Assessment Matters by Valuebase.ai

Hosted by Will Jarvis

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Jun 2026

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Assessment Matters presented by Valuebase is a weekly show that delves into the world of real estate valuation and property assessment. Our expert guests share their insights on the latest trends and techniques in the field, and offer practical advice for professionals in the industry. Whether you're a seasoned appraiser or new to the field, you'll find valuable information and inspiration. From understanding mass appraisal methodologies to staying up-to-date on the latest technology, our podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in the world of real estate valuation.

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June 11, 202648 min

77: Using Free AI Tools to Strengthen Your Cost Approach

Join host Will Jarvis as he walks through practical, hands-on ways assessors can use free AI tools to improve their cost approach valuations. In this solo episode, Will demonstrates how tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and ValPal can be used to extract market depreciation from sales data, build effective age rubrics, standardize condition ratings, generate taxpayer-friendly explanations, and run ratio study checks — all with paste-ready prompts attendees can take back to their offices immediately.<ul><li>00:00 - Introduction and overview of the session on using free AI tools for the cost approach</li><li>02:22 - Why the cost approach breaks down: depreciation tables, effective ages, and condition ratings</li><li>04:44 - How time constraints — not lack of knowledge — keep these inputs from being maintained</li><li>07:00 - The free AI toolkit in 2026: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and ValPal compared</li><li>10:15 - Ground rules for using AI safely: stripping identifiers, verifying outputs, and checking IT policy</li><li>13:20 - The prompt pattern every example follows: role, data, task, and proof</li><li>16:30 - Extracting market depreciation from your own sales in one prompt, with a live Florida county example</li><li>20:00 - Effective age: replacing gut feel with a written rubric and using AI vision on field photos</li><li>23:30 - Condition ratings: running outlier scans and drafting a standardized field guide with AI</li><li>26:30 - Explainability: generating plain-English cost approach explanations for property owners</li><li>28:00 - Closing the loop: running ratio study checks with IAAO formulas via AI</li><li>30:00 - The 30-minute weekly routine, common failure modes to avoid, and concrete next steps</li></ul>

May 14, 202625 min

76: NYSAA | AI Tools for Assessors: LLMs, Prompt Best Practices, and Free Resources

Join host Will Jarvis as he presents a live session at a NYSAA meeting on how modern AI tools can help property tax assessors work more efficiently. Will breaks down how large language models actually work, their strengths and weaknesses including hallucinations and privacy concerns, and shares best practices for prompting these models to get the best results. The session covers real-world use cases like drafting taxpayer correspondence, summarizing legislation, and processing refunds, and highlights free tools including ValPal, RatioPal, and other resources built specifically for assessors.00:00 - Introduction to Will Jarvis and Valuebase's mission to build AI tools for assessors02:45 - What is a large language model and how the underlying technology actually works06:30 - Why LLMs mimic reasoning rather than truly reasoning, and what that means for users07:30 - Real-world use cases: refund processing, email management, and extending office capacity08:45 - Strengths of LLMs: writing, summarizing, researching, and brainstorming09:30 - Weaknesses: hallucinations, math errors, out-of-date knowledge, and privacy concerns12:45 - Best practices for prompting: clarity, context, examples, roles, and even flattery15:45 - Free tools recommended: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity18:15 - Practical use cases: taxpayer correspondence, legal document summaries, and reusable prompt libraries19:30 - Introduction to ValPal and its New York State property tax model21:00 - Audience Q&A: using AI to translate legislation and summarize new exemption laws23:00 - Overview of additional free tools: RatioPal, AgePal, AskDocs, and the depreciation table builder

May 6, 202621 min

75: Cameron White | From Trading Cards to Cap Rates: The Income Approach to Commercial Appraisal

