Riley County Appraiser Sam Schmidt has had his 15 minutes of faime and he doesn't like it. The Appraiser's Office made a $200 million mistake in the County Appraisal figures two weeks ago and it received nation-wide attention.

Schmidt gave the Riley County Commission a letter last week which outlines the changes he has made to make sure the mistake does not happen again. Here is his letter:

Error Prevention Measures - Immediate and Future

In an effort to be proactive and eliminate further errors of this magnitude, we are taking the following actions:

ERROR PREVENTION MEASURES IMMEDIATELY IMPLEMENTED:

1. Increase the number of digits on templates that print the percent of increase or decrease.

2. Review with staff the importance of inquiry versus update modules.

3. Run and print reports expressing values above one million on both the residential and commercial files.

ERROR PREVENTION MEASURES TO BE IMPLEMENTED:

1. Change the data entry threshold to not accept values over 1.5 million on residential properties and 35 million on commercial properties.

2. Restrict access to the Assessment Administration file.

3. End of Day report review transferred to Quality Control Officer. Report format to be revised for easier understanding and review.

4. Review all procedures currently in place before certification. Revise checklist used prior to certification.

5. Make value comparisons by taxing unit yearly before certification. Summarize comparisons in writing.

Measures listed above are inclusive and not exclusive. Measures are subject to additions, deletions, revisions and expansions.