Clark Township is looking for a new assessor, following the resignation of Christina Thompson, who will leave the post August 16.

Mrs. Thompson said she quit for a number of reasons, including the pressures of raising a family with young children and helping her husband with his business while working 40 hours for the township. She also said her $26,000 annual salary is too little for the amount of work required. The previous assessor, she noted, was paid $43,000 a year and had at least one assistant. Mrs. Thompson works alone.

She was hired as the assessor March 28, but has worked for Clark Township for more than three years, starting as deputy supervisor under the previous supervisor, Robert Smith, and then as one of two assistant assessors to former township assessor Doreen Freeborn during the township’s reappraisal.

At a meeting Thursday, July 28, trustees voted to advertise for a new assessor and may hire a part-time assistant, as well.

Applications are due August 10.

The township assesses 3,276 real estate parcels and 170 personal property (mostly commercial) inventories. By comparison, St. Ignace and Mackinac Island, combined, have only 2,611 real and 419 personal properties. Clark Township’s state equalized property value of $257,023,782 is the largest in the county. Among Mackinac County’s 13 taxing units, it accounts for 22 percent of the total county value of $1.168 billion.

Last winter, Clark Township received about a dozen assessor applicants, following a statewide search in which it sent letters to every Level II and Level III certified assessor in Michigan. Trustees hope some of the earlier candidates may still be interested.

The new assessor will be offered health insurance, since the Township Board adopted a new group health insurance plan Thursday, July 28. Mrs. Thompson was getting 10 days paid vacation a year and could participate in township retirement and life insurance plans. The township had agreed to pay for the assessor's annual certification and for six hours of state-mandated education each year. A longevity bonus, said Supervisor Linda Hudson, would have increased her salary to around $30,000 a year.

Township officials, however, have been concerned that the assessor has not been fulfilling her 40-hour-a-week contract and, according to Mrs. Thompson, they had switched her to hourly pay, at $12.50 an hour, on July 14.

She resigned July 18, giving 30 days notice, and trustees held a special meeting July 19 to discuss her severance.

Supervisor Hudson, Treasurer Katie Carpenter, and Clerk Cathy Nordquist said then that Mrs. Thompson has been unable to work a full 40-hour week. They noted that, based on her time records, she owed the township 100.5 hours for hours not worked since she started the job and applied her 80 hours of vacation and 32 hours of sick time to the shortfall.

Trustees admitted that losing Mrs. Thompson will be hard on the township, since she is familiar with past and pending Clark Township tax tribunal cases, assembles data for small claims and Michigan Tribunal courts, and most recently had argued 80 cases at the State Tax Commission in one day. Mrs. Hudson said Mrs. Thompson has promised to argue at least one other case against the Township before she leaves.

Trustees did not discuss the possibility of asking Mrs. Thompson to stay as the assistant.

As assessor, Mrs. Thompson encouraged taxpayers to be informed, ask questions, and make sure the information on their property tax assessments cards is correct. She recommended they continue to take responsibility for their taxes and assessments, to go the Board of Review if they find errors on their assessment cards, and “get to know the new assessor.”