Kumar: Rebuttal to Larry Stone's 'The assessor is not a political position' - San Jose Spotlight

"For decades, residents of Santa Clara County have endured inconsistent assessments, a broken appeals process and unprocessed refunds - all from an Assessor's Office that has refused to modernize, standing in stark contrast to Silicon Valley's cutting-edge innovation while maintaining a laser focus on extracting higher tax revenues from the very people who elected the assessor. Santa Clara County today needs an assessor who can modernize, not merely inherit, a dysfunctional system."

"Proposition 8, passed by California voters in 1978, mandates temporary reductions in assessed value during housing downturns. The assessor's own 2019-20 report shows that only nine Proposition 8 reductions were issued, despite the appeals board acknowledging declines of up to 14% in some areas. This is political and a massive betrayal of taxpayers. Fairness shouldn't rely on a homeowner's ability to file appeals or navigate an opaque system."

"Stone asserts the assessor's role "is not political." Yet throughout his tenure, he took highly political positions, repeatedly attacking measures like Proposition 13 that protected taxpayers. It is political when the assessor's office delays appeals, political when technology modernization is ignored for decades, and political when the assessor publicly advocates for changes in California tax law. The claim that the assessor's office is above politics is a blatant distortion of reality."

Santa Clara County's Assessor's Office issues inconsistent property assessments, maintains a broken appeals process, and leaves refunds unprocessed while resisting technology modernization. Long incumbency has produced leadership failures rather than mere technical problems. Proposition 8 protections were applied only nine times in 2019-20 despite appeals board findings of up to 14% declines, leaving homeowners unfairly burdened. The assessor has framed the office as apolitical while taking public political positions and opposing taxpayer-protective measures. Delays in appeals, lack of modernization, and advocacy for tax law changes have prioritized higher revenues over taxpayer fairness and transparency.

Read at San Jose Spotlight