Harvey Kistler

Harvey has been a member of the South Dakota Association of Assessing Officers for 31 years. He was with Meade County and the Department of Revenue and is now Deputy Director of Pennington Co. He is a qualified International Association of Assessing Officers instructor and received the IAAO Educator of the Year Award in 2007.

 “So you want to be an Assessor”

By Jenny Glover- 
     Harvey came into the profession accidentally, he says as many do, seeing it as an I-will-stay-with-this-until-something-better-comes-along job. Well, he and many others have been “temporarily” in this profession for years.
     Harvey spoke on the history of assessing and of the “old” way of valuing for tax purposes. The old 1951 assessor’s manual had all the details you needed to know to go and value personal property, people, and livestock. There was a cost for each particular age and were only a few exemptions, such as men under the age of 20 and over 50, women and paupers, idiots and lunatics. The way of assessing was ever changing in all the years that he has been here and will change through the years to come.
     Some changes are the associations and groups that have developed to help strengthen the profession and meaning of assessing. The first to be established was the National Association of Assessing Officers in 1927, now known as the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO). IAAO was the first to recognize the need for uniform procedures and standards in the profession for all to follow. Then the 50’s came with the Certified South Dakota Assessor (CSDA) designation, and conferences and schools held by the Department of Revenue. In the 70’s, the creation of the Certified Appraiser Assessor (CAA) designation, and counties started using taxable percentages on Ag, Non-Ag and utilities. In the 80’s, Marshall and Swift was used to value as the old manual was simple but had little relationship to actual values of dwellings, the removal of taxable percentage and changed full and true values, USPAP was developed for ethical and professional standard requirements. In the 90’s, local property values were capped and Owner Occupied became part of the mix. Then a couple years ago came Ag Productivity. With all of these changes, many thought the sky was falling. However, as Harvey stated, everyone learns to change with what comes, and even though we think it makes life difficult, we roll with it. In this profession, it is important to roll with the changes, know that it will all work out in time, there is no need to worry, and if you do not like change you need to go somewhere else, this profession is not for you!
     There have also been many changes in the technological field; new personnel have to be technologically literate, it is just part of the field now. Technology minimizes a lot of the fieldwork needed. The transfer of information is now becoming faster and more readily available electronically. There will be a need for more professionalism and higher degree requirements.
     We need to recognize and appreciate our associations and peers, such as SDAAO, NCRAAO, and IAAO. They are good associations to be involved and active in, have excellent educational resources to utilize, with a great wealth of information and assistance at their fingertips.

Joel Gengler

Joel was born and raised in the Black Hills. He graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology with a degree in Civil Engineering. Joel did survey and plat work during his summers with the USDA Forest Service. He then worked with a private engineering firm before his employment with the SDDOT. Joel joined the SDDOT in November 1984 and worked in Road Design for 21 years on highway design, plat work, and was the Road Design Office program manager for five years before transferring to the Right-of-Way Office in November 2005. Joel has been married for 24 years, has three children and one grandchild. He enjoys woodworking, cabinet making, back packing, bicycling, hunting, fishing, brewing beer, making wine, and travel.

Right of Ways

By Brandy Meier-
Joel is a program manager with the South Dakota Department of Transportation Right of Way office.  The Right of Way Program is responsible for acquiring the property for highway purposes throughout the State.  During this session Joel covered many topics concerning right of way.  He started the session explaining some of the federal and state laws and regulations concerning right of way procedures.  He went on to explain the steps involved in the Uniform Act and how it is applied.
     Other topics he discussed include project development timeline, impacts of roadway expansion, appraisals of roadway expansion,  appraisals for eminent domain situation, appraisal review, real property acquisition, when negotiations fail,  relocation payments and services, after property is acquired, and property management.
     Joel then went into some of the history of the DOT office.  He mentioned that prior to July 1, 1939 that the state had no purchase power.  At this time the land was acquired by the counties.  Another point he talked about was that prior to 1986 a deed recorded by SDDOT as a “warranty deed” was  not a real warranty deed.
     He explained the process for Disposal of Highway ROW and what happens when the fee land is no longer needed.  At this point the land may be sold or it may be transferred to a political subdivision in the best interest of the public or it may be abandoned by a resolution of the transportation commission.

Wayne R. Haug

Wayne is a Registered Professional Engineer and Land Surveyor in South Dakota for over 37 years and the owner of Haug Engineering & Surveying for 29 years and Deuel County Abstract Company for 12 years.  Wayne taught Construction Surveying and other courses in the Construction Management Program at SDSU for 8 years.  In December 2010, Wayne sold the land surveying portion of Haug Engineering & Surveying to Foresight Land Surveyors and now is in a transition period with them.

