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IAAO distinguished jurisdiction award 2015
1. Orange County Property Appraiser, Florida
Hon. Rick Singh, CFA
www.ocpafl.org
Nomination for IAAO Award
Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction Award
May 1, 2015
2. Foreword
“I took office in January 2013, after successfully challenging an incumbent who
was in the office for 12 years. Upon evaluating the state of the office, I concluded
that the Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office was ripe for transformation. As
a State-Certified Residential Appraiser, State-Certified Real Estate Broker and a
small business owner, I understood the challenges of the office and instituted
some strategic programs – with an objective of fairly and equitably assessing $126
billion dollars worth of property each year. Implementing change is complex.
However, we have seen progress made in many areas and my team and I are
happy to share our experiences and learnings. I want to thank the IAAO for
considering my office for the Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction Award.”
Sincerely,
Rick Singh, CFA
Orange County Property Appraiser
3. Key Considerations
• Have implemented such a program in the two
years prior to nomination
• An improvement over prior programs
• Is generally recognized as a component of a
model assessment system
• A contributing factor to equity in property
taxation
4. Programs Implemented in Two Prior Years
• Developed (in-house) and implemented three mobile field apps,
specifically designed for the residential/commercial field staff,
compliance investigators and TPP field staff.
Three Mobile Apps
for Field Assessment
• Implemented Gantt charts, productivity metrics and qualitative
measures for both commercial and residential valuation staff to
timely/accurately complete their workload in a given tax-year cycle.
Managing the
Valuation Cycle
• Instituted a 3-tiered approval system for all assessment adjustments.Assessment Adjustment
• Significantly improved the preparation, presentation and mindset of
fairly defending assessments.Valuation Defense
• Hugely improved the hiring practice by setting minimum standards,
instituting subject-matter testing and properly staffing/budgeting for
appraisal positions.
Hiring Practice
• Instituted new workflows, changed the labor pool and implemented new
policies to effectively manage the exemptions compliance program.Compliance Investigations
• Implemented a fleet of 30 hybrid vehicles for the field staff – a huge
improvement over prior practice of employees driving their own
vehicles.
Green Fleet
• Implemented an agency-wide project management and collaboration
system called Basecamp. This cloud based system is accessed 24/7
and from any device, anywhere. Currently has 160 active projects.
Basecamp
Project Management System
7. Program #1 – Mobile Apps for Field Assessment
Old way New way Results
- Supervisory staff would spend
several hours a week, allocating
work assignments, instead of
supervising the work product
- Field staff would spend precious
time in the office, printing and
arranging their paper work
assignments, instead of working
in the field
- Field staff was shepherded all
across the county on work
assignments, thus not gaining
familiarity with an area
- Field staff was treated as data
collectors/box checkers rather
than field appraisers
• Increase productivity of the field
staff and introduce a consistent
methodology for field work
• Decrease mileage costs of the field
operations
• Eliminate paper from field
operations
• Reduce back office support for field
ops
• Increase accountability measures
• Assign appropriate work zones for
field staff
• Transition from data collectors to
appraisers
Increased productivity by approximately
25% in 1st year
Trained staff in using a consistent
methodology
Passively track staff movement in the
field
Staff schedule their workday using visual
clusters of workload on a map
Eliminated approx. 85K paper copies
and 25 rolls of plotter paper, thereby
reducing printing/plotting cost by approx.
$10/year
Supervisor’s focus shifted from back
office support to QC/Audit
Date-Time stamped photos places staff
at location
Attracting more computer savvy,
qualified staff
9. Program #2 – Managing the Valuation Cycle
Old way New way Results
- Facing the constraints of
Florida’s property assessment
system, and the resource
allocation by the office, both
the residential and the
commercial staff would feel
rushed to complete their
yearly valuation on time.
- Several vacant land and non-
taxable properties were given
a cursory glance, even if there
was clear indication of
changing market conditions.
This was simply due to lack of
resources and a less than
optimal work methodology
- Established a set of clear
expectations and deadlines to
get the work completed on
time
- Implemented Excel based
Gantt charts to track the
progress of the work
completed
- Directed front-line managers
to meet weekly for progress
tracking and empowered
them to take disciplinary
actions
- Collaborated with the entire
team using “Basecamp”
project management system.
