Joel Anderson, 66, a Republican and county supervisor, is running for San Diego County treasurer-tax collector.
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An Alpine native, Anderson has represented East County on the Board of Supervisors since 2020.
The San Diego Union-Tribune emailed a series of questions to Anderson and other candidates to help inform voters about their positions, priorities and plans if elected.
Anderson said he did not use AI in responding to the Union-Tribune’s questions.
I believe I can have a better, more meaningful impact in this role as county treasurer-tax collector. I’ve always been a reformer with the goal of making government work for you. With my finance background, strong collaborative relationships and constituent-first philosophy, we can end the delays and costly penalties that are hurting so many residents in our county. My unique experience as a small business owner, finance background and public service in the state legislature and at the county enables me to navigate the complex bureaucracy and make sure we are providing the best service possible to our constituents while managing crucial investments at the highest level. My campaign’s “Working Families Initiative” will bring much-needed accountability and transparency to an office that has weaponized tax bills against our working families. Finally, my independent record has earned me endorsements from across the political spectrum, showing that we can accomplish far more together.
First, there should be an immediate review of the trash taxes, excessive utility and junk fees being collected on your property tax bill. Far too many residents have seen these “hidden” fees added to their bill for years without any accountability. Nobody should lose their home because they didn’t pay their trash taxes on their property tax bill.
Secondly, we need to stop the Treasurer-Tax Collector Office from weaponizing our tax bills with unwarranted, excessive penalties and fees they use to profit off the backs of working families.
Third, we should expand homeowner and rental assistance programs, which protect at-risk seniors from becoming homeless.
Fourthly, performance standards ensuring more transparency and accountability must be set for the TTC office, eliminating endless phone wait times, confusing notices, incorrect tax bills, delayed refunds and bureaucratic runaround.
Removing the junk fees from tax bills, meeting with the TTC employees and restoring customer satisfaction would be the first three things I would do.
First, it’s important to meet with all of the TTC employees to get a better understanding of why the office has failed in customer service recently. I would work with the employees and restore the pride they once took in their jobs. We can work collaboratively to conduct basic operations more effectively and efficiently. By doing these things, we will increase customer satisfaction and reduce the excessively long wait times that plague the office currently.
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I would also work to remove all of the junk fees from tax bills. These junk fees keep getting added to tax bills while our working families are already struggling with the high cost of living.
Serving the public, ensuring that we maintain our fiduciary responsibilities and providing the best customer service is the most important role of the treasurer-tax collector. Constituent services and customer satisfaction are essential to a successful office serving a county of over 3 million residents. Leadership comes from the top down, and I will work to finally put constituents first, because they are the most important thing in the office. Constituents shouldn’t have to wait excessively for their refunds or wait to have basic and simple questions answered when reaching out to the TTC office.
The current Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office is in freefall. Under its current leadership, customer service has fallen woefully short. It’s unacceptable, and the residents of San Diego County deserve better.
Sadly, after Dan McAllister’s passing, this office is now commonly referred to as the “DMV of the county” for its failure to meet basic customer expectations. There are checks that aren’t being processed in a timely fashion, constituents have sued the TTC office after being assessed egregious fines that weren’t justified, and phone wait times are over two hours.
We can restore the service we were once proud of in that office. I will work aggressively to tackle all of these issues to turn the office around. By meeting with the hardworking employees of the TTC office and providing the leadership they are currently lacking, we will put constituents first, again.
We should focus on cashing checks as soon as we get them. Currently, the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office has checks that are being held far in excess of 30 days. There’s no excuse for this delay. This dereliction of duty from the current head of the office is costing the county tens of millions of dollars in lost interest. Restoring and improving those check-processing times will ensure that we are maximizing taxpayer interest on our funds.
At the same time, we have a fiduciary responsibility to get the best return on our investments, and I plan to stay focused on that mission. Every dollar the county receives paves our roads, provides essential services and keeps our communities safe.
I support getting the best return on our investments from any legal business available to us.
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No.
