Tax Auditor-Appraiser - Office of the Assessor-Recorder (4220)

Specific information regarding this recruitment process are listed below:

• Appointment Type: Temporary Exempt: This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. The duration of the appointment shall not exceed 24 months.
• Application Opening: August 23, 2024
• Application Deadline: September 6, 2024
• Compensation Range: $100,204 - $121,784 annually
• Recruitment ID: RTF0150067-01087824

San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city, on the forefront of economic growth & innovation, urban development, arts & entertainment, as well as social issues & change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City's commitment to heighten the quality of life for the diverse population of San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco.

Our Office

The Office of the Assessor-Recorder is responsible for carrying out property tax-related functions governed by the State Constitution and State and local laws. Our core responsibilities include locating all taxable property in the City and County of San Francisco, identifying ownership, establishing a taxable value, and applying all legal exemptions. Property broadly includes both real property and personal property owned by businesses. The Office of the Assessor-Recorder is also responsible for recording documents and maintaining those public records. Over 400 different types of documents are recorded annually, including deeds of trust, reconveyances, liens, and public marriage licenses. The Office is also responsible for collecting any transfer tax due upon a change in property ownership. The Office of the Assessor-Recorder strives to conduct our work with the core principals of professionalism and integrity. 

What We Do

We’re proud of our work to ensure the financial stability of San Francisco. Each year we prepare an assessment roll that reflects the taxable values of land, improvements, and personal property. The assessment roll is the basis for San Francisco’s property tax revenue. We enroll property tax value by discovering new construction or changes in ownership. The work of our Office in enrolling property valued at $344 billion generates $4 billion in property tax revenue for the City and County of San Francisco. Property tax revenue represents over one-third of the City's General Fund which pays for crucial services ranging from public safety, affordable housing, and education to neighborhood improvements and health and family support services. In the years ahead, our Office will work closely with the Assessment Appeals Board to respond to the rising appeals workload and ensure that fair and accurate value is enrolled.

Our success is grounded by our Office's investment in our people, systems, services, and engagement. We prioritize a climate and culture where belonging and inclusion are advanced, staff can be their authentic selves and pursue pathways for career growth, and diverse constituencies are equitably supported with a meaningful and seamless experience through care in customer service and efficient technology systems. In line with these values, we are taking significant steps to modernize our operations, including leading a cross-departmental effort to replace the legacy property assessment system currently used   to manage the City’s hundreds of billions of dollars in assessed property value. Known as SMART (System for Managing Assessment, Recording, and Transactions), this work will provide for increased security and service as well as greater integration with other City systems utilized by the Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector and the City Controller’s Office. We are committed to developing an organization that can address the pervasive and persistent inequities enabled by biases and systemic functions that impede racial and economic justice and prevent equitable service to the public. Additionally, our Office seeks to increase access to resources across multiple constituencies by hosting presentations, workshops, attending events, tabling at resource fairs, and more to ensure that all San Franciscans know what our office can do for them.

Under general supervision in the Office of the Assessor-Recorder, the 4220 Tax Auditor-Appraiser is responsible for inspecting, analyzing, and evaluating personal property holdings of business firms for assessment and audit purposes; may audit accounting and related records to verify accuracy of business tax returns (such as payroll expense tax, gross receipts tax, transient occupancy tax, parking tax, etc.) related to municipal and/or State codes.

According to Civil Service Commission Rule 109, the duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

1. Examines and audits accounting records, financial statements and related documents of industrial and commercial business firms in connection with the assessment of business taxes or valuation of business property prescribed by law.
2. Inspects and appraises personal property including merchandise, industrial machinery, office equipment and leasehold improvements, and reconciles financial, records and other related data.
3. Adjusts inventories for purchases, fabrications, processing and sales between last inventory data and the tax assessment date.
4. Reviews and discusses audit findings with property or business owners or their representatives.
5. Assists tax payers filing tax declarations in the Assessor's office in completing their declarations, and answers questions on personal property tax matters.
6. Supervises and instructs temporary clerks, during the assessment period, in the distribution of property tax demands and completion of demand notices during the filing season.
7. Examines books, accounts and supporting records relative to the purchase and use tax returns of tax payers and establishes tax liability or refunds.
8. Reviews probate inventories to ascertain the portion of such inventories which are subject to personal property tax.
9. Examines and assesses personal property stored in commercial warehouses; prepares work papers and reports of field auditing activities.
10. Examines and audits accounting records, financial statements and related documents of parking operators, hotel operators, and other businesses in connection with the administration of the applicable municipal and/or State codes.
11. Supports appeals activities, such as conducting research and assembling appeals packages.
12. May include additional duties as assigned.

These minimum qualifications establish the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license(s) which are required for employment in the classification.  Please note, additional qualifications (i.e., special conditions) may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the exam/job announcement.

Education:

Requires possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in accounting, including at least twenty-four (24) semester units or thirty-six (36) quarter units of accounting and/or auditing courses.

Experience:

Two (2) years of verifiable professional level experience as financial auditor or accountant, which must include preparation of financial statements and managerial reports.

License and Certification:

Positions at the Assessor/Recorder’s Office require eligibility for certification from the California State Board of Equalization as an appraiser for property tax purposes. In accordance with the California State Board of Equalization, appointees to this class must possess or obtain permanent certification as an appraiser for property tax purposes within one (1) year of appointment, and must maintain certification as a condition of continued employment.

Substitution:

Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education; however, no substitution is allowed for the twenty-four (24) semester units or thirty-six (36) quarter units of Accounting and/or Auditing courses. One (1) year of experience is equivalent to thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units.

Notes:

1. Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.
2. One year full-time experience is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hours work week.). Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time experience.

Verification of Education and Experience:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures:

Applications will be screened and evaluated for qualifying experience. Additional screening mechanisms may be implemented in order to determine candidate’s qualifications. Only qualified candidates whose experience best meets the needs of the position will be selected to continue on to additional steps in the selection process, which may include an interview. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement. Qualified applicants with disabilities requiring reasonable accommodation in the selection process must contact the Agency by phone at (415) 554-6000 or, if hearing impaired at (415) 554-6015 (TTY).

Additional information

APPOINTMENT TYPE: Temporary Exempt from Civil Service. This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive civil service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY
Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the recruitment analyst, Simone Goldman at [email protected].

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.