Property Assessment

Clever Summer Reads

Best Book Recommendations for Career Advancement

Whether you are taking limited time off and staying around home or taking a long and exotic vacation, if you’re like me you’ll want some reading material for entertainment.  I usually bring a few books (in paperback or e-reader version) that are just for fun and some for education.  If you consider yourself to be a lifelong student, as I do, you may enjoy one or more of the following books for your summer reading pleasure.

I’ve read each of these dozen books over the last 18 months and recommend them all for various reasons.  Six are what I call traditional books on their topics and the other six are non-traditional.  I consider them non-traditional because the author takes a unique and sometimes controversial approach to the subject.  I recommend these non-traditional books to even the most conservative readers if for no other reason than to discover what new thinking is out there and what your employees or job candidates may be thinking. 

Many of these books are available in paperback, e-reader, or audio versions.

Traditional

The First 90 Days in Government by Peter H. Daly and Michael Watkins

The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan by George B. Brandt, Jayne A. Check, and Jorge E. Pedraza.

You’re In Charge - Now What? by Thomas Neff and James M. Citrin

The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels by Michael Watkins

StrengthsFinders 2.0 by Tom Rath

Right From the Start: Taking Charge in A New Leadership Role by Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins

Non-traditional

The Art of Non-conformity by Chris Guillebeau

The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman

Living for the Weekday by Clint Swindall

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

Free Agent Nation by Daniel Pink

Please comment on these or your own favorite books so that our readers can benefit from your experiences and insight.

International Association of Assessing Officers Announces 2010 Award Winners

Recognizing Leadership and Innovation in Property Tax Administration

The International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) recognized outstanding achievements in property assessment administration for 2010 as part of their 76th annual conference in Orlando, Florida.

Each year the IAAO recognizes assessment jurisdictions, authors, chapter or affiliate organizations, education agencies, journalists, private-sector firms, public officials, public agencies, and others who have made significant contributions to their association or enhanced media coverage, original research, public relations activities, technical innovations, and other improvements in assessment administration and property tax systems.

This year the award winners are:

Bernard L. Barnard Outstanding Technical Essay Award: 2009 IAAO Research Committee (August Dettbarn; William Wadsworth; Scott Winter, RES; Gary McCabe, CAE) and Alan Dornfest, AAS
Clifford B. Allen Most Valuable Member Award: Marion R. Johnson, CAE
Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction Award: Beaufort County, South Carolina
Distinguished Research and Development Award: Cook County Assessor’s Office, Illinois
Donehoo Essay Award: Daniel Simpson and Brooke Cholvin, Assessing Mortgage Fraud and Peter C. Weissenfluh, Foreclosure Sales: What’s an Assessor to Do?
Instructor of the Year: Marion R. Johnson, CAE
International Award: Richard R. Almy
Member of the Year Award: Richard Petree
Outstanding Chapter/Affiliate Award: Utah Chapter of IAAO
Public Information Award: Doña Ana County Assessor’s Office, new Mexico and El Paso Central Appraisal District, Texas 
Zangerle Award: Magazine: Appraising the Plains, Kansas County Appraisers Association; Newsletter: Oklahoma Ad Valorem Forum, Oklahoma Tax Commission

For a complete list of all award winners click here.

 

76th International Conference of the IAAO a Winner

Building Strong Communities Locally and Reaching Out Internationally

Ever attend a conference that has great sounding educational sessions and training opportunities and afterwards you felt like the sponsor didn’t deliver on their promises?  I have and I’m guessing many of you have too.  Fortunately I just returned from a great 3-day conference sponsored by the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) where everything progressed like a finely-tuned clock and the educational sessions were exceptional.  My test of a successful conference is coming home having learned several important things that I can put into practice in my job right way.

The three most important things that I learned during this conference were:

1. Property assessment offices around the world are sharing innovative ways that they have implemented and achieved through the use of aerial photography, street view   images, geographic information systems (GIS), and electronic data collection techniques.  Several emerging countries have leaped from no assessment records to a complete set of electronic records in a matter of months using these new technologies that reduce the number of assessment office staff needed to collect and process such data.

