Small Town News

Pierce County Whistleblower Investigative Report completed

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Billions of dollars in property improperly assessed

Copies of a Whistleblower Investigative Report completed by investigator Deborah Diamond on March 19, 2010, have been released by Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Dale Washam. The report confirms falsifications of Assessor-Treasurer's office taxpayers official assessment records for the years 2001 through 2008.

According to Washam's office, "the alleged falsifications of the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer's office official taxpayers assessment records for the years 2001 through 2008 may have allowed several billions of dollars of Pierce County taxable property to be either overvalued or undervalued and thereby would be in violation of Article VII of the Washington State Constitution, which requires all property value assessments to be 'uniform.'"

The report also states that "the Whistleblower Investigation report clearly establishes a prima facie showing that a full and complete investigation is required by the proper authority, to determine the extent of damages that have been done to the Pierce County property taxpayers," an action which could be taken in the near future.

On November 30, 2009, Pierce County Deputy-Assessor Alberto Ugas filed a Complaint of Improper Governmental Action under Pierce County Code Chapter 3.14: Whistleblower Protection. In his complaint, Ugas named Assessor-Treasurer Administrative Officer Sally Barnes as the "alleged violator" of several Washington State laws for her alleged role in reporting physical inspections of Pierce County properties to various authorities from 2001 - 2008.

Based on the Pierce County Performance Audit Special Study of Assessor-Treasurer Issues dated March 30, 2009, investigator Deborah Diamond states that "it is clear that physical inspections did not take place once every six years for a large number of residential and commercial parcels in Pierce County, while Pierce County's 2008 annual 'progress report' reported incorrectly that the scheduled physical inspections were accomplished." The result appears to be billions of dollars in improperly assessed property throughout Pierce County.

The Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer's office is the local agency entrusted with the integrity of the official assessment records for all personal and real property owners in Pierce County. The Assessor-Treasurer's office is required by law to assess these properties at 100 percent of their true and fair market value. The Assessor-Treasurer's office uses those values to determine the property tax rates owners must pay, based on their taxing district's budgets.



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© 2010 The Dispatch Eatonville, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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