Appraising a hire

To the editor:

On page 3 of the Oct. 14 Record there was a brief report of the new county appraiser, Carl Miller. However, I was left with more questions than answers.

I believe our previous appraisers have been full-time employees. According to the article, Miller will be working for three different counties. Are we paying him one-third of the salary? Are we paying him by the hour? Is he getting benefits such as insurance and vacation time, and, if so, how are they prorated?

How can we get by now with a part-time appraiser when we needed a full-time one before? If this is saving money, where is the saved money going?

Thank you for any additional information you can provide. I appreciate the fact that you cover local government and local politics. It helps to make us all more informed voters.

Martha Berner, rural Marion

Editor’s note: Related story on Page 3 of this week’s issue.