2017 Summer Seminars
May 24 - 25, 2017 - Holiday Inn St. Cloud

The 2017 Summer Seminars are offering 14 topical seminars for assessors.  The registration fees are:

Register on or before May 12, 2017 and receive an early registration discount:
MAAO Member $180.00    Non-Member $280.00

Register after May 12, 2017:
MAAO Member $205.00    Non-Member $305.00

To become a MAAO member and receive the preferred registration fee, contact Membership.  Please do this prior to registering.  The registration fee includes classroom materials, refreshment breaks, Wednesday lunch, Wednesday buffet and Thursday breakfast buffet.  The Wednesday evening event is at The Grands at Mulligan's.

President Kyle Holmes will open the event with greetings and announcements at 9:25 am on Wednesday. 

The Minnesota Department of Revenue staff will speak from 10:00 to 11:30 am on Wednesday, May 24th.

EDUCATION:

Eight CEH's for attendance at the Summer Seminar sessions have been approved by the State Board of Assessors. 

LODGING:

The Holiday Inn of St. Cloud has reserved a block of rooms for the event at the following rates:

These prices are for single or double occupancy.  Call by Friday, April 22, 2017 to reserve rooms at these prices.  The phone number for the Holiday Inn St. Cloud is 320-253-9000, mention MAAO.   

The Annual Silent Auction will be held on Wednesday beginning at 10:00 am and continuing until one half hour after dinner at The Grands at Mulligan's.  If you have items to donate, please notify Jane Grossinger, 320.398.6705 or [email protected].  The proceeds from the auction will be split between seed money for U40/10, IAAO 2018 Promotion and Education and Web Training.  

New this year- If you are under 40, or have less than 10 years of membership with MAAO, please sign up at registration with the U40/10 group and join us for a 1 hour meet and greet gathering in the back room of the Legends lounge from 5-6:00 pm before heading to Mulligans.   There will be snacks and a cash bar for your beverage needs.   Get all your MAAO questions answered, meet the MAAO officers and some of the various committee chairs, learn more about what areas interest you and how to become involved.   By checking in, you will be entered into a special drawing for some wonderful prizes to be drawn for at dinner.’

QUESTIONS:

Please contact Paul Knutson, MAAO Conference Coordinator at 507.332.6152, [email protected] or Tami Paulson at 507.328.7668, Assistant Conference Coordinator, [email protected] or Kim Jensen, Site and Instructor Coordinator at 612.348.6106, [email protected].

CANCELLATION POLICY:

A refund less $30.00 administration fee will be issued for cancellations received five business days prior to the start of the conference.  Registrants who fail to attend or cancel prior to the cancellation deadline are responsible for the entire fee.  If a registrant is unable to attend the event, a substitute from the jurisdiction that paid the registration can attend at no additional charge.  Please send written notification of this change five business days prior to the start of the event.  MAAO reserves the right to cancel any event if necessary and provide a full refund.  Refunds will be issued within 30 days of the conference.

Be sure to register by May 12, 2017!

AGENDA

EVENING EVENT:

This year's evening event will be held at The Grands at Mulligan's.  There will be a picnic style buffet dinner and Silent Auction along with great fun and beverage.  The cost is included in your registration fee.  Additional tickets may be purchased for $20.00.  *See final page of registration for details.

EDUCATION SEMINARS:

Carefully Choose two 4-hour seminars or one 8-hour seminar.  Classroom limits subject to change based on demand.  Register early.

SS1 - IF HOUSES COULD TALK
8 hrs Wednesday and Thursday, Instructor: Steve Tadevich, Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser: This seminar will include “on-site” photos of typical structural and mechanical components found in homes. The components will be examined for any defects that would affect the subject’s value and raise any health and/or safety issues. The objective of the seminar will be to enable the appraiser to recognize the difference between conventional, HUD/FHA and USDA Rural appraisal requirements, understand the physical inspection process related to construction components including rating the condition and quality of components and the effect on values.  Limit 30

SS2 - MN RESIDENTIAL FORM REPORT

4 hrs Wednesday, Instructors: Form Report Instructors and Graders: This seminar will assist individuals in writing a residential demonstration form report. The student will be provided the most complete and up to date checklist for the candidates to refer to as they write their report. The student reference manual will provide step-by-step instructions for writing the report and will include many examples to help them successfully complete their report.  Limit 60

SS5 – HIGH PERFORMANCE HOME, GREEN HOMES, NET ZERO HOMES
4 hrs Wednesday, Instructors: Larry Mayer, Solution Designs INC.: This 4 hours seminar will focus on explaining what a High Performance, Green or Net Zero home is vs. a “code built” home. Learn about Green construction techniques and the science being used to make these homes incredibly efficient.  Learn about Green appraisal challenges and how to justify the valuation of these cutting edge properties. Focus will be on essential features: Building Science, Indoor air Quality, Challenges in Valuation, Where is the Market? How to build a Green Home, Moisture in homes, Energy Waste, Home Energy Score, Home Comfort and Convective current.  Limit 60

