PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

Newsletter of the Florida Chapter of the International Association of Assessing Officers SPRING EDITION 2008 2007-2008 FCIAAO Executive Board Director – Taxpayer Services Palm Beach County Property Appraiser 301 N. Olive Avenue, 5th Floor West Palm Beach, FL 33401 (561) 355-3233 Fax (561) 355-3963 Email: djacks@pbcgov.com Senior Land Evaluator Escambia County Property Appraiser 221 Palafox Place, Suite 300 Pensacola, FL 32501 (850) 434-2735 Fax (850) 434-2268 Email: sue_weott@co.escambia.fl.us Commercial Appraiser St. Lucie County Property Appraiser 2300 Virginia Avenue Ft. Pierce, FL 34982-5652 (772) 337-5768 Fax (772) 462-1057 Email: russellc@stlucieco.gov PRESIDENT (2007-2008) Dorothy Jacks, AAS, CFE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The New Year is well under way and with it, a new and challenging law for us to implement. Amendment One will mean many changes to us as Florida Property Appraiser staff, and I am sure that your office is as busy as mine trying to find the best way to manage this new law. It makes the need for a professional organization such as the Chapter all that more apparent. As I participated in an e-mail group during the past weeks where PA office staff assisted one another with questions about Amendment One I was reminded again that the Chapter brings people together during times where we need each other the most. VICE-PRESIDENT (2007-2008) Sue C. Weott, CFE 2nd VICE-PRESIDENT (2007-2008) Russell L. Counts, Jr., CFE Manager Customer Service/Exemptions Orange County Property Appraiser 200 S. Orange Avenue, # 1700 Orlando, FL 32801-3438 (407) 836-5086 Fax (407) 836-5949 Email: awetherington@ocpafl.org Director of Special Projects Hernando County Property Appraiser 201 N. Howell Avenue, # 300 Brooksville, FL 34601-2041 (352) 754-4190 Fax (352) 754-4198 Email: nickn@co.hernando.fl.us Fran Beach, CAE, CFE Tangible Division Chief Duval County Property Appraiser 231 E. Forsyth Street Jacksonville, FL 32202-3361 (904) 630-8058 Fax (904) 630-5918 Email: fbeach@coj.net SECRETARY (2006-2008) Ann Wetherington, CFE TREASURER (2005-2008) Neil “Nick” Nikkinen, CFE EDUCATION DIRECTOR (2006-2008) The Tangible Personal Property Steering Committee put on an excellent TPP conference in Cocoa Beach in January. Over 100 FCIAAO TPP staff attended the three day conference. Excellent presentations and networking took place including an interesting presentation on Amendment One from Senator Mike Haridopolos, the Majority Whip in Florida’s Senate. Tom Desneux and his TPP Steering Committee should be commended for a great conference. As I write this, we are very close to deploying the new and improved FCIAAO website. The site is going to offer new features requested by our Chapter membership. You will find presentation materials from past conferences, a wonderful “Forums” area to have those valuable e-mail dialogues about pressing issues in our offices and coming soon, an improved membership database. The site is faster and better than before, and will be filled with useful references and links. I hope you will visit soon – www.fciaao.org MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR (2006-2008) Sheila Crapo, CFE Administrative Specialist II Alachua County Property Appraiser P.O. Box 23817 Gainesville, FL 32602-3817 (352) 491-4690 Fax (352) 374-5278 Email: scrapo@acpafl.org Brian J. Oakey, AAS, CFE State Certified General Appraiser RZ 2711 Senior Valuation Specialist Brevard County Property Appraiser’s Office P.0. Box 429 Titusville, FL 32781-0429 (321) 255-4448 Fax (321) 255-4439 Email: brian.oakey@brevardpropertyappraiser.com Tim Wilmath, MAI, SRA, CFE Director of Valuation Process Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. , 15th Floor Tampa, Fl. 33602 (813) 276-8910 phone (813) 276-2710 fax Email: wilmatht@hcpafl.org Chief Deputy Assessment Control Indian River County Property Appraiser 1800 27th Street, Bldg. B Vero Beach, FL 32960 (772) 567-8000 x 1472 Fax: (772) 770-5087 Email: dsilverstein@ircpa.org DIRECTOR (2007-2009) DIRECTOR (2007-2009) Upcoming events include a great Seminar on April 8, 2008 at the Tampa Doubletree Westshore on Public Relations and Customer Service taught by George Donatello, CMS. The seminar will be followed by our 2008 Spring Conference featuring a Real Property and Exemptions Track, along with lots