2. Property assessment offices are finding statistically proven ways to deal with the large number of foreclosure-related sales that have occurred in their jurisdictions.  While it has not been easy, and increased numbers of assessment appeals have generally been experienced, property assessors who have experienced the cycle from foreclosure to bank-owned property sale to second sale after the initial foreclosure can advise those who are experiencing challenges in the earlier parts of this cycle.

3. Through the use of new technologies appraisal staff in many assessment offices are now better able to concentrate on valuation techniques and problem properties where typical data collection and valuation models are not proving adequate.  As a result local governments are able to do more with less, working smarter so that scarce resources continue to be used wisely.

Other attendees are encouraged to share what they learned or how they felt about this year’s conference.

The IAAO completed their 76th international conference on September 1 in Orlando, Florida.  As one of nearly a thousand attendees at the 3-day event I was very satisfied with the quality of this year’s conference.  I’m hoping that all of this year’s attendees came way having learned practical things that will make them more successful and efficient in the work they do as local property assessors and tax administrators.

Here is a great big thank you to the IAAO staff, all the conference sponsors, host committee members, and the educational session presenters and moderators.

Presentation Selected for Inclusion in IAAO Library Guide

International Association of Assessing Officers Paul V. Corusy Memorial Library

Richard L. Sanderson’s conference presentation “Effective Ways to Enhance Your Public Relations Program” was recently selected by the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) for inclusion in their Paul V. Corusy Memorial Library’s Public Relations Subject Guide.

The presentation was originally given by Mr. Sanderson at the 72nd Annual International Conference on Assessment Administration in 2006.  The presentation discussed how assessment professionals could enhance their public relations programs to provide useful information to homeowners, business owners, and other government officials, while at the same time address new challenges.

The Public Relations Subject Guide, which references more than 25 articles, books, reports, and websites) can be viewed by anyone accessing the IAAO website.  However access to the full-text presentation (a PDF that shows 21 PowerPoint slides and 16 pages of talking points used in the presentation) is limited to IAAO members.

According to the IAAO Research Librarian Mary Odom, "The Public Relations Subject Guide was developed in response to a recent increase in requests from assessing offices for more resources on this topic.  The IAAO Membership Services Committee has also responded with plans to offer a webinar on public relations and customer service later this year.  All of the online subject guides are a proactive attempt to help library users find materials quickly and easily.  We've already done the research for you, and want members to think of the IAAO Library first when research questions come up."
 
The IAAO Paul V. Corusy Memorial Library is the premiere assessment library in the world, with over 15,000 cataloged books, videos, and documents and over 100 current journals and newsletters.

Richard L. Sanderson is a senior property tax consultant with Local Government Services International headquartered in University Park, Maryland.

Public Relations Resources for Property Assessors

As professional property assessors we are continually searching for effective public relations techniques.  Having good public relations ideas available are important at any time, but in the current economy and realities that exist in most real estate markets today, they are essential. To help address this need the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) has developed a treasure trove of public relations articles, books, reports, and websites.

According to the IAAO Research Librarian Mary Odom, "The Public Relations Subject Guide was developed in response to a recent increase in requests from assessing offices for more resources on this topic.  The IAAO Membership Services Committee has also responded with plans to offer a webinar on public relations and customer service later this year.  All of the online subject guides are a proactive attempt to help library users find materials quickly and easily.  We've already done the research for you, and want members to think of the IAAO Library first when research questions come up."

The Public Relations Subject Guide, which references more than 25 articles, books, reports, and websites) can be viewed by anyone accessing the IAAO website.  However access to some of the full-text articles and reports in the subject guide are limited to IAAO members.

Access to IAAO Library Services is just one of the many benefits that the IAAO offers its members.  The IAAO Paul V. Corusy Memorial Library is the premiere assessment library in the world, with over 15,000 cataloged books, videos, and documents and over 100 current journals and newsletters.