Join host Will Jarvis as he sits down with Cameron White, a commercial appraiser and new team member at Valuebase, to break down the income approach to commercial property valuation. Cameron shares his journey from residential mass appraisal to the commercial world, walks through the step-by-step mechanics of the income approach—including cap rates, net operating income, and effective gross income—and discusses the challenges of defending valuations in appeals. The conversation also explores how Cameron's passion for trading cards offers surprising parallels to real estate appraisal, from market dynamics and comparable sales to the people skills that give you an edge.<ul><li>00:00 - Introduction and Cameron White's background in mass appraisal and commercial property assessment</li><li>02:42 - Why the income approach is harder to grasp than sales comparison or cost approaches</li><li>04:10 - Step-by-step walkthrough of the income approach: PGI, EGI, NOI, and cap rates</li><li>06:00 - What is a capitalization rate and what does it tell you about a property?</li><li>07:13 - How appraisers arrive at cap rates using market studies and sales data</li><li>09:37 - The biggest challenge with the income approach: defending your valuation in appeals</li><li>10:38 - Transitioning from residential to commercial appraisal and adjusting to the scale</li><li>11:36 - Hardest commercial property types to value: vacant land, brownfield sites, and one-off cases</li><li>14:18 - How tax burden shifts to commercial properties and the impact on small businesses</li><li>16:25 - Trading cards and real estate: parallels in market dynamics, comps, and supply and demand</li><li>19:50 - Getting an edge in competitive markets through people skills and inventory knowledge</li><li>21:00 - Cameron's early impressions of working at Valuebase</li></ul>

April 29, 202626 min

74: Bob Boyer | Reforming Personal Property Tax, E-Filing, and Educating the Public in Missouri

Join host Will Jarvis at the Missouri Assessors' Conference in Branson as he sits down with Bob Boyer, Jefferson County Assessor, to discuss the challenges of personal property tax in Missouri, the push for e-filing and digital modernization, and efforts to reform outdated valuation statutes. Bob shares how his background as a land surveyor and county councilman shaped his approach to running a 32-person office, explains the complexities of the Hancock Amendment and levy rollbacks, and offers his perspective on fighting dark store theory and bogus appraisal claims. As Bob puts it, property taxes are like a big piece of pie — somebody's gonna eat it, and his job is making sure the burden is shared fairly.00:00 - Introduction and welcome from the Missouri Assessors' Conference in Branson00:36 - Bob Boyer's background: Jefferson County Assessor, former county councilman, land surveyor, and licensed real estate appraiser01:00 - Transitioning from county council to the assessor's office and learning how the office operated03:00 - How land surveying experience with deeds, plats, and GIS mapping carried over to the assessor role04:00 - Implementing e-filing for personal property assessments and reducing paper-based processes06:00 - The personal property tax debate in Missouri: why elimination is difficult and how education helps09:00 - Policy reform: the Hancock Amendment, levy rollback loopholes, and the push for legislative fixes11:30 - The behavioral economics of visible vs. invisible taxes: personal property versus real estate escrow14:00 - Reforming vehicle valuation: moving from JD Power trade-in values to MSRP-based depreciation schedules17:00 - Real estate valuation in a non-disclosure state: cost approach, ratio studies, and staying in compliance20:45 - The future of the profession: dark store theory battles, tax exemption challenges, and protecting residential taxpayers23:45 - Advice for newly elected assessors: observe, learn from experienced staff, and be the head cheerleader for your office25:15 - Where to find Bob Boyer: jeffcomo.gov/assessor and Facebook

April 22, 202621 min

73: Neal Groover | From Rural Georgia to Medium-Sized County: Navigating Growth, Income Approaches, and the Exemption Mess

Join host Will Jarvis as he sits down with Neal Groover, Chief Appraiser of Effingham County, Georgia, to discuss his journey from a three-person office in rural Evans County to managing a 33,000-parcel operation in a fast-growing bedroom community near Savannah. Neal shares lessons learned transitioning commercial properties from cost to income approaches, the impact of Port of Savannah expansion on warehouse development, navigating Georgia's 40% assessment rate, and why the growing tangle of homestead exemptions has turned his department into a homestead audit shop.<ul><li>00:01 – Introduction and Neal Groover's path into assessment work in rural Evans County, Georgia</li><li>01:02 – Running a three-person office with 6,500 parcels: splitting duties and learning by trial and fire</li><li>02:54 – The biggest surprise: how heavily law governs the assessment world</li><li>04:30 – Transitioning from Evans County to Effingham County and the differences between rural and medium-sized jurisdictions</li><li>06:05 – Valuing warehouses: moving from cost to income approach and tips for making the transition</li><li>09:00 – Port of Savannah's expansion as the driver behind Effingham's warehouse boom</li><li>10:49 – Explaining ratio studies to taxpayers and Georgia's 40% assessment rate</li><li>14:48 – The exemption mess: how homestead exemptions muddy the waters and undermine fairness</li><li>19:45 – Effingham as a "homestead audit department" — managing 15,500 homestead parcels</li><li>20:32 – Advice for new chief appraisers: know what you're getting into and commit fully</li></ul>

