In a previous job, it was Carrie Turner’s duty to inform cancer patients how much money they’d have to pay before they could begin treatments.

That makes her current job – one where she tells property owners their taxes are going to increase – a relative breeze.

“This job is much easier,” the Kingfisher County assessor told Kingfisher Lions Club members during a recent address.

Turner was appointed to her post last November after the former assessor, Carolyn Mulherin, passed away.

An Oklahoma City native who moved to Hennessey in 2000, Turner began the required accreditation classes for her position last December and is expected to complete them in June.

Her office, which includes four other employees, is required to assess 13,000 parcels of land; 274 marijuana grower, processor or dispensaries with active, pending or expired licenses; 1,000-plus business properties; 2,000-plus individual personal properties; and 137 oil, gas and wind companies with properties in multiple school districts, which equals about 800 accounts.

Turner said the parcels have to be inspected every four years and a plan to complete that task has to be approved by the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Business and personal property, she said, are submitted and reviewed each year between Jan. 1 and March 15.

When she came into office, Turner said she was advised Kingfisher County was one of the more “undervalued counties in the state.”

The OTC required the county in November 2019 to implement a new computer system, which allows data to be inputted and it handles the calculations.

“This will allow all counties to assess fairly and equitably,” she said. “It also allows the OTC to track all entries for auditing purposes.”

Her office is in the midst of gathering and inputting such information.

“While we are subject to human error, it’s important to us to make sure we have accurate information,” she said. “We need public support in gathering this information.

“We must have access to the property so we can take measurements and view construction.”

With the updated information, Turner said, will come increased property taxes.

“I want everyone to know our values are going up in the county,” she said.

It could be a substantial increase, she added, but the impact will be spread out.

State law dictates property value can only increase 3-5 percent each year until the current market value is reached, Turner said.

Regardless, Turner said she hopes the public won’t place the blame on her office.

“The OTC makes the rules and we just follow them,” Turner said. “I feel I’m just the messenger.”

She said she wants her office to work with transparency and also educate the public with open communication.

“Most don’t understand that the money they pay in property taxes goes to the schools,” she noted.

The duties of the assessor’s office are many, she also noted.

“We have a schedule of events that are to take place all through the year,” she said.

On Jan. 1, all taxable real and personal property are to be appraised and assessed, Turner noted.

“We also process homestead exemptions, veterans’ exemptions, five-year manufacturing exemptions, senior valuation limitations and storm shelter exemptions,” she said.

Her office also prepare the assessment roll for the county’s board of equalization.

Her staff also has until June 15 annually to submit the abstract of valuations to the OTC.

“Or we can have our pay withheld until we get it done,” she said.

The assessor’s office also prepares the tax roll to deliver to the county treasurer by Oct. 1.

County Treasurer Robin Rother also attended the meeting as did Turner’s chief deputy, Tracy Meyer.