County property tax statements delayed

EPHRATA - Problems with new software are delaying Grant County property tax statements for 2011.

The statements normally are prepared on Feb. 15, but problems with transferring data into the new TerraScan software delayed the statements, Treasurer Darryl Pheasant stated. He is hoping to have the statements to homeowners in two to three weeks.

"There's nothing definite about that time period," he said. "We're still trying to find ways to take the data and fit it into the statements we have."

The county recently switched to TerraScan software as part of a state-mandated requirement for counties to assess properties annually by 2014. The state is supplying $387,000 to pay for a new server and software.

Pheasant is trying to provide the same type of tax statement people are used to, but the software is unable to format the information the same way, he said. There are issues with taxpayers and property owners being different people and people with multiple properties.

"For most of our parcels, the amount we have is correct," he said.

People wanting to know how much they owe can contact the treasurer's office, Pheasant said, adding they are considering whether to set up a website for people to view their tax statements.

"That poses the question of, 'Do we provide a website that shows that 99 percent of the numbers are correctly or do we wait until we have 100 percent?'" Pheasant said. "We have to deem how worthy it is to have that available."

The delay won't change the May 2 due date for the first half of 2011 property taxes, he said, adding state law doesn't give him the power to change the due date.

TerraScan is used by 13 other Eastern Washington counties, but Grant County is the third most complex county in the state, Pheasant said, adding other counties may have a few instances of problems they were able to work around.

"We have volumes where other small counties only have a few," he said. "We have the most complex assessments ... Grant County has a lot of governmental entities. We have the most hospital districts, the most weed districts... most counties don't have more than one, if any. We dealing with so much different stuff."

He said the county is working with TerraScan so the office can provide the same type of information it always has.

"It's a lot of growing pains for TerraScan and us to make sure we're billing the right amount," he said. "If (people) are desperate enough they can call us and have (the amount) be correct about 99 percent of the time."

For more information, contact the treasurer's office at 509-754-2011.