 Plats and Their Symbols

By Rownea Gerbracht-
     I found it interesting to listen to Wayne Haug on the plats we receive quite often, but don’t really understand all that well.  Mr. Haug passed a plat for all of us to follow along with as he spoke about something he knows very well.  One key point that I had not known before was that if you receive a plat labeled “In former Block 1 Myers Addition”, this plat will vacate the original Block 1 Myers Addition that it is revising.  The surveyor must also show what book and page the preceding plat was filed on.  Very interesting fact.  Mr. Haug also spoke with us some on the importance of our office getting a copy of all vacated plats.  This is important, especially due to current roads being vacated.  As they need to be put back on to the tax rolls.  One other important topic he covered was whether or not it is required to show where this plat lies (legal description).  He told us that yes, if it is rural the plat must be tied to a section, township and range.  But, if it is an urban plat, they just have to tie it to another plat.
     We also learned a little bit on how to read a plat.  For example:
    
     The scale on this plat is 1” = 300’.  It has a curve on here.  You can draw the curve out from the data shown on here.  The      is the angle.  The R = Radius.  The L=length of the curve.  The T = the tangent distance.  The CH = the chord distance.  Under all that it shows the bearing.  Very useful information.
     Someone in the audience asked a question of Mr. Haug as to whether or not a plat dedicates roads, if the city has to maintain them as roads.  The answer is no.  Just because it is platted as so does not mean the county, towns or townships have to maintain them.  That is a question to bring to an attorney.  The state has reserved 33ft of right of way to each side of every section line except on Tribal Land.  This R.O.W can be abandoned or vacated to keep hunters at bay or if it is not actually used.  It is spelled out in codified law as to how this is accomplished.
     The final topic covered in this seminar was what the difference is between a survey certificate and a survey plat.  Basically, a certificate has no change of property nor does it create any land.  Usually a certificate is used to put land into governmental divisions.  Such as changing a quarter section into 4 – 40 acre parcels.  Some counties require this to be able to be passed to Planning and Zoning.

Paul Coughlin

     Currently Paul is a Wildlife Program Administrator with South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks in Pierre, and for the past 10 years has been responsible for overseeing the Department’s public and private lands habitat programs, including the Wildlife Division’s land acquisition and management program. Previous to this Paul worked for Game, Fish & Parks in DeSmet as a private lands habitat biologist.
     Paul received a Bachelor’s degree in 1989 and Master’s degree in 1992 from South Dakota State University in Wildlife & Fisheries Science.
     Paul and his wife, Stephanie, have three children. Originally from Aberdeen, he is a life-long South Dakota resident, and doesn’t ever want that to ever change.

Game Fish & Parks and Land

By Lila Teigen-
     SDGFP has been purchasing land for over 80 years. In 1941 the SD State Legislature passed a bill where a portion of all non-resident license fees would be used to acquire land for public shooting areas.  There are over 291,000 acres of game production areas.
    There is a Federal law that states a percentage of excise tax on hunting and fishing supplies will be used for GFP.
    The land acquisition process has many steps.  There are various state laws and rules to follow.  GFP work with willing sellers and 95% of the sellers come to GFP.  GFP pay no more than market value as determined by an independent state certified appraiser.  All proposed acquisitions are subject to the GFP Commission approval and include public notice and hearing.  It is an “Open Process”.  The average land acquisition is 160 acres and they average 10 acquisitions per year.
    Things the GFP look for when acquiring land is: High quality hunting land, provide lake and/or river access for hunting and fishing, additions to existing GFP land, it is important to have several habitat types and landscapes and parcels that have potential for planned facility expansion.
    The management areas are for wildlife habitat, hunting and camp areas that include approximately 2.5 million activities all of which are paid for by general hunting and fishing license.  Within the management areas the following things are addressed:  noxious weeds, loss of control due to trespass farming, grazing and structures, compatible uses, archeological and culture resources, easements that impede management options, management direction related to species need and severed mineral interest.  
    Paul talked about people who are out Geo Caching on GFP land during hunting seasons.  An important thing to remember is “When out Geo Caching on GFP land, WEAR ORANGE during hunting season.”

CSDA

The CSDA committee discussed the test and whether it needed to be updated. There was discussion about a company that has a tested on-line report writing class and whether that could be used instead of the current CSDA test. No action was taken. 

