Ed Gregory: Fix the assessment plan

According to a Nov. 22 article, the Board of Assessors report they have discovered 91 businesses(?) in Precinct 5 in Greenfield that had not been billed — for who knows how long — for personal property taxes, according to the language of their finding as reported in the Recorder [“New growth hits new high in city”].

The chief assessor states, “It is our responsibility to know about every business in town.” Something went wrong with the plan. “You should be able to go to the Assessor’s Office and say, ‘give me a list of your businesses’ and they should have about 90% of them on there, if [they’re] good.”

Citizens should expect the Assessor’s Office would have 100% of the businesses listed. Something went wrong with the plan.

Will the 91 businesses(?) be required to back-pay the taxes that the chief assessor overlooked? The citizens of Greenfield certainly hope so. Or, will something go wrong with the plan? Will the chief assessor live up to his statement “It is our responsibility to know about every business in town.” Or, will something go wrong with the plan? As a citizen of Greenfield and not an overlooked taxpayer, this is in the offing for the chief assessor. Fix the plan.

Ed Gregory

Greenfield