Meet the Butte County assessor candidates: Alyssa Douglass
CHICO » Alyssa Douglass knows the Butte County Assessor’s Office inside and out.
In 2004, Douglass began working for the Assessor’s Office and for the past 11 years has been valuing commercial and industrial properties as a State Board of Equalization advanced certified property tax appraiser.
“And for the past 7 years, I’ve been in the role of supervising appraiser responsible for the training and oversight of staff,” Douglass said. “And so that’s who I am and what I do. I’m the only candidate who’s currently working in the Assessor’s Office and I do have the endorsement of the current assessor as well as the assistant assessor for this position.”
Douglass said one of her driving forces at her job is serving taxpayers and making sure they are being properly assessed, in many cases to know if perhaps they’ve been paying too much. She herself previously owned a photography business and had to pay quarterly taxes.
“Every time someone comes to the counter, I always think about how confusing filling out that paperwork was and the stress that was involved in doing that,” Douglass said. “And everybody at the office says ‘Alyssa, you always take the taxpayer’s side,’ because I’ll always defend the taxpayer when they come in.”
Douglass said she intends to help those who seek it at the Assessor’s Office.
“If they’re coming to the counter for help, that means they’re trying to do the right thing,” Douglass said. “They’re not trying to get away with something. You know, I really do care about the taxpayers. I really do believe that I’m the person with the experience that can really do the best job for the people of this community.”
When asked what sets her aside from the other two candidates in the race, Douglass said it was her hands-on experience and longevity.
“I really feel that if you are going to have some sort of vision for what needs to be changed, you have to be in that office as a participant to know what needs to be changed,” Douglass said. “And so not only have I been in that office for 18 years, and I’ve been there for everything, all these fires, the recession, the turnover. And through it all, I’ve been there. I’ve been there helping the taxpayers. I haven’t left to pursue other opportunities. I haven’t been on all kinds of boards trying to build up my resume for political office. I’ve been here in the assessor’s office helping taxpayers.”
Douglass is running against Randall Stone and Michael Howard for the position of Butte County Assessor. The race will appear on the June 7 ballot.