of useful education opportunities. The information on both these events is included in this newsletter. As always, we hope to see you at the Spring Conference and Seminar – this Chapter is here for you, our members; I hope you will take advantage of all it has to offer. Good luck with your Amendment One planning. Dorothy Jacks, AAS, CFE FCIAAO President Visit our Website at www.fciaao.org • Page 1 PAST PRESIDENT (2007-2008) Darlene “Beannie” Silverstein, CFE TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY CONFERENCE January 16-18, 2008 Doubletree Hotel - Cocoa Beach, Florida Tom Desneux, Chairperson welcomes attendees to Cocoa Beach TPP Directors Todd Finlayson (St. Lucie County) and Mike King (Hernando County) Over 100 attendees were on hand in Cocoa Beach for the annual TPP Conference. Major issues addressed included Electronic Filing, Leasing, Wireless, Salvage Value and Legal Updates. Senator Mike Haridopolos, Florida District 26 and Majority Whip addressed the Conference regarding the Amendment 1 Vote and TPP. Congratulations to Tom Desneux, Chairperson and the TPP Steering Committee on producing an excellent Conference agenda. Senator Mike Haridopolos and FCIAAO President Dorothy Jacks The Legal Update on TPP draws a crowd Visit our Website at www.fciaao.org • Page 2 A Funny Thing Happened ----- When They Taxed Me!! By: Neil Hester, ASA , Director of Taxpayer Services-Retired, Orange County Property Appraiser Never let it be said that the tax man has no sense of humor or imagination when it comes to the “Art of Taxation.” This is especially true with property taxes. To test my theory, let’s take a stroll through taxation history. tax on wig powder. So you see personal property taxes are the reason our judges and lawyers neither powder their noses or wear powdered wigs in our judicial system. Then there are some people that just don’t like facial hair, but whether you hate or love beards, you have to admire someone creative enough to come up with a plan to tax men’s beards. Czar Peter the Great of Russia was the genius that had all the Russian men shaving, when in 1698, he imposed a 100 rubble tax on men’s beards. People trying to trace their English ancestry know they can’t go back any further than the year 1066. This is when William the Conqueror ordered every man in the Kingdom to select “any” surname he wanted. This also coincides with William ordering a complete tax survey of England. This tax survey, The Great Domes Day Book, is the forerunner of our modern taxing system. Going a little further back to the 1st Century A.D. we find the Roman emperor Vespasian was a sly old boy when he imposed a tax on urine when it was used in the dyeing process. Talk about crazy taxes, at one time in the Dutch Province of Friesland, people paid a tax based on the number of letters in a person’s last name. The longer the name, the more taxes they paid. Can you imagine Gene Autry, Roy Rogers or The Lone Ranger paying a license tax to ride Champion, Trigger or Silver through the Old West? No, me either, but poor old Christopher Columbus had to buy a license to ride his mule in the Spain of 1504. Even in this country, during the late 1700’s, our forefathers stopped wearing wigs when the powers-that-be, imposed a Talk about zany happenings in the field of property taxes. Florida is no stranger to the bizarre. According to a publication “State and Local Tax Problems,” Harry L. Johnson reports Florida was very nearly without an Ad Valorem Tax Base. In 1940 a constitutional amendment abolished all state taxes on both real estate, and tangible personal property. Had it not been for Governor Spessard L. Holland, in 1941, putting through his program for a “roll back” of millage rates in exchange for the adoption of full value assessments, Florida might today be without an ad valorem tax base. As you can see, we all owe our jobs to Spessard L. Holland, Florida’s 28th governor. Had he not acted when he did, we might all be unemployed. Adding to the irony, it was the law firm of Holland & Knight, who in the 1990’s, challenged many of the property tax tenants Governor Holland, their founder created. It was Harry S. Truman who said: “The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.” EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES Have you ever attended any of the one day seminars that the Florida Chapter of the IAAO