Ballot Project

← Back to Shelby County, Tennessee: Election on 2022-08-04

Contest for Assessor of Property

general - Non-partisan - Assessor of Property

About this office

The Shelby County Assessor of Property locates, identifies, classifies, and appraises all real and personal property in the county for tax purposes. The office runs the state-mandated quadrennial reappraisal (next cycle: 2029), appraises personal property annually, and maintains approximately 353,000 real-estate parcels. The Assessor does not set the tax rate, send tax bills, or collect taxes — those duties belong to the County Commission (rate), the Trustee (collection), and the Clerk (registration-linked functions).

Term length: 4 years.

This role calls for

Personnel management at scale. Leading and retaining a department of ~150–200 appraisers, GIS analysts, and customer-service staff responsible for ~353,000 parcels and a multi-million-dollar budget.
Real-estate appraisal and property-law expertise. Familiarity with mass-appraisal methods, comparable-sales analysis, the four-year reappraisal cycle, and Tennessee assessment law (TN Code Title 67 Ch. 5), including exemption rules and the Board of Equalization appeals process.
Technology and systems oversight. Ability to evaluate, procure, and administer Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) software, GIS platforms, and the data infrastructure modern assessment depends on.
Integrity and impartiality. A demonstrated record of even-handed decision-making. Property valuation directly affects every taxpayer's bill, so the office's perceived fairness — under pressure from large taxpayers, political allies, and the public alike — is as important as the technical result.
Public communication. Explaining assessment methodology clearly to homeowners receiving increase notices, to journalists, and to the public bodies (County Commission, Board of Equalization, State Board of Equalization) the office reports to.

Derived from the office's statutory duties and operational reality. Candidate summaries below map each candidate's documented experience to these requirements.

Campaigns

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Melvin Burgess

👍 👎 🤡 😡 🤷

No campaign summary available.