Upcoming Events:

Aug 12th, 2008
The Village Political Forum

Aug 13th, 2008
Ala Co Democratic Black Caucus

Aug 16th, 2008
The Boys and Girls Club Caribbean Cruise Fundraiser

Aug 20th, 2008
Campaign Report (Fundraising Deadlilne)

Aug 23rd, 2008
Archer Rally

More Events

Questions And Answers

Q: Mr. Crapo, how long have you worked in the Alachua County Property Appraiser's Office?

A: I was hired by Hon. J. Pierce Smith in September of 1977, so I have worked in the office for 31 years.

Q: What did you do as a staff member of the office?

A: I was a field appraiser. Later, I was promoted to a land appraiser and shared the responsibilities for evaluation of agricultural applications and evaluation.

Q: When were you first elected?

A: In November of 1980.

Q: What was the Property Appraiser's Office like when you took office?

A: In a word, paper. Everything was paper and had to be filed. Permits, deeds, zoning changes all inter-departmental communications was through the duplication and transmittal of pieces of paper. Property building characteristics were hand written upon a heavy duty card, land information was on another card and they were each stored in separate banks of file cabinets. If you wanted to review your appraisal you had to come to the office, request your card be pulled from the cabinet and then you could review your information. If you wanted to look at sales you had to come to the office between noon and 2 PM because all the sales were kept on paper maps and there was only one set. The rest of the time the staff was either updating or using the maps. We had a computer but it's major purpose was to put our information into a standardized format for tax roll approval analysis by the State.

The tax roll itself was a little less than $1.8 billion with approximately 63,000 parcels. Now there are over 113,000 parcels with a total value in excess of $12.8 billion.

Q: How does that compare to what the office is like today?

A: The office is vastly different. We still measure buildings with a tape measure but after that things start changing dramatically. It's become a highly technical and complex operation. We still remain focused on the needs and services of the people of Alachua County but the way we are developing, maintaining and delivering those services has changed greatly.

The valuation work is a "combination of "old Fashioned" leg work and common sense with multiple mathematical algorithms and statistically calibrated and specified models. A Geographic Information System houses all our maps and aerial photography. All the maps and aerials now contain incredible amounts of information tied to each parcel and/or image. Literally, at your fingertips there is more data than you can imagine. At his time we have over 3 million hits per month on this system.

Operationally, we have made changes that complement the technological enhancements. In the early 90's we embraced the principles and practices of "Total Quality Management". From this start we moved the office to a place of excellence that brought us state and international recognition.

Q: What do you consider the major accomplishments of your tenure in office?

A: The thing I am most proud of is the number of times that people in the community say "Why can't the rest of government be like your office." I have people continually tell me that our staff is very professional, courteous and knowledgeable. Unfortunately, their experiences with other divisions of government do not result in the same reactions. Which leads me to the thing that makes this public perception and that is the people I work with. We have assembled a team of caring and professional individuals whose commitment to excellence is unparralled. I am extremely proud of them. Here's a list of other accomplishments for my office.

The Alachua County Property Appraiser's Office is truly a model for how to do what we do well for the world. And I am very proud of that accomplishment.