Assessor candidates Peter Van Nortwick and Tyler Thoune face off

Incumbent Clark County Assessor Peter Van Nortwick is seeking his sixth term in office. He faces Tyler Thoune on the Nov. 3 ballot. Neither candidate has a campaign website and neither has stumped for campaign donors. According to the Public Disclosure Commission, Thoune has raised about $1,620, all of it from his own pocket. Van Nortwick has not reported any campaign contributions, although he has recorded about $2,400 in expenses. A 1999 graduate of Fort Vancouver High School, Thoune, 45, has worked in real estate for 20 years, buying, remodeling and flipping homes. In a statement provided for the local Voters’ Pamphlet, Thoune said he understands homes, neighborhoods and market conditions from direct, hands-on experience — not just computer models and formulas. Van Nortwick, 59, said adapting to changes to the state’s new senior citizen and disabled persons property tax exemption program is likely the biggest challenge the department is facing. The assessor’s office administers the program. The Legislature last session passed Senate Bill 6162, which increased the maximum qualifying income threshold. “It’s going from $62,000 this year up to $85,000 next year,” Van Nortwick said. The legislation added standard deductions of $7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for couples, which means a couple with a combined income of $100,000 will qualify, Van Nortwick said. He said his office is also looking at ways to use artificial intelligence to make the office more efficient. “The county (council) is not going to give us more employees, but the county keeps growing and growing and growing,” he said, adding that finding AI tools to help the department run better and faster will be essential. Rather than completing individual property assessments every year, the assessor’s office relies on mass appraisals. Van Nortwick said one of the biggest misconceptions or misunderstandings people have about the assessor’s office is what a mass appraisal is and how it’s done. “We’re valuing the characteristics of properties more so than the individual property itself. We take all the sales and analyze them and then build a model to make sure we put the value out,” he said. In his Voters’ Pamphlet statement, Thoune said property owners deserve assessments that reflect the real market, not a system that misses the mark. The valuation model is required by state law, Van Nortwick said. Plus, the county doesn’t have enough staff to do individual valuations for every property in the county each year. Thoune did not respond to The Columbian’s requests for an interview. A proposed charter amendment on the November ballot could see the assessor’s office change to an appointed position. Van Nortwick said the office should remain an elected position. “There are some states where the assessor is an appointed position. Why the assessor has to be an elected position in the state of Washington is because we have oversight over the highest lawful levy … which is the highest dollar amount that property tax district can collect in property taxes,” he said. Letting voters decide who will serve as assessor protects that position from pressure by the county council, county manager or someone else seeking to exceed their tax authority. “It is vitally important for the protection of the taxpayers,” Van Nortwick said.

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