The Adams County Assessor is a constitutional officer elected for a four-year term. The primary duty of the assessor is to discover, list and value all real and taxable personal property located in Adams County, pursuant to Article X, Section 3, of the Colorado Constitution and general laws.
John Schaul, a Democrat and currently the county’s Deputy Assessor, and Republican Patsy Melonakis vie to take over the post Gil Reyes, who has served three four-year terms, is set to vacate in January.
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Schaul, Melonakis seek Adams County assessor office
By COURTNEY OAKES, Staff Writer
The Adams County Assessor’s office is ready to turn the page for the first time in more than a decade.
John Schaul, a Democrat who currently serves as deputy assessor, is opposed by Republican Patsy Melonakis in the race for the four-year term to replace embattled Gil Reyes, who will finish his third term in January. In May 2013, Reyes plead no contest to a charge of official misconduct in a case involving reduced property assessments.
The Adams County Assessor’s office is charged with discovering, listing and valuing all real and taxable personal property located in Adams County per constitutional mandates.
Schaul is a lifelong county resident who lives on a homesteaded property in Broomfield that’s been in his wife’s family back to 1876, so he says he has a significant interest in the health of the county as a whole. He began to work with the county in 1986 as a staff appraiser, advanced to chief appraiser and in 2011, stepped into the role as Deputy Assessor during some legal turmoil involving Reyes, a Democrat who ran unopposed in 2010.
With a wealth of experience already in the office and credentials that include a Mass Appraisal License, Schaul wants to continue what he’s started and help the county gain momentum in improving economic times.
“The whole objective is to move the county forward in what we’re doing,” Schaul said. “This year has been a wonderful rebound; foreclosures have been dropping tremendously, we’re seeing new construction again and home prices over our study period have risen over half a percent a month,” he said. “Interest rates are low and supply is low right now, so with those three driving variables, Adams County is a very hot market. We want to see it grow the right way. I can’t control how the growth goes, but it is my responsibility to make sure I define these areas.”
Schaul is proud of the office’s 49 current employees, who he lauds for their education and versatility in dealing with residents’ needs. The staff is beginning work on the reassessment due in 2015, as is mandated in Colorado in every odd-numbered year, which is a challenge given the county includes 180,000 parcels of land that must be examined. Schaul is eager to employ new software that will allow for the analysis of the unique features of land that may make it more or less valuable than comparable properties.
Melonakis also has strong ties to Adams County — where she’s worked and raised her children for the past 36 years — so she accepted the Republican Party’s overtures for her to run for Assessor, a post long held by Democrats. The crux of her interest is to clean up an office that came under scrutiny under Reyes.
“I was pretty upset that things were being assessed with preferential treatment to some folks,” Melonakis said. “When they approached me and asked me to run on the Republican ticket, it wasn’t that tough. I’m a very busy person, but I really felt that maybe I can get in there and eliminate the inaccurate and unfair practices from the past and treat people without bias.”
On top of those goals, Melonakis believes that a resume that includes 21 years of property management experience, 15 in the hospitality industry and nine more as a small business owner — she runs SPF Design, which designs apparel for semi-truck hood ornaments — she has the tools to improve the office.
Melonakis also has experience campaigning for office, though her bid for an Adams County Commissioner seat in 2002 never made it out of the primary.
“I think I’m more than qualified for the Assessor seat because of my real estate background and I’ve done a lot of appraisal work, so you follow the same rules,” said Melonakis, who ran for an Adams County Commissioner seat in 2002, but didn’t make it through the primary. “I’m just very good with people and very good with managing people.”
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John Schaul claims deep roots in Adams County, including family ties that stretch back to the 1880s, so he has a vested interested in the area. The Broomfield resident is currently the Deputy Assessor in Gil Reyes’ office and has two and a half decades of relevant experience to the position and currently holds a Mass Appraisal License, mass appraisal valuation, analysis and administration experience. Schaul had a Registered Colorado Appraisal License (1993) and also lists posts as Real Estate Appraiser, Chief Appraiser and Chief Deputy, while he’s been tied to the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), Colorado Association of Tax Appraisers (CATA) and the Colorado Assessor’s Association (CAA). Info — www.johnschaul.org
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Patsy Melonakis has lived in Adams County for over 35 years. The longtime Westminster resident has been in property management and worked as a real estate broker for 21 years and lists 15 years of personnel and business management experience in the hospitality industry. Melonakis opened SPS Design, LLC — which sells products geared to the semi-truck industry — in 2005. Info — www.patsymelonakis.org
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https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CandidateDetail.aspx?Type=CA&SeqID=27661
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https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CandidateDetail.aspx?Type=CA&SeqID=27661
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Coming soon.
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Coming soon.
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