FORMER ASSESSOR, BARBARA G. BYINGTON

A Douglas County resident since the 1950's, Barbara graduated from Douglas High School and the University of Nevada with a degree in mathematics. She and her husband, Dallas have operated a ranch in Carson Valley for over 30 years. Their son, Russel, is a local firefighter and instructs fire classes for the Nevada Division of Forestry.  She has been a member of the national, state and local Cattlewomen.  She has also been active in 4-H for many years as a leader and chairs the 4-H Camp Council through the University which oversees the 4-H campgrounds at Lake Tahoe.  She is an honorary member of the Minden Fortnightly Club, a former substitute teacher, serves on the WNCC Advisory Task Force, as well as several scholarship committees.

Barbara first took office as Assessor in 1983.  She earned her certification by the State of Nevada as both a real and personal property appraiser.   The County has seen tremendous growth since then and the number of taxable improvements more than doubled during her tenure.  The office received outstanding scores on audits for both office procedures and assessment accuracy from the Nevada State Department of Taxation during its biennial audits.  Barbara was able to maintain the original staffing level of the office through the utilization of computerization and innovative planning and still maintain the accuracy and integrity of the assessment process.

In 1986 an office was opened under the direction of the Assessor at Stateline offering most County services as well as vehicle registration for the State of Nevada.  This office makes these services readily available to the residents of Lake Tahoe five days a week and as of May, 2000 was transferred to the Douglas County Clerk/Treasurer.

In 1991 Barbara began working on acquiring a GIS (Geographical Information System) for Douglas County.  Due to her persistence and the cooperation of other departments the system is now up and running with a complete mapping database of parcels in the County as well as zoning, flood plain, voting districts and precincts and various other "layers" of information.  The GIS computer is now linked to Community Development so that maps can be accessed by their offices for inquiry, giving them current information on any property as needed.  This has reduced the need for redundant mapping for many County departments, saving both time and taxpayer dollars.

Barbara chose not to run for re-election in 2002, is now retired and resides on the family ranch in Carson Valley.