PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County assessor’s office has asked to extend its reduction in customer service hours for a second time after last year’s budget reductions reduced staff by about 7 percent.
The three county commissioners will vote on the request May 27 and have indicated they will likely approve it.
If approved, the customer service hours will be from 8 a.m. through 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and closed Friday through Aug. 1. Originally, the reduced hours were scheduled to end on July 22.
The assessor’s office has had reduced hours since January in an attempt to deal with a backlog that exists regarding processing exemptions — specifically senior citizen and disabled exemptions.
The backlog has impacted the department’s ability to meet statutory obligations in a timely manner, according to the agenda item summary, and has resulted in some seniors receiving tax bills that may be adjusted upon further review.
“My office wants to help people, they’re not trying to put them off,” Assessor Pam Rushton said, noting the workload just keeps growing.
The workload reallocation also has affected functions such as current use assessments, personal property evaluations, property segregations, processing recorded documents, updating maps, interpreting legal documents and more.
There are upcoming tasks that will further increase the department’s workload, including: the 2025 Senior Renewal Audit, the 2024 Agricultural Current Use Audit and a potential Open Space Audit.
The growing workload and decreased ability to process everything occurred after staffing levels were reduced from the 10-year average of 18.5 full-time employees (FTE) to its current status of 17.25 FTEs. These cuts were part of a 7 percent budget reduction exercise that each of the 18 county departments were required to undertake.
During the closure, the assessor’s office will evaluate how to continue to meet its statutory duties in the future. With a lack of available funds to hire additional staff, Commissioner Randy Johnson said the conversation should be structured around how the office can organize itself to meet its necessary goals.
“It’s a long discussion we’re trying to deal with,” county Administrator Todd Mielke said.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