SS6 – SPECIAL AG HOMESTEAD - SEMINAR FULL
4 hrs Wednesday, Instructors: – Jessi Glancey, MN DOR; Jon Klockziem, SAMA, MN DOR; Karl Lindquist, SAMA, Grant County; Doug Bruns, SAMA, Renville County:
This seminar will provide comprehensive guidance and education on unoccupied agricultural homestead property. The seminar will include: a discussion on the difference between agricultural homesteads and special agricultural homesteads, definitions, linking unoccupied agricultural homestead property and an opportunity to work on case studies that will be provided by the instructors. Note: we will not be discussing any county specific scenarios in this seminar.  Limit 30

SS7 – BUFFER STRIPS
4 hrs Wednesday, Instructor: Tom Gile, Buffers and Soil Erosion Program Coordinator, BWSR and David Weirens, Assistant Director for Programs and Policy BWSR: The Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources will be discussing the protection of water quality via “buffer strips” and review a state map identifying which streams and lakes must have perennial vegetation.  An overview of how the law is structured and will be implemented will be provided along with some discussion on the benefits of these buffer zones with the understanding that much more can be done to improve the state’s water quality. Limit 60

SS8 - eCRV, SALES LISTINGS, and MCAST - SEMINAR FULL
4 hrs. Wednesday – Amy Rausch, SAMA, MN DOR and MN DOR Staff:  In this seminar we will begin with the sales data; eCRV. Are you entering the right data in the right fields? Does “Why did my ag sales end up in my PT 96 bucket?” sound familiar?  Next, we will review the sales listings from DOR.  What do we need to review?  How do we make edits? How can we sort the spreadsheet? Finally, we will have an overview of MCAST.  Discussions will be around data stratification and reading time trends within MCAST. This is a HANDS ON seminar. BRING YOUR COMPUTER WITH MCAST LOADED AND YOUR FINAL SALES LIST. Limit 30

4 Hrs. Thursday - Hennepin County Assessor’s Office: This seminar will concentrate on the sale verification process. Discussion will center around what your objective is as an appraiser when verifying the sale and how to arrive at the cash equivalent of real estate. We will also discuss the verification process including where to begin and what questions to ask. Finally the sales ratio reject codes will be reviewed and we will explore a process developed to evaluate new construction additions that effect sales rejection codes. Limit 60

SS10 - MN RESIDENTIAL FORM REPORT – HANDS ON
4 hrs Thursday, Instructors: Form Report Instructors and Graders:  This workshop will be a hands-on experience where candidates can bring their form reports, all of their data, and have four uninterrupted hours to work on their report. Form Report Instructors and Graders will be on hand to help with any questions or stumbling blocks you may encounter. Please be prepared to work on your report. Bring more data than you think you need so you will have ample information and comparable sales to make suggested adjustments and changes. DON’T FORGET YOUR LAPTOP AND CALCULATOR. Limit 25

SS11 - GIS – HANDS ON TRAINING - SEMINAR FULL
4 hrs Thursday, Instructor: Jennifer Ward, GISP and Kyle Wikstrom, Pro-West & Associates Inc. Using GIS in the assessment profession is so vital to having an efficient, fair, and equitable assessment.  This hands-on course is completely tailored to assessors to get you working with ArcGIS.  By course end you will understand GIS terms, know how to use tools within ArcGIS, and be able to join your CAMA data to the map and export the data.  Don’t miss this opportunity to get GIS going in your office! This seminar will be held at St Cloud State University. There is a parking fee. Computers will be supplied and loaded with ArcGIS. Limit 17

SS12 - RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION - FROM MEASURING TO DESCRIBING
4 hrs Thursday, Instructors: Erik Skogquist, SAMA, Contract Assessor and Brent Reid, CMA, City of Coon Rapids: This seminar is designed to be both demonstrative and hands on: to instruct basic residential construction terminology and descriptions, basic house plan reading and how to calculate square footages, including gross living area and all other areas of the gross building area. The instructors will also share their tips for making accurate measurements in the field. Limit 60

SS15 – TAX COURT TOOLKIT
4 hrs Thursday, Instructor: MAAO Tax Court Committee, Speakers: Chief Judge Turner;
Ann Miller, Washington County; Dan Whitman on the MCCC user group.

This half day seminar will better prepare the assessor in managing their tax court appeals.  The topics will focus on petition tracking, what data is necessary to complete your analysis, negotiation skills, preparing a report for tax court, what to expect on the stand and tips & tools to help you along the way.  Attendees are encouraged to interact with the panel in discussions. Limit 85