TEAM Consulting, LLC

TEAM & Lexur Now Business Partners

• Reappraisal Services
• Virtual Data Verification (VDV)
• Annual Property Maintenance
• Statistical Valuations Updates
• Appraisal Consulting Services
• Market/Income Modeling

Lexur's new Virtual Data Verification (VDV) solution uses the latest “cloud” technology to enable their experienced staff to verify a property’s attributes without having to send an appraiser to the field. VDV meets the IAAO standard (3.3.5) as an alternative to on-site inspections and is a true integration of  jurisdictions’ existing resources. Lexur is the industry leader in remote data verification services with over 1.1 million parcels verified using remote data verification techniques.

TEAM member Ed Crapo, CFA, ASA, AAS, received the prestigious Clifford B. Allen-Most Valuable Member Award from the International Association of Assessing Officers during the association's annual meeting in September. Crapo's staff at the Alachua County, Fla., Appraiser's Office were also recognized by the IAAO with the Public Information Program Award. See TEAM's November newsletter for more details.

Nassau County selects TEAM
By Ed Crapo, AAS, ASA, CFA

Nassau County, New York, has retained the services of TEAM Consulting, LLC as an expert in a lawsuit contesting the 2010-11 equalization rate for residential properties. Ed Crapo AAS, ASA, CFA; Fred Chmura, AAS; and Pete Davis are consulting with the county attorney’s office in the defense of this action. 

At issue is that the tax assessor certified the 2010-11 rate at 0.0025 percent, and the plaintiff(s) contends that the true rate is 0.00233 percent. While the differences may seem small, the county says that the reduction would cost them approximately $200 million.

It is too early in the proceedings to say much about the facts of the case. But the case does involve more than a mathematical determination of who is correct. The assessor determined his level of assessment through a traditional sales ratio process. The plaintiff(s), on the other hand, hired an econometrician from the University of Oklahoma, who arrived at his conclusion through an econometric methodology. This makes the case pretty interesting because it involves legal issues, professional standards issues, methodology issues inside the legal and professional standard issues, actual fact issues and, finally, calculation issues.

If you or your jurisdiction need assistance on any sales ratio, office or procedural reviews or general help with appraisal, please remember TEAM Consulting, LLC. 

TEAM and Pickett New Business Partners

TEAM Consulting is pleased to partner with Pickett & Co., Inc., longtime appraisers of complex properties including industrial facilities, public utilities, gaming/resort real estate, petroleum reserves, and other special purpose properties. With more than 85 years of continuous experience, Pickett  offers ad valorem taxation appraisals on behalf of schools, towns, counties, and states.

Pickett’s valuation engineering is also used for insurance, risk management, condemnation and financial planning. Pickett’s experience spans Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, Mississippi, North Dakota, and other states.

This partnership recognizes that the two companies are different in the services they provide the customers but are in totally related fields. The companies will offer marketing exposure and appropriate referrals to prospective and existing clients. 

• Marion Johnson, CAE, received the Clifford B. Allen - Most Valuable Member Award, Instructor of the Year Award and a Presidential Citation for service.

• Edward Crapo, CFA, ASA, AAS, guided his jurisdiction, Alachua County, Florida, to become the first jurisdiction to become recertified for the IAAO Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration. In 2004, Alachua County was also the first jurisdiction to receive the IAAO certification.

• Rick Stuart, CAE, received the McCarren Award that is annually awarded to the IAAO member who recruits the most new members during the previous year. Rick is also the editor for the Kansas County Appraiser’s Association quarterly newsletter, Appraising the Plains, which won the Zangerle Award for the eighth time since being started in 1998.
  

When the Washington County, Ark., Assessor's office was deluged with phone calls and a huge spike in appeals in the wake of a three-year reappraisal, they decided to launch a new public relations program "to educate our public about the real estate market and the assessment process," says Washington County Assessor Lee Ann Kizzar. "We hired Rick Stuart, CAE, of TEAM Consulting to create content for the website, which is the heart of the PR program." The informative website is appropriately named "Explain My Property Tax."