Utah County Assessor Kris Poulson has officially notified the Utah County Commission that he would be resigning from his elected post. As the assessor, Poulson has been responsible for classifying, associating ownership and establishing taxable value for properties within the county.

Poulson told the Daily Herald he is leaving the position for an opportunity in the private sector. Before taking office, he worked for “a software company designing and implementing assessment applications” and is returning to the filed.

Poulson has been a mainstay in Utah County government, having first won election to the office in 2002 and every opportunity since, most recently in 2020. A resident of Payson he has led the department through modernizing property value records repeatedly.

“Elected in 2002, (I) have served with four different county attorneys, five auditors, three treasurers, four recorders and numerous commissioners. It has been an honor to serve the public in Utah County. The county is being well served by the current administration,” he said.

When he first ran against then-assessor Claude Richards, Poulson campaigned on adjusting property records — an act that had not been done since 1977. He has since worked to keep property values up to date, particularly as the county has grown by over 300,000 people throughout his time in office and creating online submission programs for property taxes.

Looking back on his time in office, Poulson is proud of his department’s work to revalue all homes in the county, annually, leading up to the 2008 real estate crash and subsequent recession while aiding in fraud investigations.

“Over the 20-year period, our valuations have been statistically tested annually for compliance without a single corrective action order issued by the Utah State Tax Commission,” he said. “Technology is constantly changing how tasks can be accomplished.”

In accordance with state code, the commission approved a letter Wednesday notifying Skyler Beltran, chair of the Utah County Republican Party, of Poulson’s retirement. He will leave the position March 18 while the interim assessor must be in place within 30 days.

Beltran told the Daily Herald he is “99% sure” there will be enough time to have the special election at the county convention on April 15.

Poulson’s replacement will be selected by a vote of the Republican Party Central Committee, which “consists of the Voting Precinct Chairs and Vice-Chairs; the Party’s Elected County Officers; the Party’s Appointed County Officers; the Legislative District Chairs, Vice-Chairs and Education Officers; all past full-term County Chairs who served to the end of the term to which they were elected or to which they succeeded as County Chair and served a minimum of six months; and all County, State and Federal Elected Officials.”

Interested parties must be a state-certified general appraiser or state-certified residential appraiser. If the special election can be held at the county convention, the filing period will be from March 25 through April 1.

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