05-23-2016 Council Work Session Packet

Home Browse Search

Options Three options for your consideration: 1. Continue with the current provider, Hennepin County. 2. Explore part-time contract options. A few small lake communities have used part-time retirees for assessing, such as Rolf Erickson or Bill Davey, who have limited interest in a full-time community. However, a new entrepreneurial venture called Equalized Assessment Solutions (EAS) is starting to offer assessment services. They've made a proposal (attachment 3). From a service perspective, I'm concerned this group has no similar clients or experience in Hennepin County and would be responding to residents outside of normal business hours to accommodate their full-time jobs elsewhere. Below is a comparison of cost but please note it's difficult to compare apples to apples given the unknowns with EAS. Hennepin County Base cost $172,000 Total cost 172 000 EAS Base cost $141,000 All equipment and supplies $ 5,000 2 Computer rentals, external wifi Hennepin County Data fees $ 10,000 ? Every login/update is charged Clerical support S 3,000 Not sure what they need. 159 000 Any potential contract savings should be earmarked for the risk of a potential re -assessment bill from Hennepin County should our numbers not meet overall county standards. Long Lake received a large bill within the past few years for re -assessment. 3. Hire internal staff. We would need 1-2 FTE employees to perform assessing duties costing $100-200,000. Recommendation I recommend that we continue outsourcing our assessing service with Hennepin County. Their experienced staff provide good customer service to our residents which is based on thorough knowledge about high quality properties in our area. Hennepin County also offers a broad spectrum of resources for the assessors including tax attorneys and specialists in exclusions/ exemptions.