Shannon Rittberger

Dr, Burton Pflueger

Professor/Extension Specialist Dr. Burton Pflueger is the Farm Financial Management Specialist with the SDSU Cooperative Extension Service and is a Professor in the Economics Department. He received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois and has been a faculty member at SDSU since 1985. His major responsibilities include conducting Extension education programs in the areas of agricultural finance and farm management and teaching in the area of agricultural cooperatives.  He has authored numerous papers and publications, and has received various research grants for SDSU. A native of Nebraska, Dr. Pflueger is married and has two children.

Productivity

By Gordon Wendell-
     Dr. Pflueger gave a presentation on Productivity, followed by a question and answer session. His emphasis was on showing that Productivity does function properly; that we just need time to work through the hiccups. He mentions that the Purity of the system is good because we are using the right data, and that the accuracy of the system is good because we have the highest value on the most productive land.
     He reminded us that parts of the formula were calculated so that we did not see a shift from crop to non-crop, and because of this the cap rate might better be called a multiplier.  He emphasized however, that the 6.6% cap rate is a good number and that there is data supporting it. As far as the landlord share which is set by statute for crop land at 35%, he says that the results of surveys and the weighted averages of these surveys suggest that this is also a good number.
     Dr. Pflueger indicated that there is not any data that would support making any changes in the cap rate or landlord share at this time. He mentioned the pages of data he had supporting the numbers we currently use, and said that he was looking forward to the next meeting of the Agricultural Task Force.
     Dr. Pflueger also touched on other topics such as going with highest and best use which he suggests may be just a problem of people wanting their good pasture ground valued lower. He also mentioned that he does not like cash rents on grass, but that this would require legislation to change. He feels that land under permanent easement should be taxed as grassland due to legal restrictions.  He said that there may or may not be better alternatives to our current soil ratings. He also referenced ongoing research regarding local adjustments and a connection between sales data and the value of soil to parcel price.
     Dr. Pflueger concluded his presentation by reiterating that the formula values are good and that the data we have parallels the crop productivity index. He stated that the formula works and we do have the right numbers.

Jim Cote

     Jim Cote’ is the president of The Master’s Touch, LLC - a full-service print and mail organization headquartered in Spokane Washington, since 1994. 
     Jim is a Stanford University Alum where he majored in economics and computer science.  He is past co-chair of the Spokane Postal Customer Council and has achieved USPS certification in quality addressing, intelligent mail, and mail center management.
     Jim is happily married to his wife of 34 years; they have five children and three grandchildren.  He is an avid bowler and has five perfect 300 games.

A Master's Touch

By Allison Jensen-
     Mr. Cote spoke to us about how we could eliminate undeliverable mail and reduce the cost of postage.  To avoid undeliverable mail you need a complete, correct and current address.  You also should have the Zip + 4.  14%-15% of Americans move each year, this causes us to have address that may not be correct or current.  He showed us an estimated cost:
     For 10,000 pieces of first class mail

     This give us a total of $8,192 to mail 10,000 pieces of mail, by having to re-mail that 3% a second time it costs us 15.3% of our original cost.  That is quite the expense that we could be avoiding.
     To receive this reduced postage rate you need to be signed up for the bulk mailing with the post office and presort your mail to receive this rate.  The above costs would be higher if you did not utilize this service.
     Ways to avoid this additional cost are with CASS software.  CASS stands for Coding, Accuracy, Support & Service.  With this service most entities experience 90% accuracy in their addresses.
     A website that can help us to find a correct address is http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/  This website will take the address you have and give you an accurate address.
     Another option is AEC or AECII .  With this you can take an address and the carriers of the mail will be asked what the correct address is.  AEC and AECII is a service that can be provided to the entity by the postal service.  These services vary in cost.  AEC is less effective and has a lesser cost, it is $15/1000 of mail and the AECII is more effective and has a greater result which costs you$0.25/piece of mail.
     Other services provided by the USPS is the Address Service Requested, you print this on your envelope.  This service will cost you $0.50/piece of mail.  The post office will send you a card with notification if you had an incorrect address, but you will also pay for the notification if there is no forwarding address.  This does cost a bit of money if you have many incorrect addresses but is a very helpful service as well.  You could also have printed on your envelope Return Service Requested.  If your address is incorrect this service puts that yellow sticker on your envelope with the forwarding address and delivers it back to you.  With this you will have to re-mail this piece of mail to the new address.  While this service has no cost from the postal service you still have the cost or re-mailing the item.  Mr. Cote did not recommend this service.
     ACS – Address Correction Service, with this service you will pay $0.08/piece of mail and have to have an account with the post office and have their approval to use this service.  This service has the change of address listed with the postal service for the last 12 months.
     NCOA – National Change of Address, with this service you can check your address’s before mailing them and you have access to the last 18 months of change of addresses.  This service would cost you $4-$7/thousand addresses checked.
     NCOA Link 48 months, this service will cost you $15-$20/thousand addresses checked but goes back over the last 48 months worth of changed addresses.   This is a private data base complied of address changes field with the postal service.
     You can also use the IMB – Intelligent Mail Barcode, this requires an account set up with the postal service. 
     If you were to outsource your mail to a Full Service IMB vendor you would receive;
      The lowest postage rates
            Fewer returned piece of mail
                 Free address updates
                     And have access to tracking your mail with the IMB
 Please visit the website www.themastertouch.com

