Waiting in Vain

After more than a month of voicing her complaints, Deborah DeMack says she hasn’t heard much from County Assessor Domingo Martinez’ office on her home valuation.

Short version: DeMack has an affordable housing tax credit, but her home’s value was assessed higher than her neighbors’ non-affordable homes.

In a June 23 cover story,

that DeMack’s problem is widespread; a July 7 follow-up revealed that the discrepancies stem from updating

into the assessor’s (somewhat glitchy) new computer system before other properties. Chief Appraiser Daniel King also offered to field calls from concerned homeowners.

Melisa Dailey, a senior housing planner who manages the city’s affordable housing program, says she’s been sending people to King, but hasn’t heard any follow-up.

When SFR reached Martinez on Aug. 2, he said he was on vacation and didn’t know the status of the affordable housing issue.

“Daniel [King] was working on some last week; that’s all I can tell you right now,” Martinez said. King did not return SFR’s messages before press time.

Martinez says homeowners who filed formal protests about their home valuations probably wouldn’t hear from him until January.

“To me, that’s not adequate,” DeMack says. “If homeowners have been overcharged, shouldn’t we get the money back?”

Santa Fe Reporter