Property data stays offline

Access to the county’s property information Web site likely will remain restricted until Friday, Assessor Ralph Baker said.

Angered by a television report that used the site to find properties not being taxed, Baker pulled the property information off the Internet on Tuesday. The move angered some in the real estate community, who called the move an overreaction that would hurt business and public access.

Baker said the system is being checked for accuracy, but he admitted it could be checked without removing the data from the site.

“I didn’t want to create another controversy again in a political environment when this data was being used to attack me,” Baker said. “I can only assume that it was politically motivated.”

Baker, a Republican, faces Democrat Judy Personett in the November election.

Because the KREM report found 12 properties in a single neighborhood that weren’t taxed for homes on them, Baker said he wants to ensure the problem isn’t widespread. To do that, the office will compare all the properties without structures against databases of addresses that receive power or sewer bills. Chances are, he said, if land is getting sewer or electricity service, it probably has a home that should be taxed, he said.

“If I’m serving them up lousy data, then I need to go back and check it and make sure that I get it correct,” Baker said, adding that he takes responsibility for homes not on the tax rolls.

If the search doesn’t find many problems, the data likely will return online Friday. If there are a lot of discrepancies, Baker said, he will continue to block access to the information online. Meanwhile, the records are available to the public only at the assessor’s courthouse office or by phone. Tax data from the treasurer’s office remains on the site.

Baker repeated his concerns that his efforts to put data on the Internet have made his office a target of criticism. He said pressure should be put on other county offices, such as the county Building and Planning Department, to put more online.

County commissioners, who have no oversight role over the assessor, said they would have preferred to see the information stay online while problems were fixed. Commissioner Mark Richard, a Baker supporter, said he would have “liked to have seen him not take it so personally.”