Race for Assessor

STATE: Governor \| Lt. Governor \| Attorney General \| Treasurer \| 9th Dist. U.S. Congress \| 23rd Dist. State Rep. \| 25th Dist. State Rep.

COUNTY: Assessor \| Public Administrator \| Southern District Commissioner \| Other races

INTRODUCTION VOTER INFO Registering to vote: If you haven’t done this yet, it’s too late for this primary. In the future, you’ll need to be registered by the fourth Wednesday before an election. If you want to vote in the Nov. 4 general election, for example, you’ll have to register by Oct. 8. You can visit the Boone County clerk’s Web site for details on where and how to register. Where to vote: You can find your polling place at the clerk’s Web site as well. Click on the link “Find your polling place,” then type in your name. Your polling location will be provided. A list of all polling places is also available on the Web site. If you've moved since last election: You’ll need to file a change of address before you vote. You can do this at the clerk’s Web site by completing the “change of address” form online or printing the form and mailing it to Wendy S. Noren, Boone County Clerk, 801 E. Walnut St., Room 236, Columbia, MO 65201-7731. Another option is to simply mail in your name, old address, new address, mailing address (if different), date of birth, telephone number (optional), signature and the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. When to vote: The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. What to take: Bring some form of identification to the polling location. Acceptable forms include a Boone County voter ID card, a driver’s license, a state-issued ID, an ID card from an institution of higher education, a federally issued identification such as a passport, a Social Security card, or a Medicaid or Medicare card, a copy of a current bank statement, a utility bill, or a government document that shows your name and address. What to expect: Boone County’s optical scan voting system requires the voter to darken a circle next to the candidate they choose. In the primary election, voters must request a party-specific ballot. Some polling places also will have electronic voting machines. If you can't go: Absentee ballots are available for those unable to vote in person on Tuesday because of a temporary absence from the county, religious beliefs, military service, incarceration (but retained voting privileges) or confinement due to injury or illness. You can apply for an absentee ballot through the Elections Division of the Boone County Clerk’s Office or vote in person in the office until 5 p.m. the day before the election. For more information: Call the voter information hot line at 875-8683.	RACE FOR ASSESSOR By KRISTINA SHERRY news@columbiamissourian.com COLUMBIA — Two candidates, both Democrats, are vying for the seat of Boone County Assessor: Tom Schauwecker, who has held the job since 1989, and his first primary challenger in 19 years, Barbara Bishop. Because there is no candidate from any other party, Tuesday’s outcome will render the Nov. 4 general election a formality and determine who the assessor will be for the next four years. The assessor is elected to a four-year term. He or she influences property taxes by overseeing the appraisal of all property in Boone County. Democrats Tom Schauwecker Before he was elected, Schauwecker worked as a temporary staff appraiser under his predecessor, Don Fenton, and then as a fee appraiser at Moore & Shryock Real Estate Appraisal & Consulting Services. He earned his state-certified general real estate license in 1992. Schauwecker touts the progress and efficiency of his office. He has “embraced technology” by helping to implement the geographic information system that allows users to view county parcels and related data online. Partly because of new technologies, the office has added only two or three full-time employees during Schauwecker’s five terms, and the assessment fund has risen to more than $1 million (up from about $100,000 in January 1989). Meanwhile, the assessed valuation of Boone County has risen from about $650,000 in January 1989, when Schauwecker took office, to about $2.2 billion today. He also implemented the use of vehicle identification numbers, or VINs, to “ensure correct valuations” of vehicles. Barbara Bishop Bishop is the Third Ward representative on the Ashland Board of Aldermen and previously served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. She earned her state-certified residential real estate license in 1999 and has run an independent appraisal business out of her home office since 2001. Bishop is running on a platform of “change” and “fairness.” She objects to the manner in which the VIN-based appraisals were implemented, arguing that “tax increases should be legislated and approved by the people.” She would “do away completely” with the voluntary sales questionnaires sent to home buyers to gather sales-price information because she thinks they provide “incomplete and often inaccurate” information and can be “misused” to raise property values of surrounding homes. Bishop said she would also do a better job of advertising the appeals processes to taxpayers.