Keeping everyone on the
same page
- Management has a clear
understanding of where things
stand at any given time
- Management has the ability to
quickly react to bottlenecks
and allocate more resources if
needed
- Significant improvement in
getting work done on time,
and staff on-board knowing
what’s expected of them
10. Program #2 – Managing the Valuation Cycle – Example of Gantt chart
11. Program #3 – Assessment Adjustments
Old way New way Results
- During a certain period
of the valuation cycle,
adjustments to
assessments were made
by front-line staff without
the knowledge of
management, as no
formal system was in
place for authorizing such
changes.
- In a few instances staff
would bind the office to
future year reductions.
- Instituted and enforced
a clear policy on
assessment
adjustments
- A 3-tiered approach
with properly
documented approvals
by front-line appraiser,
manager and
department head
- See example on next
page
- Attained complete
transparency in why
values were adjusted
- Management has
ability to hold staff
accountable for all
adjustments to value
13. Program #4 – Valuation Defense
Old way New way Results
- Challenges to value by tax
agents were handled in a
rather informal way. This
resulted in reducing
significant amount of value
each year, in-lieu of defending
the values at the value
adjustment board (board of
equalization).
- The staff was dis-incentivized
for defending their valuations,
as it required significant
amount of preparation in a
short amount of time and
getting their work
professionally. This resulted in
fewer number of cases heard
by the board and more cases
settled informally.
- Challenges to value by tax
agents are handled formally
with full documentation of
evidence exchange.
- Staff is well prepared to
attend the value adjustment
board hearings with
standardized appraisal work
products, showing all three
approaches to value and
reconciling the values.
- Staff has legal representation
if the taxpayer indicates
having legal representation
- Staff conducts mock hearings
for internal training purposes
- Management is actively
tracking staff performance at
the board.
- Huge decrease in informal
settlements before going to
the value adjustment board.
Resulting in millions of dollars
in value preservation.
- Staff is more confident
defending their values, as
they are better prepared and
has management support.
14. Program #5 – Hiring Practice
Old way New way Results
- Due to budget constraints
the agency was severely
understaffed in many
departments
- Due to budget constraints
salaries for the same job
were below that of
comparable counties
- Each department
conducted their own job
interviews with minimal or
no testing.
- Actively pursued and
successfully got five new
commercial appraiser
positions approved by the
state DOR.
- Hired three MAI
appraisers and seven
state certified appraiser to
fill vacancies
- Hired an internal legal
counsel (common practice
for a county this size)
- Required subject- matter
testing for all positions,
plus a typing and
computer proficiency test
- Assembled a very
talented team of state
certified appraisers,
and MAI appraisers
- Doubled the number of
state certified
residential/general
appraisers on staff
- Our hiring practice is
making a huge
difference in the quality
of appraisals as well as
the valuation defense
produced by our office.
15. Program #5 – Hiring Practice – Sample of testing
16. Program #6 – Compliance Investigations
Old way New way Results
- A team of compliance
investigators with no
real investigation
experience
- A reluctance to do field
investigations and rely
more on online
searches
- A team of compliance
investigators with a
background in law-
enforcement and
investigations
- Most cases are field
verified before making
a final determination
- Team led by in-house
counsel
- More workflow driven
approach with
transparent reporting
- From Jan 2013 – April
2015
- $114,320,283 added
back to the taxroll
- $1,933,730 in liens
- $823,178 in penalties
and interests
$823,178
18. Program #7 – Green Fleet
Old way New way Results
- Field staff used their
own vehicles and were
reimbursed for miles
drive at the prevalent
IRS rate
- Personal vehicles were
unmarked, except for a
car magnet which was
not consistently used
- Too much staff time
was spent in reporting,
supervising and
administering mileage
reimbursement checks
- Leased a fleet of 30
hybrid cars (Toyota
Prius)
- Wrapped the cars with
official logo for staff
safety
- Installed GeoTAB
vehicle tracking for
accountability
- Significant savings in
gas mileage and
administrative costs
- More accountability
- Reducing the carbon
footprint with 53/mpg
- Staff has a distinct
pride in driving a
marked fleet vehicle,
without putting miles
on their personal
vehicles
20. Program #8 – Basecamp Project Management System
Old way New way Results
- No formal project
management system
existed
- Implemented a formal
project management
and collaboration
system
- Basecamp is an
inexpensive cloud
based, Software-as-
Service solution
- Ideal for multiple
people working on a
project, unlimited
amount of storage,
etc..
- Currently we have 160
active work projects in
the system
- Every department is
managing projects
using this system
- Management has a
clear insight into every
project at any time
- 24/7 access, any
device, any location
