76: NYSAA | AI Tools for Assessors: LLMs, Prompt Best Practices, and Free Resources

76: NYSAA | AI Tools for Assessors: LLMs, Prompt Best Practices, and Free Resources

Join host Will Jarvis as he presents a live session at a NYSAA meeting on how modern AI tools can help property tax assessors work more efficiently. Will breaks down how large language models actually work, their strengths and weaknesses including hallucinations and privacy concerns, and shares best practices for prompting these models to get the best results. The session covers real-world use cases like drafting taxpayer correspondence, summarizing legislation, and processing refunds, and highlights free tools including ValPal, RatioPal, and other resources built specifically for assessors. * 00:00 - Introduction to Will Jarvis and Valuebase's mission to build AI tools for assessors * 02:45 - What is a large language model and how the underlying technology actually works * 06:30 - Why LLMs mimic reasoning rather than truly reasoning, and what that means for users * 07:30 - Real-world use cases: refund processing, email management, and extending office capacity * 08:45 - Strengths of LLMs: writing, summarizing, researching, and brainstorming * 09:30 - Weaknesses: hallucinations, math errors, out-of-date knowledge, and privacy concerns * 12:45 - Best practices for prompting: clarity, context, examples, roles, and even flattery * 15:45 - Free tools recommended: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity * 18:15 - Practical use cases: taxpayer correspondence, legal document summaries, and reusable prompt libraries * 19:30 - Introduction to ValPal and its New York State property tax model * 21:00 - Audience Q&A: using AI to translate legislation and summarize new exemption laws * 23:00 - Overview of additional free tools: RatioPal, AgePal, AskDocs, and the depreciation table builder

75: Cameron White | From Trading Cards to Cap Rates: The Income Approach to Commercial Appraisal

Join host Will Jarvis as he sits down with Cameron White, a commercial appraiser and new team member at Valuebase, to break down the income approach to commercial property valuation. Cameron shares his journey from residential mass appraisal to the commercial world, walks through the step-by-step mechanics of the income approach—including cap rates, net operating income, and effective gross income—and discusses the challenges of defending valuations in appeals. The conversation also explores how Cameron's passion for trading cards offers surprising parallels to real estate appraisal, from market dynamics and comparable sales to the people skills that give you an edge. 00:00 - Introduction and Cameron White's background in mass appraisal and commercial property assessment 02:42 - Why the income approach is harder to grasp than sales comparison or cost approaches 04:10 - Step-by-step walkthrough of the income approach: PGI, EGI, NOI, and cap rates 06:00 - What is a capitalization rate and what does it tell you about a property? 07:13 - How appraisers arrive at cap rates using market studies and sales data 09:37 - The biggest challenge with the income approach: defending your valuation in appeals 10:38 - Transitioning from residential to commercial appraisal and adjusting to the scale 11:36 - Hardest commercial property types to value: vacant land, brownfield sites, and one-off cases 14:18 - How tax burden shifts to commercial properties and the impact on small businesses 16:25 - Trading cards and real estate: parallels in market dynamics, comps, and supply and demand 19:50 - Getting an edge in competitive markets through people skills and inventory knowledge 21:00 - Cameron's early impressions of working at Valuebase

74: Bob Boyer | Reforming Personal Property Tax, E-Filing, and Educating the Public in Missouri

