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Musick wins Mon contest for assessorNov 07, 2012 (The Dominion Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Democrat Mark Musick is Monongalia County's next assessor. The veteran c a n d i d at e d e f e at e d Re p u bl i c a n Kent Pauley, a contractor, in Tuesday's general election. "I'm overwh e l m e d , " Musick said. "I'm honored. This is just amazing. I feel very fortunate to have that kind of support out there in the county." With all 71 precincts reporting, Musick received 16,668 votes -- about 57 percent -- and Pauley received 12,791 votes -- about 43 percent. All vote totals are unofficial, pending a review by the county canvassing board. Musick lost to outgoing county assessor Rodney Pyles in the 2008 election. Pyles announced this year he would not seek re-election. Pyles hired consulting firm Tyler Technologies to do a mass countywide reappraisal in 2010. After the new property values were released, in November 2011, hundreds of taxpayers reported errors in their property information. Initially, more than 2,900 county property owners requested appeals. The County Commission heard appeals in February, March and last month. Musick said he's eager to start training and meet with Pyles and the office staff. Musick said that after he takes his oath, he plans to strengthen the office's rela- tionship with the County Commission and the sheriff 's tax office. He also intends to improve communication with residents and possibly set up satellite offices to better serve the county, he said. Pauley congratulated Musick on his win. "I wish him the best as new assessor. He has a lot of challenges ahead of him." Pauley said he ran the best campaign he could, and he didn't know how he could have made up the difference in the votes. County assessors are elected to four-year terms. They are paid $48,880 a year. ___ (c)2012 The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.) Visit The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.) at www.dominionpost.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |