Assessor Office off base predicting home values

© The Arizona Republic
Editorial, March 9, 2001

Property owners and the business community should be concerned about the extraneous activities of the Maricopa County Assessor's Office.

Apparently just doing the job of properly assessing current property values in a fast-growing metropolitan area isn't enough for Assessor Kevin Ross and his staff. They now are venturing into dangerous speculation on future home values.

The County Assessor's Office has jumped into the political snake pit in Gilbert over the Salt River Project's proposed expansion of its Santan power plant. It predicts future home values will continue to escalate in the area, but at a rate as much as 15 percent slower as a result of expansion of the existing plant.

In responding to a request for speculation by the East Valley Tribune, the Assessor's Office reviewed two SRP-commissioned home-value studies and found fault with their conclusions. Those studies suggest that there is little evidence that the existing plant, or the proposed 825-megawatt expansion with three 150-foot stacks, has had a negative impact on home sales to date, and that there is little to suggest there will be negative impacts in the future.

Ross says "common sense" and data his office have on existing home values near railways and transmission lines elsewhere in the county are all he needed to predict a 5 percent to 15 percent slowing of escalating home values.

In other words, he's guessing. Educated guessing, perhaps. But still guessing, endorsed with the official stamp of the County Assessor's Office.

Ross should resist the temptation to expand the traditional functions of the office. Especially not in cases such as the Santan, where comments such as his could influence the market and lead to self-fulfilling prophecy.

And especially not when his speculation could jeopardize public confidence in the accuracy of his later assessments: Will they be driven by actual data or a desire to prove himself correct?

As a Gilbert resident, Ross has every right to his opinion. As county assessor, he should have avoided this issue, understanding that it went beyond his purview and recognizing the dangerous precedent it would set.

Now every NIMBY-motivated neighborhood in the county will be knocking on the assessor's door for his affirmation of their worst fears. Ross has neither the technology nor the expertise to offer valid projections. If Ross takes the time to answer every question, he will strain his office's ability to perform its basic functions.

But since Ross is eager to answer every question asked, we've got one for him: What will happen to Maricopa County property values if there is no reliable source of electricity?

The Arizona Republic editorials represent the position of the newspaper, whose editorial board consists of Keven Willey, Phil Boas, Jennifer Dokes, Doug MacEachern, Joel Nilsson, O. Ricardo Pimentel, Robert Robb, Laurie Roberts, Linda Valdez, Ken Western and Steve Benson.