offers the day before Spring and Fall Conferences? This is a great way to learn about different topics that are directly work related. The Spring 2008 topic is Public Relations and Customer Service. The 2008 Fall Seminar offers Collection, Interpretation and Model Building of Income and Expense Data. Make your plans now to attend one or both of these informative seminars. A flyer will be forthcoming with the information on the Spring Seminar. I hope to see you on April 8 at the Doubletree Westshore in Tampa. UPCOMING EVENTS 2008 SPRING SEMINAR Public Relations and Customer Service April 8, 2008 Doubletree Westshore Hotel-Tampa 2008 SPRING CONFERENCE April 9-11, 2008 Doubletree Westshore Hotel-Tampa 2008 FALL SEMINAR Collection, Interpretation and Model Building of Income and Expense Data October 28, 2008 Hutchinson Island Marriott-Stuart, FL 2008 FALL CONFERENCE October 29-31, 2008 Hutchinson Island Marriott-Stuart, FL Visit our Website at www.fciaao.org • Page 3 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Fran Beach, CAE, CFE Education Director The 2008 Legislative Session will begin on March 4, 2008 and end on May 2, 2008. Numerous Ad Valorem Tax Assessment related bills have been pre-filed including HIGHEST AND BEST USE and AFFORDABLE HOUSING among others. Review and copies of all bills from the legislature can be obtained at www.leg.state.fl.us. FCIAAO SPRING CONFERENCE - 2008 Tampa, Florida April 9,10 & 11, 2008- Special Technology Preview TECHNOLOGY AND THE ASSESSMENT OFFICE - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM What will your office be like five years from now? The technology used in the assessment office has changed dramatically over time. Many of us have seen our assessment system evolve from a hand calculated property record card and a manually typed assessment roll to a sophisticated computer assisted valuation system utilizing wireless communication devices for data collection, interactive digital maps and images for sophisticated analysis and electronic submission of the final tax roll. In this session you will be presented with the experiences and ideas from a group of skilled professionals who are actively involved in the administration of the technologies we now use. Evolving technologies will also be examined giving you a chance to get a glimpse of the Assessment office of the future. Moderator: John Bausola IFAS, CFE Director of Information Technology St. Lucie County Property Appraiser Bob Bates CFE, MCF, CCF Executive Director of Technology and Support Services Alachua County Property Appraiser GIS, CAMA, Internet and Assessment Administration Technologies Keith Cunningham PhD LiDAR Logic Inc. CAMA Change Detection and Quantitative Modeling Technologies. George Donatello CMS Principal Consultant Team Consulting CAMA, GIS, Imagery and Assessment Administration Technologies David Ledgerwood President and Founder MultiVisionUSA Oblique Imagery, Ortho Imagery, and GIS Technologies as used in the Assessment Office Ellis Wethington Founding Partner, Past President Chief Technology Officer Patriot Properties CAMA, Internet, and Mobile Data Collection Technologies Charles D. Dye GISP, CCF, CFE Assistant Deputy for Land Records Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s Office GIS, CAMA, Imagery and Assessment Administration Technologies Robert Garringer ASA Technologies and Equipment Senior Appraiser Verizon Communications Communication Infrastructure and Advancing Technologies John Bausola IFAS, CFE THE ASSESSMENT TOOL BOX THE INTEGRATION OF CAMA AND GEOSPATIAL DATA Friday, April 11, 2008 10:30 AM- 12:00 PM John Bausola, IFAS, CFE Director of Information Technology St. Lucie County Property Appraiser Presently employed as Director of Information Technology for the Property Appraiser’s Office of St. Lucie County, Florida, he oversees the implementation of all technologies that affect the assessment office. During January of 1998 John Bausola moved to St. Lucie County, Florida from St. Louis County Missouri. He Left his Assessment Systems Manager Position in St Louis County to become GIS Director for the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser’s Office. He has been a CAMA analyst and modeler since 1985 and has been involved in the appraisal profession for thirty years. During this time he has had the opportunity to work with multiple GIS, Relational Database, and