The county’s property tax assessment hit 30-years-old this year.

And officials have discussed preliminary steps that could lead the county down the path to reassessment.

It’s a political minefield — reassessment is often wildly unpopular; the Warren County School Board wants it done; the Warren County Commissioners — the entity to undertake the effort — face potential political ramifications to say nothing of the seven-figure price tag

“I fear we’ve lost track of the reassessment that is desperately needed,” School Board member Joe Colosimo said during Monday’s committee meetings. “I think the commissioners have lost sight of this.”

“The commissioners are on it,” Superintendent Amy Stewart said. “They are in-line for a third-party person to come in with the objective that they get the baseline right.”

Commissioner Ben Kafferlin said the issue has been discussed at the Council of Governments meetings “but no agreement has been made with the consultant the COG recommends and the county commissioners.”

He said an agreement would be brought to the board or review.

“To be clear, his job would be to analyze our status quo to determine necessity and benchmarking tools,” Kafferlin explained. “Then, if we move forward from there, he will help craft an RFP and analyze the respondents. At the conclusion of the vendor’s selection and implementation, he would then be the subject matter expert we would turn to to ensure the scope of work was properly followed and the assessments defensible.”

He cautioned that the “consultant is not a guarantee that reassessment will happen, but it would be a commitment to genuinely understand the cost/benefits.

“I repeat, reassessment is not a foregone conclusion. I think the probability of the commissioners contracting with the recommended consultant is good.”