Assessing Info NOV 19 2020

Tax battle looms over Boston Harbor lighthouse >

Graves Light sits on a rocky ledge in the middle of Boston Harbor, surrounded by water. Since buying the lighthouse at a government auction seven years ago, Dave Waller has poured time and money into restoring it. The only way to get out there is by boat; the nearest shoreline is miles away, and when he bought it, the Coast Guard said the lighthouse did not belong to any city or town. That’s why Waller was shocked when, out of the blue, he received a property tax bill from the town of Hull last year. Read more

Apartment rents drop
in 40% of the biggest U.S. cities >

Since March, rents are down in 41 of the 100 largest cities in the US, according to the Apartment List National Rent Report.
In the same timeframe last year, only five cities experienced a decline in rent prices and, and only two experienced a drop of more than one percent. Sixty-three of the 100 largest cities are posting slower year-over-year rent growth than at this time last year. Read more

Phoenix, the 'capital of sprawl,' gets a radically car-free neighborhood >

Phoenix, that featureless and ever-spreading tundra of concrete, has been called “the world’s least sustainable city.” The Phoenix metropolitan area is, in other words, the last place you would expect a real estate developer to spend $170 million creating what it calls the first-ever car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the United States. Read more

IAAO NEWS

+ IAAO election results announced >

IAAO recently completed the election process for the 2021 Board of Directors and the following members were elected:

President-Elect - L. Wade Patterson
Vice President - Patrick Alesandrini, CAE, RES
Region 1 Board member - Marcy Martin, AAS
Region 2 - Brian Gay
Region 3 - Terry Taylor, CAE, RES, AAS

Members also voted to approve amendments to the IAAO Bylaws proposed by the IAAO Governance Committee.

+ Membership dues help available >

2020 has been a challenging year for not only for IAAO members, but also for your jurisdictions budget. With this in mind, Vision Government Solutions and IAAO are pleased to offer the COVID-19 Membership Support Grant to provide greater opportunities for members to renew their annual IAAO Membership dues. The grant is available to a limited number of IAAO members whose jurisdictions aren’t paying membership dues because of budgetary restrictions. Download the form to apply for the grant to pay membership dues. Read more

+ Webinar on Enhancing Accuracy of Valuations with Aerial Imagery is Dec. 2 >

IAAO is working with Vision Government Solutions to promote their December webinar, “Digital Future of Assessing: Enhancing the Accuracy of Valuations with Aerial Imagery.” Join the Vision Team as they go behind the scenes to learn how communities are using aerial imagery technology to enhance the accuracy of their valuations during the Coronavirus pandemic. Vision Government Solutions has partnered with EagleView, a leading provider of high-resolution aerial imagery, to ensure that assessors have access to the complete and detailed property images they need. The webinar is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Participants are Justin Kuzmich, Real Estate Director, City of Salem, Virginia; Laura Mondo, Regional Technical Manager, EagleView; Janet Courson, Senior Field Assessor, Crawford County, Pennsylvania; Phil Baranyai, GIS Manager, Crawford County, Pennsylvania; Joe Galbo, Chief Assessor, Crawford County, Pennsylvania; and Kathy Fitzsimmons, Deputy Chief Assessor, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Register here

+ Task Force seeks input on changes to Glossary >

The Authoritative Text Task Force, established in May by the Board of Directors, is working on updates to the IAAO Glossary for Property Appraisal and Assessment and is seeking input from assessment professionals related to terms. In particular, the Task Force is looking for contributions on terms that may be contradictory to state laws, or practice; additional terms that should be incorporated into the Glossary, along with any recommended definitions for that term; or general thoughts and comments you would like the Task Force to consider. Comments should be directed to Tammy Brown (brown@iaao.org), IAAO Staff Liaison to the Authoritative Text Task Force.

+ Dec. 2 roundtable features assessors sharing how they've adapted during COVID-19 >

County governments have responded to this unprecedented global pandemic with technology, innovation, and practical solutions to keep their teams and communities safe and productive. As a technology provider and partner to many governmental organizations, EagleView has heard firsthand how assessors have transformed their workflows to adapt to remote work and remote assessment. Join EagleView, and industry veteran L. Wade Patterson, retired Assessor with Garfield County, Oklahoma, for a free roundtable discussion featuring a panel of assessment professionals who have found ways to adapt during the pandemic. Learn strategies and best practices that are working for their organizations, and what challenges are still being addressed. The webinar is at 2 p.m. Eastern, Wednesday, Dec. 2. Register here

IAAO CONNECT CORNER

+ Hot Topic: Assessment Ratio, commercial vs residential >

IAAO Connect members are discussing assessment appeals that prove disproportionally applying one ratio to all property types, specifically, commercial versus residential. Read more

AROUND THE INDUSTRY

+ Plan that could lead to big changes for Delaware property tax bills may be pushed to next year >

The debate over how to conduct a reassessment of the property values used to calculate county and school tax bills may carry into next year, new court filings indicate. Read more

+ Contactless government is booming: 10 ways to keep the momentum going >

Earlier this year, Norton Bonaparte predicted a permanent end to a foundational element of how government employees engage with constituents. “I talked to a newspaper reporter in March, and I said ‘I don’t think I’ll ever shake your hand again,’” says Bonaparte, city manager of Sanford, Fla. “People talk about going back to normal, but what we’ve experienced will forever change how we’re doing things.” The term “contactless” has become increasingly popular in recent months, thanks to the resilience of COVID-19. Read more

+ National retail growth in October led by these cities and categories ... >

Atlanta, Houston, and Orlando were the metropolitan areas leading the road to retail recovery in October. That’s according to a Mastercard SpendingPulse analysis of retail sales across all payment types in the 20 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, where total retail sales grew 4.1% in October excluding auto and 6% excluding auto and gas. Read more

+ Increase in housing starts has construction playing catch-up >

Single-family housing starts gained for the sixth consecutive month in October on an annualized pace not seen since April 2007, a Census Bureau report released Wednesday revealed. Housing starts overall rose 4.9% in October compared to September’s pace and to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.53 million starts – the highest since this February. That growth was mostly driven by single-family housing starts, which increased 6.4% month-over-month – up 1.18 million annualized units. Multifamily starts were virtually unchanged from September’s revised number. Read more