Council names Daughtrey assessor
Published 9:27 pm Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Sid Daughtrey is the new city assessor after City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to put him in the post.
Daughtrey has been with the city for more than 20 years, and has most recently served as the interim assessor after Council voted this May to fire the previous assessor, Maria Kattmann. Kattmann had been Daughtrey’s boss for more than a decade.
Council fired Kattmann after residents filed multiple complaints about what they said was unfairness and inconsistency in this year’s assessments.
As Daughtrey took over the position, he had to deal with more than 500 filed appeals to the assessor’s office.
In September, Daughtrey reported to Council that nearly 74 percent of property assessment appeals filed this year were lowered. Of the waterfront property appeals, 88 percent were adjusted.
He went on to tell Council that of the approximately 523 appeals received by the assessor’s office, 387 of these appeals saw decreases in their property assessments.
About 42 percent — 218 — of the appeals came from waterfront property owners. Of that subgroup, 88 percent saw adjustments made to their assessments. Seeing the inconsistency in the numbers, the board of equalization then decided to make additional adjustments to 325 properties whose owners did not appeal, but were affected in the same way as the other properties.
Yet, in the midst of the tension surrounding his job, Daughtrey maintained a sense of humor. When reporting the adjusted figures of the appeals to Council, he called his summer both an “active” and “educational” one.
Council voted Daughtrey into the permanent position unanimously during the regular session meeting.