Brian and his wife own agricultural, residential and commercial properties in eastern South Dakota, and his family remains very active in the farming/beef feeding operation near Tulare, South Dakota. These farming interests maintain his foundation in agriculture. Brian has an A.A. in Farm & Ranch Management at Northeast Junior College, Norfolk, NE; B.S. in Agriculture Business and B.A. in Commercial Economics, SDSU, Brookings, SD; M.B.A. in Business, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. Brian was employed by Daktronics, Inc. and focused on sales and marketing management of various niches, with ground-up development of these divisions. He was involved with creating and implementing marketing/sales niche plans and sales activity including training and regional/national account management. Brian is currently an independent certified general appraiser in both Minnesota and South Dakota. He gained experience with Dunlap Appraisal & Agri Mgmt. Inc. and Shaykett Appraisal Inc., of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His focus is rural, agricultural, recreational, special use, commercial, conservation, passive recreational, and real property appraisals. Brian does business as Gatzke Appraisal, located in Brookings, South Dakota. Brian is a member of Appraisal Institute (AI), American Society of Farm Managers & Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA), Professional Appraisers Association of South Dakota (PAASD), Land Trust Alliance.

Fee Appraisals

By Janelle Goddard-
     Brian must adhere to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP) and the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions (Yellow Book). Working on Federal Land acquisitions is quite different compared to the Assessors role as Mass Appraiser. Fee appraisers typically specialize and work solely on commercial, residential or agricultural, or go into special use appraisals such as gas, electrical, oil or railroad utilities.
     The turn around time for an appraisal report used to be three to four weeks. Now, some companies and institutions are requiring a fee appraiser to have an appraisal report done in as little as one week. This makes it difficult to do research and write out appraisals. Quite a few rural appraisers have turned to forms software such as AgWare Inc to help with the appraisal report process. Brian has many research sources such as the Kansas Market Report, NRCS Sofware and the Yellow Book.
     Brian feels the future of fee appraisals will turn more toward easements, loss of severed rights, land trusts, utilities, etc. Also warns counties of the need for disclaimers on their GIS websites due to the fact that so many appraisers use their information, sometimes without verifying the information in person.
     Why should you hire a professional fee appraiser? You want to be sure when you invest in real estate or a business that you are paying the actual cost, income or market value of your property and only a qualified appraiser can do that for you and your financial backers. 

SDAAO Treasurer

Louise Hohn, CAA

We are happy to report that our new SDAAO Treasurer is Louise Hohn. She is a first deputy appraiser for Davison County in Mitchell, South Dakota. Louise has worked for the Davison County Equalization Office for almost 15 years beginning as an administrative assistant and as an appraiser for 14 years. She is a member of the SDAAO, NCRAAO, and IAAO. Prior to her employment with Davison County, Abstracts & Title Company employed her for two years and Mitchell Abstract Company for ten years as an Abstractor. Louise lives in Parkston, South Dakota, and has three children. Sarah is 22 years old and attends SD School of Mines and Technology. Megan is a senior in high school and is attending Black Hills State University in the fall, and Tyler is a sophomore at Parkston High School. She also works part-time waitressing every other weekend at Ponycreek Steakhouse in Parkston. Louise manages to keep pretty busy with two jobs and teenagers in school and church activities. She is also a 1st & 2nd grade Sunday school teacher for Salem UCC church in Parkston and served 3 years as church council secretary from 2007-2009. Louise enjoys being a Mom, reading, gardening, and spending time with friends. Louise's background as an appraiser and her affiliation with SDAAO will be an attribute to the Treasurer position and she is truly honored to be able to serve the association in this manner.

Colleen Skinner
Department of Revenue

Forms Meeting-
A change was discussed for an added line on the Certification of Owner Occupied Dwelling form. One county would like to have a line added pointing out to the taxpayer that this form affects their taxes so they should pay attention.