Join host Will Jarvis at the Missouri Assessors' Conference in Branson as he sits down with Bob Boyer, Jefferson County Assessor, to discuss the challenges of personal property tax in Missouri, the push for e-filing and digital modernization, and efforts to reform outdated valuation statutes. Bob shares how his background as a land surveyor and county councilman shaped his approach to running a 32-person office, explains the complexities of the Hancock Amendment and levy rollbacks, and offers his perspective on fighting dark store theory and bogus appraisal claims. As Bob puts it, property taxes are like a big piece of pie — somebody's gonna eat it, and his job is making sure the burden is shared fairly. * 00:00 - Introduction and welcome from the Missouri Assessors' Conference in Branson * 00:36 - Bob Boyer's background: Jefferson County Assessor, former county councilman, land surveyor, and licensed real estate appraiser * 01:00 - Transitioning from county council to the assessor's office and learning how the office operated * 03:00 - How land surveying experience with deeds, plats, and GIS mapping carried over to the assessor role * 04:00 - Implementing e-filing for personal property assessments and reducing paper-based processes * 06:00 - The personal property tax debate in Missouri: why elimination is difficult and how education helps * 09:00 - Policy reform: the Hancock Amendment, levy rollback loopholes, and the push for legislative fixes * 11:30 - The behavioral economics of visible vs. invisible taxes: personal property versus real estate escrow * 14:00 - Reforming vehicle valuation: moving from JD Power trade-in values to MSRP-based depreciation schedules * 17:00 - Real estate valuation in a non-disclosure state: cost approach, ratio studies, and staying in compliance * 20:45 - The future of the profession: dark store theory battles, tax exemption challenges, and protecting residential taxpayers * 23:45 - Advice for newly elected assessors: observe, learn from experienced staff, and be the head cheerleader for your office * 25:15 - Where to find Bob Boyer: jeffcomo.gov/assessor and Facebook

73: Neal Groover | From Rural Georgia to Medium-Sized County: Navigating Growth, Income Approaches, and the Exemption Mess

Join host Will Jarvis as he sits down with Neal Groover, Chief Appraiser of Effingham County, Georgia, to discuss his journey from a three-person office in rural Evans County to managing a 33,000-parcel operation in a fast-growing bedroom community near Savannah. Neal shares lessons learned transitioning commercial properties from cost to income approaches, the impact of Port of Savannah expansion on warehouse development, navigating Georgia's 40% assessment rate, and why the growing tangle of homestead exemptions has turned his department into a homestead audit shop. 00:01 – Introduction and Neal Groover's path into assessment work in rural Evans County, Georgia 01:02 – Running a three-person office with 6,500 parcels: splitting duties and learning by trial and fire 02:54 – The biggest surprise: how heavily law governs the assessment world 04:30 – Transitioning from Evans County to Effingham County and the differences between rural and medium-sized jurisdictions 06:05 – Valuing warehouses: moving from cost to income approach and tips for making the transition 09:00 – Port of Savannah's expansion as the driver behind Effingham's warehouse boom 10:49 – Explaining ratio studies to taxpayers and Georgia's 40% assessment rate 14:48 – The exemption mess: how homestead exemptions muddy the waters and undermine fairness 19:45 – Effingham as a "homestead audit department" — managing 15,500 homestead parcels 20:32 – Advice for new chief appraisers: know what you're getting into and commit fully

72: Mike Fouassier | Transparency, Equity, and the Case for Keeping Property Tax Local

Join host Will Jarvis as he sits down with Mike Fouassier, Assessor for the Town of Ossining in Westchester County, New York, and former Director of Operations and Quality Assurance for New York City. Mike brings a unique "pracademic" perspective — holding a PhD focused on inequities in assessment systems — as they discuss why frequent reappraisals at full market value matter, how transparency and public education underpin the legitimacy of the property tax, and the role AI and geospatial tools are playing in modernizing assessment offices. The conversation also explores the talent pipeline challenge facing local government, the management differences between large and small jurisdictions, and Mike's advice for building technology that starts with the assessor's real problems. * (00:01) Meet Mike Fouassier — his path from New York State to NYC to the Town of Ossining, and how an "accidental career" in assessment became a lifelong calling * (02:25) The biggest inequities in property tax: assessment caps, rising costs of living, and why frequent reappraisals at 100% of full market value is Mike's top reform * (05:36) Transparency and public education — why the legitimacy of the property tax depends on assessors meeting homeowners where they are, not just on grievance day * (06:49) The case for the local property tax as the fairest tax: local buy-in, participatory governance, and why paying locally gives citizens a voice * (11:56) Technology and AI in assessment — from NYC's 3D mapping portal to using AI to produce preliminary appraisals in a fraction of the time * (14:52) Managing large vs. small offices: hiring, retention, budgets, and the talent pipeline challenge of getting young people to discover careers in assessment * (17:25) Advice for gov-tech companies: start with the assessor's problems, not out-of-the-box solutions, and why hands-on, in-office partnerships matter * (22:08) What Mike would tell his younger self — the larger world of assessment administration and how to find the Town of Ossining's equity portal