Key Interim Appointment

County Administrator Robert Davis appointed Margaret Garza earlier this month to serve as interim director of the Assessment and Taxation Department beginning January 25, 2020. Garza will serve as an interim while a national search for a permanent director begins in 2020. The current director of the department, Rich Hobernicht, is retiring after 14 years with the county, serving as the director of Assessment and Taxation since 2006.

"Margaret has been involved at an executive level with the Assessment and Taxation Department for nearly 20 years,” said Davis. "Margaret is widely respected throughout the county organization and she will do a great job guiding the department during this interim period."

Garza has served as business manager for the Assessment and Taxation Department since 2001, helping to prepare and administer the department’s $15.3 million annual budget, designing the department’s performance measures and serving on the steering committee to implement improved technology for property tax collection. Prior to that, Garza worked at the Washington County Fair Complex for five years, three of which was as chief executive officer. Early in her career, Garza worked as a business consultant, a revenue officer with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and as a police dispatcher and administrative assistant with the City of Hillsboro.

Garza earned two undergraduate degrees from Lewis and Clark College, one in Spanish literature and another in business administration.

Washington County’s Department of Assessment and Taxation is responsible for property tax appraisals and collection on behalf of 57 taxing districts within the County. The department, staffed with 118 full-time equivalent positions, is also charged with conducting elections and issuing and recording official documents.