INTRODUCTION

VOTER INFO

Registering to vote:

If you haven’t done this yet, it’s too late for this primary. In the future, you’ll need to be registered by the fourth Wednesday before an election. If you want to vote in the Nov. 4 general election, for example, you’ll have to register by Oct. 8. You can visit the Boone County clerk’s Web site for details on where and how to register.

Where to vote:

You can find your polling place at the clerk’s Web site as well. Click on the link “Find your polling place,” then type in your name. Your polling location will be provided. A list of all polling places is also available on the Web site.

If you've moved since last election:

You’ll need to file a change of address before you vote. You can do this at the clerk’s Web site by completing the “change of address” form online or printing the form and mailing it to Wendy S. Noren, Boone County Clerk, 801 E. Walnut St., Room 236, Columbia, MO 65201-7731. Another option is to simply mail in your name, old address, new address, mailing address (if different), date of birth, telephone number (optional), signature and the last 4 digits of your Social Security number.

When to vote:

The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

What to take:

Bring some form of identification to the polling location. Acceptable forms include a Boone County voter ID card, a driver’s license, a state-issued ID, an ID card from an institution of higher education, a federally issued identification such as a passport, a Social Security card, or a Medicaid or Medicare card, a copy of a current bank statement, a utility bill, or a government document that shows your name and address.

What to expect:

Boone County’s optical scan voting system requires the voter to darken a circle next to the candidate they choose. In the primary election, voters must request a party-specific ballot. Some polling places also will have electronic voting machines.

If you can't go:

Absentee ballots are available for those unable to vote in person on Tuesday because of a temporary absence from the county, religious beliefs, military service, incarceration (but retained voting privileges) or confinement due to injury or illness. You can apply for an absentee ballot through the Elections Division of the Boone County Clerk’s Office or vote in person in the office until 5 p.m. the day before the election.

For more information:

Call the voter information hot line at 875-8683.

RACE FOR ASSESSOR

By KRISTINA SHERRY
news@columbiamissourian.com

COLUMBIA — Two candidates, both Democrats, are vying for the seat of Boone County Assessor: Tom Schauwecker, who has held the job since 1989, and his first primary challenger in 19 years, Barbara Bishop. Because there is no candidate from any other party, Tuesday’s outcome will render the Nov. 4 general election a formality and determine who the assessor will be for the next four years.
The assessor is elected to a four-year term. He or she influences property taxes by overseeing the appraisal of all property in Boone County.

Democrats

Tom Schauwecker

Before he was elected, Schauwecker worked as a temporary staff appraiser under his predecessor, Don Fenton, and then as a fee appraiser at Moore & Shryock Real Estate Appraisal & Consulting Services. He earned his state-certified general real estate license in 1992.

Schauwecker touts the progress and efficiency of his office. He has “embraced technology” by helping to implement the geographic information system that allows users to view county parcels and related data online.

Partly because of new technologies, the office has added only two or three full-time employees during Schauwecker’s five terms, and the assessment fund has risen to more than $1 million (up from about $100,000 in January 1989).

Meanwhile, the assessed valuation of Boone County has risen from about $650,000 in January 1989, when Schauwecker took office, to about $2.2 billion today. He also implemented the use of vehicle identification numbers, or VINs, to “ensure correct valuations” of vehicles.

Barbara Bishop

Bishop is the Third Ward representative on the Ashland Board of Aldermen and previously served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

She earned her state-certified residential real estate license in 1999 and has run an independent appraisal business out of her home office since 2001.

Bishop is running on a platform of “change” and “fairness.” She objects to the manner in which the VIN-based appraisals were implemented, arguing that “tax increases should be legislated and approved by the people.”

She would “do away completely” with the voluntary sales questionnaires sent to home buyers to gather sales-price information because she thinks they provide “incomplete and often inaccurate” information and can be “misused” to raise property values of surrounding homes.

Bishop said she would also do a better job of advertising the appeals processes to taxpayers.