Q&A with Niki Cogburn, candidate for Erath County tax assessor/collector.
Q. What do you believe is the most important role of tax assessor?
A. I believe it is important for the tax assessor to be educated on tax and motor vehicle laws and procedures in order to best serve the public and staff.
This would allow the tax assessor to be readily available to the residents of the county and the office staff when questions and concerns arise.
Q. What do you perceive to be the biggest challenge facing the Erath County tax assessor’s office and how do you propose that challenge be addressed?
A. I believe the biggest challenge facing the Erath County tax assessor’s office is being able to keep taxpayers informed on changes being made to property taxes.
If elected I would make it a priority to keep myself educated so that I would be able to keep tax payers as informed as possible.
Q. Do you see judicial foreclosure of tax liens as a tool of first response or last resort? Explain.
A. I believe that in certain circumstance that judicial foreclosure is necessary. I feel that every situation should be looked at on an individual basis and that foreclosure be the last resort after all other solutions have been exhausted.
Q. What is your understanding of discrimination in the workplace? Does this include prohibiting employees from speaking in other languages during business hours or communicating with customers in their native language?
A. Discrimination of any sort should never be tolerated in the workplace. I understand that the need for bilingual employees is necessary in order to be able to provide the best service to non-English speaking customers.
Q. What educational and career experiences in your background make you uniquely qualified to serve in this elected capacity?
A. I have been employed at the Erath County tax office for 3 years as a motor vehicle clerk.
I also work with a local plumbing company as the bookkeeper. Prior to that I was the administrative assistant at a local HVAC company for 12 years. I have been a business owner in the agricultural industry.
I pride myself on my customer service skills and being able to help resolve problems in most situations. I have always tried to give my all and then some in everything that I do.
If elected, I hope to be able to utilize my experience and dedication to best serve the office and the residents of Erath County.
