Roseville voters remove term limits for Board of Review

ROSEVILLE — Roseville voters approved a change to the city charter to do away with term limits for the Board of Review.

The unofficial tally at press time, with 100% of precincts reporting, was 11,491 in favor of the change and 8,813 against.

Roseville Assessor Brook Openshaw, who was in favor of the proposal, said she was surprised by the results. Prior to the election, she saw confusion about what the proposal was for on social media.

“I’m grateful we have a good Board of Review team ... and I’m very grateful that we’ll be able to keep them,” Openshaw said.

Board of Review member David Bommarito was also surprised by the result.

“Normally when people see term limits, they want term limits,” he said.

Bommarito said the change will help due to how difficult the position can be.

“It’s hard to get people to be on that board because it’s very stressful to be on that board,” Bommarito said. “You have people coming in stressed out because taxes are going up.”

Members of the Board of Review and Openshaw had favored the change, citing a difficulty finding qualified members to serve.

The Board of Review is tasked with listening to appeals from residents about the tax assessments of their properties. The board then determines any necessary reassessments.

The board currently has three members and one alternate. Joanne Baker, Bommarito and Janice Carter are currently on the board. Teresa Huck is the board’s alternate member. The city’s mayor nominates the members, who then require City Council approval. 

Previously, members could serve only two consecutive three-year terms. After members hit their limit, they had to wait a year until they could reapply for the post.