Editor,

The assessor is required to furnish each parcel owner their valuation methodology if asked.

For the past five years, I’ve only received “comparable sales/property grid” spreadsheets, which Island County Assessor Mary Engle now admits wasn’t even used to determine my valuation. And this CS/PG software is overly simplistic and also doesn’t comply with state law because it ignores many things that affect valuation.

I filed a public records request. After four delays — required fulfillment is five days — and five weeks of waiting, so far, for what should have been given to me years ago, I have received only one page of irrelevant information.

Why the lack of transparency? Because, in Island County, property valuation is predominantly an assessor’s judgment call. Even on appeal, the assessor is presumed correct. What does that make us? Bullied and presumed incorrect.

What is happening to our government? Loss of transparency? More power trips? Even our elected Prosecutor Greg Banks can’t get along with our county commissioners, costing us taxpayers plenty.

Government employees and elected officials, obey the laws of our state. Think less about reelection and more about doing what is right.

And be transparent. It’s our only way to check up on you.

Tim Verschuyl

Oak Harbor