2025 Summer Seminars

Adaptive Leadership - Leading at the Edge  |  4 CEHs 
SS1 – Wednesday 1:00 – 5:00 PM  
Timothy Denney, Principal Trainer & Consultant, Level 5 Services Training Facilitation Consultation 

Adaptive leadership, when challenges abound and the path is not clear ahead, is the focus of this course. We will explore how to establish and maintain norms that allow the team to work together to find solutions that will succeed. Along the way, learners will also:

• Identify the key roles of leadership in times of challenge and change
• Identify key strategies to strengthen the team and maintain cohesion
• Identify the paradigm shifts that can take a person from manager to true leadership
• Identify the critical skills of the successful adaptive leaders
  
  

Residential Form Report  |  4 CEHs 
SS2 – Wednesday 1:00 – 5:00 PM 
Patrick Chapman, SAMA, Ramsey County Assessor 

This seminar will assist individuals in writing a residential demonstration form report. The learner will be provided with the most complete and up-to-date checklist to refer to as the candidate writes their report. The student reference manual will also provide step-by-step instructions for writing the report and will include many examples to help successfully complete the report.  
  

Blue and Yellow - Can it be Green (Acres)  |  2 CEHs  ***PACE Approved***
Offered twice:
SS3 – Wednesday 1:00 – 3:00 PM 
SS4 – Wednesday 3:00 – 5:00 PM 
Eben Johnson, Information and Education Section, Minnesota Department of Revenue 

​This course will focus on the steps of approving Green Acres and Rural Preserve applications. We will look at the process of evaluating the information on the applications to determine if a property meets all the requirements of the Green Acres and Rural Preserve programs. Attendees will have the chance to participate in interactive activities and discussion to help the attendees better understand the qualifications and requirements. 

Land is a Big Deal: The Past, Present, and Future of Land Valuation Methodologies  |  2 CEHs 
Offered twice: 
SS5 – Wednesday 1:00 – 3:00 PM
SS6 – Wednesday 3:00 – 5:00 PM 
Course will be taught by Jake Parkinson, former elected county assessor, Utah Certified Appraisers and IAAO 2017 Member of the Year

Land is a Big Deal. It's the basis of property tax valuations.

Explore the origins of tried-and-true land valuation techniques (linear, GWR, Kriging) before we test modern AI solutions like CATBOOST and XGBOOST. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages to modeling with each technique. Teach methods on how to make unexplainable "Black Box" models explainable using Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP).

Manufactured and Modular Homes  |  2 CEHs 
Offered twice:
SS7 – Wednesday 1:00 – 3:00 PM 
SS8 – Wednesday 3:00 – 5:00 PM 
John Conway, SAMA, Wabasha County and Chair of the MAAO Residential Committee

This course goes over the historical overview, definitions and terminology, the production process, differences in construction, labels & certificates and valuation and market issues in manufactured and modular homes.

Assessor Safety  |  2 CEHs 
Offered twice:
SS9 – Wednesday 1:00 – 3:00 PM 
SS10 – Wednesday 3:00 – 5:00 PM 
Brian Johnson, Deputy Director, Minnesota Sheriff Association

Tax Court Roundtable  |  2 CEHs  ***PACE Approved***
Offered twice:
SS11 – Wednesday 1:00 – 3:00 PM 
SS12 – Wednesday 3:00 – 5:00 PM 
Brian Kieser, MAI, SAMA, CAE, City of Minneapolis 
Brett Hall, MAI, SRA, SAMA, Hennepin County 
Heather Jacobson, AMA, Otter Tail County 
Jim Mogen, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office 

Join the Tax Court Roundtable! This entertaining and informative seminar will cover all aspects of the government’s defense of a property tax appeal. An esteemed panel of experts including a County Attorney, a County Assessor, and a Commercial Appraiser will answer all the tough questions you always wanted to ask. Participants will benefit from the real-world experiences of the panel and will be able to apply what they learn immediately in their day-to-day litigation work. 

Skills for Crisis De-escalation  |  4 CEHs
SS15 – Thursday 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Timothy Denney, Principal Trainer & Consultant, Level 5 Services Training Facilitation Consultation 

Assessors can wind up being “them” to someone almost daily, which can lead to people who are loud and unwilling to reason.  How does one reduce the tension, redeem the conversation, and get the job done reasonably and safely? 

Using skills taught to first responders, this course will help learners identify the parts of the brain that are active in conflict, and how to reduce tension and anger.  We will also identify practical skills such as the use of empathy, avoiding power struggles, calming with physical presence, assessing risk, and getting to “yes.” 

A Deeper Dive Into The Assessment Timeline  |  4 CEHs  ***PACE Approved***
SS16 – Thursday 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Bonnie Lay, SAMA, Deputy Assessor, Pope County 
Jean Nelson, SAMA, Lincoln County Assessor

When becoming a county assessor/deputy assessor there is a timeline that needs to be followed. Within the timeline, there will be monthly tasks that need to be accomplished to meet Department of Revenue statutes and assessment dates.  This interactive course will include the timeline laid out by the Minnesota Department of Revenue with these assessment dates.  Each month will be broken down by such assessment date, what each date means, and when each process or procedure shall begin to efficiently complete the task on time.  This class may help lead to a less stressful transition to a new position. This course is geared toward new county or deputy assessors but also will be a great refresher class for current assessors.