Tax Auditor-Appraiser - Office of the Assessor-Recorder (4220) - (127590)

  • Full-time
  • Certification Rule: Rule of 10
  • Exam Type: Class Based Test
  • Work Hours: Regular
  • Job Code and Title: 4220-Tax Auditor-Appraiser
  • Fill Type: Permanent Civil Service
  • Eligible List Type: Entrance

Company Description

*** PLEASE NOTE: The closing deadline for this recruitment has been extended through 11/4/2022 to allow a larger pool of qualified applicants. Applicants who already applied under Recruitment CBT-4220-127590 need not reapply and will be included in the applicant pool.

THIS IS A CITYWIDE EXAM.

  • Application Opening: Friday, October 7, 2022
  • Application Deadline: Friday, October 21, 2022 at 11:59 PM
  • Amended Application Deadline: Friday, November 4, 2022 at 11:59 PM
  • Compensation Range: $94,172 - $114,478 annually
  • Recruitment ID: RTF0127589-01132177/CBT-4220-127590

San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city, on the forefront of economic growth & innovation, urban development, arts & entertainment, as well as social issues & change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City's commitment to heighten the quality of life for the diverse population of San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco.

Job Description

Under general supervision in the Office of the Assessor-Recorder or Treasurer/Tax Collector's Office, the Tax Auditor-Appraiser is responsible for inspecting, analyzing, and evaluating personal property holdings of business firms for assessment and audit purposes; may audit accounting and related records to verify accuracy of business tax returns (such as payroll expense tax, gross receipts tax, transient occupancy tax, parking tax, etc.) related to municipal and/or State codes.

According to Civil Service Commission Rule 109, the duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

  1. Examines and audits accounting records, financial statements and related documents of industrial and commercial business firms in connection with the assessment of business taxes or valuation of business property prescribed by law.
  2. Inspects and appraises personal property including merchandise, industrial machinery, office equipment and leasehold improvements, and reconciles financial, records and other related data.
  3. Adjusts inventories for purchases, fabrications, processing and sales between last inventory data and the tax assessment date.
  4. Reviews and discusses audit findings with property or business owners or their representatives.
  5. Assists tax payers filing tax declarations in the Assessor's office in completing their declarations, and answers questions on personal property tax matters.
  6. Supervises and instructs temporary clerks, during the assessment period, in the distribution of property tax demands and completion of demand notices during the filing season.
  7. Examines books, accounts and supporting records relative to the purchase and use tax returns of tax payers and establishes tax liability or refunds.
  8. Reviews probate inventories to ascertain the portion of such inventories which are subject to personal property tax.
  9. Examines and assesses personal property stored in commercial warehouses; prepares work papers and reports of field auditing activities.
  10. Examines and audits accounting records, financial statements and related documents of parking operators, hotel operators, and other businesses in connection with the administration of the applicable municipal and/or State codes.
  11. Supports appeals activities, such as conducting research and assembling appeals packages.
  12. May include additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications

These minimum qualifications establish the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license(s) which are required for employment in the classification.  Please note, additional qualifications (i.e., special conditions) may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the exam/job announcement.

Education:

Requires possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in accounting, including at least twenty-four (24) semester units or thirty-six (36) quarter units of accounting and/or auditing courses.

Experience:

Two (2) years of verifiable professional level experience as financial auditor or accountant, which must include preparation of financial statements and managerial reports.

License and Certification:

Positions at the Assessor/Recorder's Office require eligibility for certification from the California State Board of Equalization as an appraiser for property tax purposes. In accordance with the California State Board of Equalization, appointees to this class must possess or obtain permanent certification as an appraiser for property tax purposes within one (1) year of appointment, and must maintain certification as a condition of continued employment.

Substitution:

Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education; however, no substitution is allowed for the twenty-four (24) semester units or thirty-six (36) quarter units of Accounting and/or Auditing courses. One (1) year of experience is equivalent to thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units.

Notes:

  1. Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.
  2. One year full-time experience is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hours work week.). Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time experience.

Verification of Education and Experience:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures:

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ)
Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Multiple Choice Exam (Weight - 100%)
Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications will be invited to take a multiple-choice exam. The multiple-choice exam will be administered either on a computer or in a paper format. The type of format will depend on the size of the qualified applicant pool. Qualified candidates will be notified of the type of exam format in their exam appointment notification. The exam will measure essential knowledge, skill and ability levels in one or more of the following job related areas as appropriate. These areas may include, but not be limited to: Knowledge of financial, auditing and accounting terminology, standards, principles and practices; Knowledge of laws, codes and ordinances applicable to auditing and assessment processes; Ability to understand and interpret different principles and regulations related to finances, accounting, and auditing procedures; Ability to search for information in a set of documents, compare/assess the accuracy of the numerical information across different documents, recognize discrepancies in calculation, tracking and correcting calculation errors; Ability to perform basic mathematics (e.g. add, subtract, multiply, divide, calculate percentage); Ability to analyze financial and accounting data and draw logical conclusions; Ability to prepare accurate and concise work papers, reports, cover letters, and other professional documents using appropriate language and formatting; Ability to communicate effectively with various audiences and provide high quality customer service including the ability to develop effective working relationships with others; and, Ability to use computer software including Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Outlook, and/or Access.

This is a standardized written examination. In accordance with Civil Service Rule 111.11.4, inspection privileges do not apply to the questions and answers in this examination.

The score you achieve on this examination shall be valid and "banked" for three years, starting from the date of the examination. This means that, during this three-year time period, you will not be required to take this test again should you apply and be found eligible for a future announcement for which this particular test is used. If the test for this future announcement is held within one year of the date of this examination, your score will be automatically applied to that announcement. However, after one year, you have the option to either (a) apply your test score to the other announcement or (b) re-take the test. Re-testing is permitted no sooner than one year from the date of the examination and only in association with your eligibility for another announcement for which this test is used. Please note that, should you re-test, your re-test score would become your official score since it is the most recent (even if it turns out to be lower than your original score).

If a significant modification is made to this exam in the future, the application of “banked” scores may no longer be appropriate. In such a rare circumstance, candidates with “banked” scores would be required to re-take the exam sooner than the three year period specified above.

Candidates must achieve a passing score on the examination in order to be placed on the resulting eligible list.

Candidate scores on this examination may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.

Date(s) of Examination: Those applicants meeting the minimum qualifications will be notified of the exact date, time, and location to report to the examination.

Additional Information

Eligible List/Score Report:

A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of 6 months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and- Department-FY-2021-22.pdf.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/.] The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

HOW TO APPLY
Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

  • Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Kimberly Gibney at [email protected].

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.

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