Productivity Valuation Adjustments-
A draft is available for discussion purposes only. Includes how to make adjustments: adjustments must first be approached with the questions-Is any adjustment needed?; do not change the soil classification or rating; adjustment factor could be placed on entire township by the percentage documented according to differences in yield data due to rainfall; documentation may include but is not limited to photos of property, aerial maps, soil maps, production data, rainfall data, sales analysis, etc; how a property owner uses the land should not dictate how the valuation is established for tax purposes (see Supreme Court Case of Mortenson v. Stanley County).

2011 Legislative Session Review-
HB 1001-revise certain provisions concerning assessment of agricultural land.
HB 1002-revises certain provisions regarding the documentation of data used to make adjustments.
HB 1057-repeal the provision that requires the county auditor to assist in locating unregistered mobile homes. SDCL 10-9-6
HB 1093-revise the criteria used to exempt certain school districts from the requirement to reorganize.
SB 75-revise the requirements for the annual conference held for the directors of equalization
SB 102-repeal outdated provision regarding the assessment of property for school districts
SB 152-revise the per student allocation and the property tax levies for general fund of a school district

Other things to be aware of are; Renewable Energy assessed value reduction, Disabled Veteran Exemption, 2012 is the year for full review of all exempt properties (PT 43), School Registration.

Congratulations, Colleen!

Skinner receives surprise award Thursday morning

Emily Wickstrom | Capital Journal
Colleen Skinner (right) was presented the 2011 Excellent Service to South Dakota County Officials by Karen Layher, President of the South Dakota County Officials Thursday morning.

Andy Gerlach
Secretary of Department of Revenue

PIERRE, S.D. – Andy Gerlach on May 23, 2011, officially assumed the role of Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Revenue.
     Gerlach recently returned from his deployment to Afghanistan, where he served as Executive Officer for the 196th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Prior to his deployment, he was with the South Dakota Department of Military and Veteran's Affairs, first as Finance Officer and then as Deputy Secretary. Gerlach was appointed Secretary of the Department of Revenue by Gov. Daugaard in December 2010.
     The Department of Revenue, reorganized per the Governor’s January 2011 Executive Order, includes the Business Tax, Audits, Motor Vehicles, and Property & Special Taxes divisions as well as the South Dakota Lottery and the state Commission on Gaming. Deputy Secretary David Wiest served as interim secretary for the Department until Gerlach’s return.
     "I am honored to be appointed to this role of Secretary," said Gerlach. "I also thank David for serving as the interim secretary and managing the Department in my absence."
     "The professional, dependable, and accountable Department of Revenue team will continue to excel in education and enforcement of South Dakota’s tax system," Gerlach continued.
     Under Secretary Gerlach, the Department will focus on its core value of collecting revenue for the state by promoting voluntary compliance, providing more opportunities for taxpayer education, and searching for ways to maximize revenues.
     Prior to his deployment, Gerlach served in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs from 1996-2009, first as Finance Officer and then as Deputy Secretary. In those roles, he was an advocate for veterans, military families, and employers of servicemen and service women.

15 Years of Service

Brad Thomas-Minnehaha Co

Not pictured-Brian Drieske-Corson Co, Patricia Tschetter-Beadle Co

20 Years of Service

Dari Schlotte-Day Co. 

Not pictured-Gene Loeschke-Brown Co, Roger Walker-Walworth Co

The Schneider Corporation

Dominic Roberge
GIS Project Manager
droberge@schneidercorp.com

tsmith@devnetinc.com

APEX Software

S. Jay Graber
VP Business Developement
sjgraber@apexwin.com

Sidwell

Mel Obbink
GIS Account Manager
MObbink@sidwellco.com]

Marshall & Swift

Charlotte Somefun
csinquiry@marshallswift.com

Pictometry

Craig Witmer
Vice President
craig.witmer@pictometry.com

Manatron

Brent Dornon
 brent.dornon@manatron.com

Connecting Point Computer Center

Bob Gleason
bgleason@connectingpoint.biz

Planning & Development District 1 & 3

Harry Redman & Ryan Hartley
ryan@1stdistrict.org

GIS Workshop

Brenda Wilson
Sales Manager
bwilson@gisworkshop.com

The Master's Touch, LLC

Jim Coté
masters@themasterstouch.com

Vanguard Appraisals Inc

Brad Miller, Senior VP/CIO; Donnie Campbell, South Dakota Cama Specialist; Scott Johnson, Senior Field Manager; Bob Ehler, President
donnie@camavision.com
scott@camavision.com

www.typco.com

McLeod's

PAASD
Professional Appraisers Association of South Dakota