April 15, 202623 min

72: Mike Fouassier | Transparency, Equity, and the Case for Keeping Property Tax Local

Join host Will Jarvis as he sits down with Mike Fouassier, Assessor for the Town of Ossining in Westchester County, New York, and former Director of Operations and Quality Assurance for New York City. Mike brings a unique "pracademic" perspective — holding a PhD focused on inequities in assessment systems — as they discuss why frequent reappraisals at full market value matter, how transparency and public education underpin the legitimacy of the property tax, and the role AI and geospatial tools are playing in modernizing assessment offices. The conversation also explores the talent pipeline challenge facing local government, the management differences between large and small jurisdictions, and Mike's advice for building technology that starts with the assessor's real problems.(00:01) Meet Mike Fouassier — his path from New York State to NYC to the Town of Ossining, and how an "accidental career" in assessment became a lifelong calling(02:25) The biggest inequities in property tax: assessment caps, rising costs of living, and why frequent reappraisals at 100% of full market value is Mike's top reform(05:36) Transparency and public education — why the legitimacy of the property tax depends on assessors meeting homeowners where they are, not just on grievance day(06:49) The case for the local property tax as the fairest tax: local buy-in, participatory governance, and why paying locally gives citizens a voice(11:56) Technology and AI in assessment — from NYC's 3D mapping portal to using AI to produce preliminary appraisals in a fraction of the time(14:52) Managing large vs. small offices: hiring, retention, budgets, and the talent pipeline challenge of getting young people to discover careers in assessment(17:25) Advice for gov-tech companies: start with the assessor's problems, not out-of-the-box solutions, and why hands-on, in-office partnerships matter(22:08) What Mike would tell his younger self — the larger world of assessment administration and how to find the Town of Ossining's equity portal

March 25, 202614 min

71: A Fresh Perspective on AI Adoption in Assessment Offices with Trinity Taylor

Join host Will Jarvis as he sits down with Trinity Taylor, Valuebase's newest team member focused on outreach and sales, recorded on location in Tucson. A recent University of Arizona graduate with a background in psychology and business, Trinity shares what it's been like breaking into the property assessment world, the patterns she's noticed reaching out to assessors across the country, and why she believes AI tools like ValPal are best understood not as job replacements but as a helping hand that gets you home by five.(00:01) Introduction to Trinity — University of Arizona grad who found her way from psychology and sales internships to Valuebase's outreach team(01:39) Learning the ropes in property assessment — adjusting to an unfamiliar industry with a steep but rewarding learning curve(03:05) What Trinity's heard from hundreds of assessors — urban offices lean tech-forward while long-tenured rural assessors tend to be more change-resistant(05:30) Reframing AI as a helping hand, not a replacement — why assessors shouldn't fear tools like ValPal and how domain-specific training makes the difference(09:11) The future of AI-assisted outreach — training models with HubSpot data and company knowledge to compound what works over time(12:14) The hidden complexity of property tax — Trinity's surprise at the industry's depth and her "aha moment" on vertical equity(15:01) Closing — upcoming conferences and meeting assessors in person

March 9, 202614 min

70: Zach Smith - Doing More With Less in Rural Mass Appraisal

On this episode of Assessment Matters, host Will Jarvis sits down with Zach Smith, a former fee appraiser turned rural county chief appraiser, to talk about the realities of mass appraisal and property tax administration. They dig into county-wide revaluations, fixing legacy data in CAMA systems, using technology and GIS to improve data quality, and how to “do more with less” by combining the right tools with the right people.

February 26, 202642 min

69: Gonz Sanchez - Argentina, Property Taxes, and AI

Valuebase CEO Will Jarvis sits down with Gonz Sanchez to explore what property taxation looks like in an economy crushed by extreme inflation. They unpack how Argentina’s money printing, corruption, and cash-based real estate distort assessed values and fairness, and what U.S. assessors can learn about building more resilient property tax systems.

February 10, 202623 min

68: There’s Only One Way to Value Property: Data, Stats, and Multicollinearity with Keith Wolf

On this episode of Assessment Matters, host and Value Base CEO Will Jarvis talks with veteran appraiser and data geek Keith Wolf about what truly drives credible valuations: data and variable interactions.They unpack:How mass and fee appraisal really overlapWhy stats and data science matter for everyday appraisalHow misunderstanding multicollinearity can lead you badly astrayIf you’re an assessor or appraiser using models, this one’s for you.