Following through on plans he announced over a month ago, Park County Assessor Pat Meyer officially resigned on Tuesday to begin retirement. Meyer was midway through a four-year term, so Park County Republican Party leaders and the county commissioners must now pick a replacement to fill the position for the next two years.

Because Meyer is a Republican, the local Republican Party gets to nominate three potential replacements, with Park County commissioners choosing the next assessor among that trio.

State law gives the party up to 15 days to name their top candidates, but the Park County GOP doesn’t expect to take that long: The party is accepting applications through Wednesday, Jan. 8 and plans to vote on the nominees during its regular Thursday, Jan. 9 meeting in Cody.

It was back in November that Meyer announced his intent to retire at the end of the year. Meyer — who served as assessor for the past 14 years and worked in the office for nearly 40 — cited burnout and a desire to retire while he’s still able to do things like ski, fish and hunt.

The outgoing assessor has endorsed his first deputy, Terry Call, as his replacement, but the nominations will ultimately be in the hands of the Park County Republican Party’s Central Committee. The group is made up of the party’s executive officers plus 86 precinct committeemen and women, who were elected during August’s primary election.

The Jan. 9 meeting — which is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Cody Cowboy Church, 99 Southfork Road — will be the first for the new committee members.

In announcing his retirement, Meyer noted it’s been a couple stressful years in the assessor’s office, as property values — and, in turn, property taxes — have soared in Park County. Assessors play only an indirect role in the property tax bills that residents receive each year because they determine the taxable value of all property in their counties. However, assessors’ discretion is limited, because they are required to do so in a way that’s fair, equitable, uniform and in-line with state rules. They also have no role in setting the actual property tax rates — known as the mill levy — as those are left up to governing bodies, such as commissioners and college board trustees.

There are few requirements to become an assessor. Candidates must be a registered voter, a U.S. citizen and both live and own property in Park County. In this case, contenders must also be registered as a Republican.

Anyone interested in applying for the assessor role can request an application by emailing the Park County Republican Party’s secretary at pcrpsecretary@gmail.com. Completed applications, resumes and/or any other information a candidate might want to share with the central committee can also be emailed to the secretary.

The candidate eventually chosen by commissioners will serve as assessor through January 2027.