Mower County is officially going to explore whether to run all property assessments through the Mower County Assessors Office or to continue letting cities and townships deal with assessors on an individual basis.

The board will send a letter to townships and schedule meetings to discuss whether it would switch to a “true assessor” system.

Last year, the Mower County board sent a letter to all 20 townships seeking input on how they would like to proceed with paying and hiring assessors. The move came after 14 townships approached county officials earlier this year with concerns after their assessors gave notice to quit the job. But later last year, the county took steps to recoup appraisal services after Assessor Joy Kanne’s office had to fix errors in appraisals for six townships.

County board members have also voiced concerns that townships may eventually ask the county to switch to such a model if there’s a lack of qualified assessors interest in the positions as current assessors retire.

If the county enacted the “true assessor” system, the assessment costs would then also be funded through the county levy instead of on the township and city levies. If the county voted to switch before Dec. 1, Kanne’s office could take the lead as soon as next year.

County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said several other counties have gone in this direction.

In fact, Commissioner Jerry Reinartz, a retired appraiser, said Mower is one of the few counties not under the “true assessor” model. He said a shortage of qualified and willing assessors will only get worse in the future.

“We’re kind of being forced into this,” Reinartz said.

Oscarson said the board is taking a proactive approach to discuss and address the issue before the townships eventually come forward with needs. He also said it may also be more fair and equitable to have all the assessments completed through the same office.

After the assessor’s office had to correct some of the issues last year, Commissioner Tim Gabrielson said the board can’t continue correcting issues in the future.

“We’ve done it in the last three-four years, and enough’s enough,” he said.

Now, the board will send a letter to the townships, and Board Chair Polly Glynn said the letter is a good way to start the discussions.