Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

Background and big ideas 00:23

Christie and Cy’s backgrounds in property evaluation and assessment, data collection, and fee appraisal

Core duties of the oversight agency in Vermont 2:01

Administering split tax codes

Guiding and overseeing elected listors (assessors)

Setting parameters and ensuring compliance

Equalization tolerance 

Getting newcomers up to speed 5:34

Not a quick fix — three years minimum for proficiency

Evaluation methodology 7:06

Sales vs market-adjusted costs

What is the most difficult thing to teach? 8:15

Technology and equity metrics

Market swings since COVID-19 10:22

Technology and assessment in Vermont 11:04

Labor-saving inspection technology (e.g. EagleView, Pictometry)

Landscape-specific challenges (e.g. foliage)

Getting caught up on GIS and mapping

Education and training opportunities for assessors in Vermont 14:55

Advisors for direct contact

Grant money to pay tuition and expenses for classes and certification (e.g. from IAAO)

What does Vermont do well? 17:21

User-friendly appeals process

New trends and changes in Vermont 20:12

Legislative changes: Act 68

More consistent assessment and reappraisal

Advice for newcomers 22:48

Learning by doing: being involved in the beginning to the end of a full reappraisal process

How to reach Christie and Cy

[email protected]

[email protected]

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

James’ background in real estate and assessment 00:35

How has the industry changed over the past two decades? 1:38

Modernization via technology

Assessment becoming less of an “accidental profession”

Selecting talent 4:34

The right candidate can be molded and trained

COVID-era real estate values and market movements 6:33

Post-COVID normalization

Philadelphia’s valuation methodology 8:44

Sales vs income vs cost

Residential vs commercial models

Determining land values for cost approaches 10:12

Difficulties in areas with sporadic and irregular sales (and therefore data)

The industry’s direction in the next ten years 11:19

Uncertainties regarding Machine Learning and AI

Leveraging the power of technological advancement

More frequent assessments

Advice for newcomers 12:58

Take—or make—every chance to learn as much as possible

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

Daniel’s background in assessment and computer science 00:35

The invention of Mobile Assessor and its later wider adoption

How technology such as the iPad changed the industry

Traveling a lot for work while growing a software company

Flagship product: Mobile Assessor 6:25

A synchronization service that can attach to any database

Increasing productivity by increasing efficiency of data entry

Route optimization — solving the “traveling salesman problem”

Being able to adjust to dynamic conditions and changing priorities

Machine Learning (ML) and AI — the next step? 13:04

Extracting information from imagery to better utilize assessor time

Recent growth in research and technology in ML and AI

Error recognition vs change detection

Advice to newcomers 17:04

Being open to change in both technology and operating procedure

Supporting open data standards to support innovation and competition

How to reach Daniel 19:55

https://woolpert.com/products/dcs-a-woolpert-company/

[email protected]

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

Lloyd background 00:35

Tight labor markets and hiring in the industry 1:48

Tech trends 2:33

Tablet software instead of paper

Using data science and AI

Assessment in Manitoba 3:53

The diverse geography of the province

Full market value assessment and details

Challenges for specific 

Strengths and/or special challenges in Manitoba 7:03

Messaging to taxpayers 7:47

The importance of fairness, confidence, and professionalism

Getting new staff up to speed 9:15

Evaluating talent 10:27

Industry trends 11:18

AI and advanced data visualization (Power BI)

Increasing transparency and trust with the public

Advice to newcomers 12:11

Embracing change and innovation

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

Bryan’s background 00:35

Bryan’s experience in construction and assessment

Bryan’s IAAO education session: “Making Marijuana Personal” 2:52

Assessing different types of commercial marijuana facilities

Key assets to look out for and approaches to valuation

Looking out for what is on—and what is not on—the commercial tax return

History of medical marijuana legalization in Oklahoma

Current state of the marijuana industry

Getting up to speed with commercial marijuana as an assessor 20:03

Learning from other state governments

Learning through immersion (e.g. industry conferences)

Advice for industry newcomers 23:01

Embracing change and new technology

How to reach Bryan 26:06

Email: [email protected]

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

John’s background 00:35

Derrick’s experience in broadcast journalism, government, and assessment

The importance of property taxation/assessment in funding local government

How has the field changed in the last 10 years? 2:04

Unexpected exogenous shocks: global pandemic, inflation

Overheated housing market

Commercial vs residential — how WFH has changed the market

The future of commercial real estate 4:58

Downward trend

The difficulties of commercial to residential conversions

What can we do about housing affordability? 6:12

Identifying opportunities for new housing to address immediate needs

Streamlining housing permitting and construction

New building techniques and products

Derrick’s IAAO panel: “See More From the Air” 8:33

The benefits of aerial imagery: accuracy, efficiency

Comparing aerial vs ground observation

Identifying potential novel land uses

Assessing damage from natural disasters

Competition in the aerial imagery industry 11:14

Balloons, drones,  etc.

