The South Dakota Association of Assessing Officers Inc. 

The SDAAO is a professional organization of County Directors of Equalization and their staff members whose duty it is to appraise real property for taxation purposes. The association wrote its current articles of incorporation in 1975. The main goals of the SDAAO are to provide education to its members, add to the knowledge and progress of the science of appraising and to assist the public and state lawmakers in understanding the process of property taxation.

The SDAAO was started in 1960 by Commissioner of Revenue Bruce Gillis who had just recently been appointed. Bruce had been with Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission. Also behind the idea were Toby Norton, Charles Cummings of Pennington County, and Floyd Wiles of Brookings County.

The association held its first conference in 1948. In the first years those conferences were run by the Department of Revenue. Since then, the SDAAO has taken over the conferences as they have grown into very educational events with popular social activities in the off duty hours.

Annual schools are held every year. The very first were held on the campus of the University of South Dakota. There were very few women in the business then. Though the vast majority of our directors and appraisers were men in the early years, more than half of our members are now women.

All members must be certified by the South Dakota Department of Revenue and Regulation. When our members finish the program they are given the professional designation of Certified Appraiser Assessor, (CAA). The association also offers another designation of Certified South Dakota Assessor, (CSDA). This designation is optional and currently held by about 12 of the associations active members.

The SDAAO as an organization is a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), and the North Central Regional Association of Assessing Officers (NCRAAO).

The SDAAO has added many new programs since its beginning such as the “News Bulletin” which is now on a web site, and a scholarship program to assist children and grandchildren of members with their higher education.

The SDAAO has a proud tradition of service to the profession, members and community.

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