Why Mike Lonergan?

For 12 years I had the honor of directing the Rescue Mission, with 65 employees and a 4 million dollar annual operating budget. While pay was not great and the work was demanding, employee morale, productivity and team spirit was remarkable. We were named one of the top places to work in Pierce County by the Business Examiner newspaper, based on a confidential survey of our employees. I was able to take the Mission from being on the ropes financially and otherwise, to being Certified Excellent, the top level of accreditation by the Association of Rescue Missions.

The Assessor Treasurer's office has 80 employees, and needless to say there is no team spirit-except the team wanting a new boss.

We are a county of over 800-thousand people so there's a lot of work to be done by 80 people-just one per ten thousand residents, or based upon 2.7 people per household, 300,000 dwelling units plus many thousands of commercial properties. I will apply best management practices to get the work done without threatening or bad-mouthing anyone.

I believe a good leader learns the talents and gifts of his team, and positions them for success. Sometimes it takes performance counseling, re-assignment to a task that's a better fit, additional training, and sometimes, but not that often, acknowledging that it's just not working out. I love to catch people in the act of doing the right thing and praise them, reward them.

The second skill I will bring to the office is communication. Few of our elected officials, let alone the average citizen, understands our property tax system. I will use every modern communication method to give people information and also confidence that their taxes are being levied honestly and fairly.

Where do property taxes go? People have a right to know, and I'll make sure they do. Again Dale Washam has TRIED to do this, by stating on his website and documents that "I work for you, the taxpayer" but he has not been successful. His interactions can be intimidating, argumentative and vengeful, and his attitude has been described as toxic.

I will be honored to serve you as your County Assessor-Treasurer.

• Discover, list and value uniformly all taxable and non-taxable property in Pierce County.



• Determine proper legal class for properties based on the current use of the property.



• Comply with the legal requirements for processing assessment appeals and physical inspections in a lawful and timely manner.



• Determine the eligibility for property tax exemptions, such as the Senior Disabled Exemption and administer all programs fairly and equitably according to state law.


• Provide current assessment related information to the community and to government agencies.



• Work to improve the Washington State property tax laws to ensure that all property subject to taxation is valued in accordance with fair and just state laws.



• Provide taxpayers with assistance and records information in a timely manner.



• Maintain accurate and up-to-date mapping of real property parcels.



• Complete the levy process as mandated by state statute for all Pierce County taxing districts, calculate and certify rates on time and without error.



• Ensure the accurate billing of taxes used for the funding of essential government services