Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Orange County Property Appraiser, Florida
Hon. Rick Singh, CFA
www.ocpafl.org
Nomination for IAAO Award
Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction Award
May 1, 2015
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
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
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
Orange County FL – at a glance
Orange County FL – Dept. of Revenue Overview
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
Program #1 – Mobile Apps for Field Assessment
To view a detailed presentation
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
Program #2 – Managing the Valuation Cycle – Example of Gantt chart
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
Program #3 – Assessment Adjustment Example
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.
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.
Program #5 – Hiring Practice – Sample of testing
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
Program #6 – Compliance Investigations
$823,178
To view a detailed presentation
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
Program #7 – Green Fleet Rollout Video
To view the video
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
Program #8 – Basecamp Project Management System
Promoting our trade….click on the icons
Thank you for your consideration….
Inquiries to:
Manish Bhatt, Chief Operating Officer
407 836 5021
www.ocpafl.org