CAMA systems over multiple jurisdictions. John has been active in CAMA and GIS integration since 1990. John holds an IFAS designation from the National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers (NAIFA) and is a Certified Florida Evaluator. He also holds a Real Estate Appraiser’s General Certification. John is an active member of IAAO, FCIAAO, FACM, NAIFA, and URISA. He was a Founding Board Member of the St. Louis Regional Chapter IAAO. John is a past director and the current President of the Florida Association of Cadastral Mappers (FACM). Integration of CAMA data with geospatial data is now commonplace for many government agencies. Assessment offices are demanding spatially enabled assessment analysis and data maintenance tools for their day-to-day operations. St. Lucie County has developed a set of interactive real time tools designed to assist appraisers and assessment analysts in the preparation of the assessment roll. Data Maintenance, Sales Ratio Analysis, Time Series Analysis and Automated Comparable Sales are all part of this tool box. Oblique imagery has added a new dimension to desktop analysis and has been incorporated into these tools. In this presentation the Assessment Tool Box will be examined. You will be presented with a discussion of the technical development along with a demonstration of each of the tools as used in the ArcGIS environment. Visit our Website at www.fciaao.org • Page 4 Welcome to Tampa The Florida Chapter of IAAO is pleased to be holding a Conference for the first time in Tampa, Florida. The 2008 Spring Conference is scheduled for April 9-11, 2008. The Doubletree Westshore Hotel will be our host. An excellent agenda of speakers and topics will be offered. The conference is preceded with a one day Public Relations and Customer Service Seminar on April 8. Vendor sponsorship areas will be located next to the conference session rooms. Sponsorship participation at printing include Software Techniques, Patriot Properties, Mobile Video Services, Dr. Vos discusses Urban Planning Manatron, Advanced Data Systems, Pictometry and Facet challenges for Florida Technology Corp. You can register for the Spring Conference online at www.fciaao.org. The Honorable Rob Turner, CFA, Hillsborough County Property Appraiser will welcome the Conference to his city on Wednesday, April 9, 2008. We hope to see you in Tampa! HAVE YOU VISITED US LATELY?  TAMPA BAY TRIVIA   Home to over two million residents  Largest television market in Florida  The # 1 ranked airport in the country  Largest Performing Arts Center in the Southeast  Largest Science Museum in the South www.fciaao.org New and Improved • Interactive Forums • Presentation Materials from past Conferences • Improved Events and Agendas • Professional Designation Information • Directories of Membership STOP BY AND SEE OUR NEW LOOK Visit our Website at www.fciaao.org • Page 5 FLORIDA CHAPTER IAAO PRESENTS…. Public Relations and customeR seRvice This interactive seminar promises to establish the essential skills that can help you feel confident when serving the public. Learn how to turn a difficult situation around with exceptional customer service and proven public relations methods. Tuesday, April 8th, 2008, 9am-5pm During this Public Relations and Customer Service Seminar; you will learn: * * * * * * * The importance of public relations Understand the objectives for public relations and customer service How to identify and capture your audience Points out how to develop and implement a plan Understand constant public relations How to handle speaking engagements, press conferences, newspapers and press releases. Understand the results of public relations and customer service Let’s learn how to improve our business and ourselves through improving public relations and customer service. PUBLIC RELATIONS AND CUSTOMER SERVICE Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Doubletree Tampa Westshore Tampa, Florida Presenter: George Donatello, CMS In both the public and private sector, George brings a variety of experiences to the table. He has worked as a geologist, surveyor, county assessor, chief appraiser, statewide reappraisal coordinator, chief cartographer, GIS director in the public sector, and was the reappraisal director for the largest county revaluation completed in the US in the last 20 years. George was elected president