focused his presentation on the residential appraisal division, which he said does not directly determine an individual's property taxes. Instead, that responsibility is broken out among the commissioners, the treasurer, auditor and assessor’s office under Idaho Code.

"The primary objective (of the assessor's office) is the equitable and fair assessment of property valuations and determining the property's worth," Kovacs said. "We strive to make the share of funding local services and local governments distribute equally among the taxpayers."

How, you ask? By evaluating Kootenai County's 97,000 properties at 100% market value set on Jan. 1 based on the prior year's sales — as mandated by Idaho Code.

About 90,000 of those are residential, Kovacs said, and are visited every five years by appraisers on a rotational basis.

Of Kootenai County's 15 appraisers, five are new hires, Kovacs said, and each is responsible for covering those 90,000 parcels — or 6,000 per appraiser. Kovacs said the International Association of Assessing Officers expects about 2,500 properties per full-time employee appraiser.

"Bottom line, our employees are very, very tapped for what they do," Kovacs said.

For more helpful links on property taxes, see www.kcgov.us/176/Assessor and read the Press' June 13 article "Assessing your greatest asset."