County Assessor Announces Retirement

                                      Contact:          Robert Knowles, 213-974-3101

   ASSESSOR TO RETIRE IN MARCH               

                                               

Los Angeles County Assessor Rick Auerbach today announced he will retire at the end of March, after a career of nearly four decades as an appraiser, manager, assistant assessor and finally as an elected official protecting Proposition 13 and representing millions of homeowners and businesses since 2000.

 

“I never thought of myself primarily as a political figure, even though voters have honored me with their trust in three elections,” Auerbach said. “I have long felt that I would know when it was time to retire and turn this job over to the next generation and that time is now.

 

“I am blessed with a loving wife and two married daughters,” he added, “and I admit that I want to spend more time with five wonderful grandchildren who bring me so much joy.”

 

 Auerbach, 61, stressed that he would have considered running again in this year’s election but for his “absolute confidence in the ability and dedication of the men and women of this department and their exceptional expertise which has consistently produced 99 percent quality ratings in audits by the State Board of  Equalization.”

 

Auerbach said he is recommending that the Board of Supervisors not appoint a successor, but allow Assistant Assessor Robert Quon to deal with the growing property value and budget issues facing the department while someone else can concentrate on running for office in the June election. Quon has said he will not run for Assessor.

 

“The next Assessor should be should be someone from within the department,” Auerbach said. “I consider experience, technical knowledge and a commitment to public service to be the critical requirements for this job as voters make their decision.

 

“I will be making an election endorsement in the near future,” he added.

 

“I have seen first-hand,” he said, “the results of how this department’s managers, appraisers and support staff reacted to the real estate market downturn and accomplished the amazing feat of proactively reassessing hundreds of thousands of homes to make sure no one pays more than their fair share of taxes.

 

“Property owners deserve no less from whoever is elected to this office.”