Letters to the Editor: Judge Judy is being unfair in insulting the L.A. County assessor’s office
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
To the editor: This article allows Judge Judy Sheindlin to call the assessor’s office employees “numbnuts” and to assert that it takes two hours to reach them by phone, unchallenged (“Bezos, Judge Judy, Rihanna: L.A. County assessor goes after celebrities’ jets for unpaid taxes,” Sept. 2).
I dealt with the Los Angeles County assessor’s office both personally and professionally for about 70 years, including on property tax matters relating to airplanes and boats. I believe it is one of the most professional and competent government departments anywhere.
Among the findings of the 2022-2023 Los Angeles County civil grand jury, on which I served, is:
“The departments involved in property tax administration in Los Angeles County, principally the Assessor’s Office, the Treasurer Tax Collector and the Auditor-Controller, coordinate and work together quite well. ... They have taken a long view in developing ... systems that will meet the needs of the nation’s largest county and largest property tax base ... long after the present executives in these departments have departed from the scene.”
Undoubtedly some government agencies employ “numbnuts” or provide poor service. But Judge Judy’s accusations are unwarranted.
Norman H. Green, Los Angeles