of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) in 1994 and has attained the IAAO professional designation of CMS. George has won regional and national recognition from the Jaycees, Toastmasters and Dale Carnegie with his presentation skills. Because of his training and experience George has made thousands of presentations on hundreds of different topics to civic and professional organizations. Visit our Website at www.fciaao.org • Page 6 FLORIDA CHAPTER IAAO Wednesday April 9, 2008 11:30-1:00 1:00-1:15 1:15-1:30 Spring Conference ~ April 9-11, 2008 2:30–3:00 3:00-4:00 Tim Wilmath, MAI, SRA, CFE Director of Valuation Process Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Break Highest & Best Use in Florida 2008 Dorothy Jacks, AAS, CFE, President Florida Chapter IAAO Honorable Rob Turner, CFA, Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Registration Welcome, Introductions, & Announcements Welcome to Hillsborough County Tampa – The Treasure City The FCIAAO Website – New and Improved! Break Public Relations in the Public World Correcting Title Deficit – Legal Terms and Guidelines Adjourn Welcome Networking Reception 4:00-5:00 1:30-2: 00 2:00-2:45 2:45-3:15 3:15-4:00 4:00-5:00 Carol Goodwin, Certified Green Building Instructor Goodwin Heart Pine Green Building Projects How they affect Property Value Adjourn Gary Mormino, Professor of History University of South Florida FCIAAO Board of Directors 5:00 Exemptions Session Thursday April 10, 2008 9:00-10:15 Florida DOR Amendment One and Portability Warren Weathers, SRA, Chief Deputy Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Marshall Deason, Jr, Esq Gibbons, Neuman Law Firm 10:15-10:45 Break 10:45-12:00 How to Identify and Investigate Homestead Violations 12:00-1:30 1:30-2:30 Ron Cacciatore, Director of Professional Standards & Compliance Broward County Property Appraiser 5:00 5:00-6:00 Real Property Session Thursday April 10, 2008 8:30 – 12:00 Technology and the Assessment Office – Past, Present & Future Moderator: John Bausola, CFE, IFAS Director of Information Technology, St. Lucie County Property Appraiser Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office St. Lucie County Property Appraiser’s Office Lunch Homestead Electronic Filing Verification and Processing of On-line Applications – A Panel Discussion 2:30-3:00 3:00-3:45 3:45-5:00 Sherri Johnson, Esq Dent & Johnson, PA Break Exemptions - Legal Update Exemption Issues – Open Discussion 8:30-8:35 8:35-9:00 Desktop Review and Federal Data Standards...The Bigger Picture George Donatello, Principal Consultant, Team Consulting Introductions - John Bausola Past, Present and Future of the Assessment Office - Direction of IAAO Update of 50 State Residency Benefits Leroy Kelly, Director of Assessment Control Indian River County Property Appraiser 5:00 Adjourn 9:00-10:15 Ellis Wethington, Patriot Properties Bob Bates, Alachua County Property Appraiser Charles D. Dye, Pinellas County Property Appraiser Technology Trends Within the Assessment Office - CAMA, GIS, LiDAR, Oblique Imagery and Web Services General Session Friday, April 11, 2008 7:00-8:30 9:00-10:15 Networking Breakfast Sponsored by the Florida Chapter Legal Update 10:15-10:45 Break 10:45-11:20 Communication Infrastructure, Mobile Computing, Wireless Technology 11:20-11:50 LiDAR Information Extraction and the Latest in Sensor Technology Keith Cunningham, LiDAR Logic Inc & David Ledgerwood, MultiVision John Bausola Will Shepard, Esq., Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Robert Garringer, Verizon Communications & Ellis Wethington 10:15-10:30 Break 10:30-12:00 The Assessment Tool Box - the Integration of CAMA and Geospatial Data John Bausola, CFE, IFAS, Director of Information Technology St. Lucie County Property Appraiser 12:00 Adjourn 11:50-12:00 Questions and Answers, Closing Remarks 12:00-1:30 1:30-2:30 Lunch Marina Valuation Steve Letson, MAI, CFE Assistant Director – Commercial Valuation Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Visit our Website at www.fciaao.org • Page 7 NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID WEST PALM BCH, FL Florida Chapter IAAO Russell L. Counts, Jr., CFE c/o St. Lucie County Property Appraiser 1664 Walton Road Port St. Lucie, FL 34952 PERMIT #611 The newsletter “Staying Appraised” is published by the FCIAAO Executive Board, Russell L. Counts, CFE, 2nd Vice-President, Editor