Monterey County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder Will Not Seek Re-Election

Monterey County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder Stephen Vagnini has announced his retirement after 19 years in the position and 35 years with the Assessor's Office. Vagnini will finish out the remainder of his term, which ends Dec. 31, 2022.

While Vagnini was in office, Monterey’s assessed property value more than doubled from about $30 billion to $74 billion. Vagnini also steered the county through hard times. After the Great Recession of 2008, his office was forced to decrease $6 billion in property values from tens of thousands of properties. That led to a $60 million decrease in tax revenue for the county.

Vagnini has an opinion on who voters should pick to replace him. He has endorsed Assistant Assessor Maria Camacho.

She “has such great understanding of taxation code and change-of-ownership laws," Vagnini told the Monterey County Weekly. "And she's worked her way up to be a great supervisor. She's mentored a lot of young employees in the office.”

Read more here.

Image: County of Monterey