It’s almost shocking how few qualifications there are to become the assessor for Park County. 

To fill retired assessor Pat Meyer’s post, one need only be a Republican, a registered voter, a U.S. citizen, and live and own property in the county. 

That means many thousands of Park County residents qualify. 

In one sense it’s simply part of our system of government. After all, U.S presidents don’t have many specific qualifications, and in all fairness to all of the assessors out there, the decisions they make, while important, don’t have quite the life-or-death, country altering effects of the decisions a president can make. 

However, it helps for candidates to have experience in a field that, to do well, necessitates using some of those same skills that make an effective president, like running large corporations, or already having been in government. 

Above all else, we need a president, and an assessor, who’s up to the task. 

To that end, Meyer has recommended his deputy assessor, Terry Call, as his replacement. At a commissioners meeting last year, he talked about Call’s experience and aptitude for the job.

However, he has to convince the Park County Republican Central Committee first, as it is those members who will decide on three finalists to submit to the commissioners, who will then choose an assessor to serve for the next two years until the 2026 election. That’s when filling the office of assessor is up to the voters of Park County.

I urge those on the committee to consider Call, as he is being vouched for by someone who has spent nearly 40 years in the assessor's office. And after being opposed to a solution such as a property tax cap years before, since the spike in property taxes in the area has become a crisis, Meyer has been fully in support of some of the most impactful pieces of legislation that have not only capped our property taxes going forward (via his support of the 4% cap that passed last year) but by now being in favor of legislation to revert property taxes to the level of the 2020 or 2021 assessments. 

In other words, he’s clearly listened to Park County property owners, so we hope the central committee will listen to him and seriously consider including his suggestion as one of their three chosen finalists.