Improved cost-effectiveness 

Other technologies 12:18

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Data beyond evaluation and assessment 

Advice for industry newcomers 14:29

Parting advice 15:21

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

Derrick’s background 00:35

Derrick’s experience in assessment, management, and team-building

Assessment practices and ratio study standards Nebraska 2:56

Nebraska being a market value and full disclosure state

What is COD (Coefficient of Dispersion)?

What is PRD (Price Related Differential)?

Approaches to assessing agricultural land

How has the industry changed in the past 20 years? 5:42

The widespread adoption of technology by assessors

The availability of technology to the general public

Public trust in the era of wild market swings

Building good teams and work cultures 7:25

What does a good culture look like?

What does a bad culture look like?

Broader meaning crisis — how to get people to feel purpose?

Bridging generation gaps between industry veterans vs newcomers

Handling conflict 15:12

Patience and understanding

Identifying deeper problems and grievances

Avoiding overlaps in duty

How egos mess up work cultures

The future of the assessment industry in the next two decades 19:34

“Hard” skills: Technological advancement

“Soft skills” — the human element of explaining valuations to taxpayers

Advice for industry newcomers 20:30

Investing in yourself

Delivering and receiving constructive feedback 21:45

How to reach Derrick 22:48

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 00:00

Samantha’s (and Dan’s) background 00:23

Samantha’s background in real estate brokerage, real estate valuation, tax representation, and elected office

Important innovations 6:19

Working with old CAMA systems and moving towards upgrades

Automation to handle high volume (of appeals)

Moving towards automatic evaluation models 9:08

The need for more consistently updated data

Difficulties and challenges when properties are not consistently (re)delineated and reassessed

What is uniformity and why is it important? 11:46

Vertical vs horizontal equity

Long term plans 13:30

Property appraisal is a long-term project

Developing a better culture for the office

What drives the high number of appeals in Cook County? 15:10

Attorney requirements

Profit in the appraisal industry — bad incentives and lack of transparency

Overcoming a history of corruption and lack of government trust in Illinois

Parting advice 17:05

Getting involved with IAAO

How to reach Sam

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast 0:00

Monica’s bio 00:51

Falling into an “accidental career”

20 years in various assessment tracks

How has the assessment field evolved over the past two decades? 2:26

Inclusion of technology

More attention paid to what assessors do; discussions on transparency

Last few years of property markets 4:05

Explosively rising prices

Challenges explaining how this affects property assessment

What does transparency mean? How is it an industry challenge? 5:11

Internal vs External

Explaining what people are paying for

Explaining the difference between assessment and taxation

Big career lessons 7:56

Getting started by being willing to learn

Best practices in the Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment 9:02

Encouraging personal and career growth

Cultivating and picking talent

The future of Philadelphia 12:11

Contending with the fact that housing affordability can get worse for both renters and buyers

Possible solutions

Monica’s IAAO panel: “Assessing in 2023 and Beyond” 14:10

Workforce transition — aging assessors

Data and transparency — privacy concerns

Integration of technology and assessment — pros and cons

How has Philadelphia changed? What is “gentrification” and its implications? 18:06

The pros and cons of neighborhood improvement and change

“Gentrification” can be both good and bad

What should those in power do?

Educating people on the why and how of change and its impacts

Parting advice 19:42

How to reach Monica

Jim’s background 0:01

Introduction to Assessment Matters podcast

Jim’s background in real estate valuation and architecture

The founding story of Patriot Properties 2:32

Difference in technology back in the 1980s

The development of CAMA (Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal) systems as a way to scale up assessment

Where the CAMA market is going 4:23

Speed of technological development vs government change

Transition towards cloud-based computing and automation

Transparency and availability of information

The fragmentation of the CAMA market 8:49

Variation of property assessment and taxation by state

Patriot Properties’ expansion from Massachusetts to the rest of the US

How to think about growth 9:28

Horizontal (more states) vs vertical (more cities within states)

Strategy

Advice for assessors buying a new CAMA system 10:25

Having an open mind about workflow

How to adapt to new technology

Accommodating existing vs introducing new practices

Parting advice 12:39