I was born in Salt Lake City and raised in Sandy, Utah. I attended Brighton High School before moving on to Westminster College. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Westminster College. Currently, I reside in Salt Lake County with my wonderful and talented wife Annette Stavros who is a dedicated and hardworking sixth grade teacher for the last 25 years for Jordan School District.
I began my appraisal career in 1993 when I was hired as a Hearing Officer for the Board of Equalization specifically the Tax Administration Division of Salt Lake County. Shortly after, I took a job as a residential appraiser for the Salt Lake County Assessor’s Office. During my time as a residential appraiser, I gained valuable appraisal experience attending hearings at the local Board of Equalization as well as the Utah State Tax Commission. After several years as an appraiser, I was promoted to a Statistical Coordinator position. This position involves assisting in the development and implementation of multiple regression models for the valuation of residential properties located in Salt Lake County. Regression Modeling is a widely known and accepted mass appraisal technique utilized to determine the market value for vacant land, residential and commercial properties. After several years as a Statistical Coordinator, I was promoted to a Residential Appraisal Manager position. In 2010, I accepted a position as the Division Director for the Statistical Department of the Assessor’s Office. This department was responsible for valuing over 290,000 residential properties on an annual basis. In addition, this position also involved conducting the annual sales ratio study and audit with the Utah State Tax Commission. The Utah State Tax Commission is the regulatory agency that monitors all of the counties throughout the state of Utah to make sure that their valuations are in compliance with all of the recognized and adopted statistical guidelines and standards established by the Utah State Tax Commission. In 2014, I was promoted to oversee the Residential Appraisal Division. During my time as Residential Division Director, I played an integral role in reorganizing the office structure completely. We assigned appraisers to specific economic or market areas for the purpose of establishing standards and consistent methodologies for data collection. In addition, I worked closely with our former Salt Lake County Assessor Kevin Jacobs on streamlining and simplifying the appeal process at all levels. We initiated a very successful appeal mediation program with the Utah State Tax Commission which has resulted in a dramatic reduction of property tax appeals to historically low levels. After serving in numerous positions for the Salt Lake County Assessor’s Office, I accepted the appointment of Chief Deputy Assessor on June 1, 2017. As the prior Chief Deputy Assessor, I oversaw and monitored all of the departments of the office including the residential, commercial, and personal property divisions. I am a Certified Residential Appraiser in the state of Utah. In addition, I have earned the Ad Valorem Residential and Ad Valorem General Real Property Appraisal designations from the Utah State Tax Commission. These appraisal designations allow me to appraise all types of property for tax purposes. In addition, I am currently serving as a board member for the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) as well as the UAA (Utah Association of Appraisers).
I am honored to serve the citizens of Salt Lake County as their current Salt Lake County Assessor. I believe that creating accurate, fair, equitable, and uniform assessments of our property values is an important function to all of us. As the current Salt Lake County Assessor, I will continue to strive every day to provide the highest level of quality and service to all of the citizens and taxpayers of Salt Lake County.
