The county is required by its charter to hold a special election instead of appointing a permanent replacement, and Greg Monteverde, who previously was the assistant assessor, is serving in the interim. The assessor race is one of two countywide elections on the Nov. 4 ballot. Voters will also decide whether to approve a five-eighths-of-a-cent sales tax increase to offset the impact of recent federal cuts on the county's budget, which is known as Measure A.
County services that rely on revenues from Medicaid are expected to bear the brunt of President Donald Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill, which slashes $1 trillion from the federally-funded health insurance program over the next decade. The legislation is estimated to rip a roughly $1 billion annual hole in the county's budget that could lead to cuts to services across the board. Measure A a five-eights-of-a-cent sales tax increase on the Nov. 4 ballot could soften some of the blow as county officials anticipate it will generate $330 million annually.