The Annual Meeting of the North Dakota Association of Assessing Officers Convened at 1:00 P

North Dakota Association of Assessing Officers, Inc.

Call to Order: The annual meeting of the North Dakota Association of Assessing Officers convened at 1 PM on Monday, August 10, 2015 at the Comfort Inn in Bismarck, ND.

Members Present: Allan Vietmeier Amber Gudajtes Ann Bernhardt Ann Johnsrud Barb Zerface Ben Hushka Betty Koslofsky Bonnie Bell Brenda Dahlstrom Brenda Johnson Carla Broadland Casey Patzner Cheryl Whitty Colette Schilling Cynthia Wahl Darcy Anderson Darrell Wollan Dean Pearson Deb Kirschenheiter Deb Goodsell Diana Krause Diane Brines Don Flaherty Frank Klein Gary Emter George Railsback Greg Landa Heather Hanna Heather Kippen Henry Gerving James Albrecht Jamison Veil Jan Meidinger Janell Walz Janet Cron Jennifer Hartze-Goehring Jennifer Werner Jeremy Hein Jerry Ratzlaff Jodi Freier Joan Lorge Joe Hirschfeld Justin Beyer Justine Thompson Katie Paulson Kayla Knudson Kelsey Siegler Kim Frank Kristie Reinke Linda Morris Lisa Peterson Lori Hanson Lynn Kubas Mark Splonskowski Mary Wild Melanie Aeschliman Michelle Linstad Natalie Wandler Nick Lee Pam Lafrenz Paul Fracassi Paul Houdek Paula Fedder Randy Thompson Richard Score Rita Olson Robert Harshberger Robert Lehn Ross Dettmann Ryan Kamrowski Ryan Oberg Sandy Fossum Sandy Hansen Shane Marcuson Shawna Page Shirley Shaw Stacey Swanson Susan Spaeth Tami Lazur Tasha Krueger Teresa Ash Teresa Captain Todd Schreiner Trisha Laine Tyler Perleberg Vicki Hollen Wendy Belgarde

Introductions: President Dean Pearson introduced Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger and State Supervisor of Assessments Linda Leadbetter and turned the floor over to Rauschenberger.

Commissioner Rauschenberger spoke in reference to the federal changes on same sex marriages and how it affects the Disabled Veterans, Homestead, and Farm Exemptions. Rauschenberger thanked the Assessors and Tax Directors for their hard work and reminded everyone that the State Tax Department has an open door and that this is a team effort.

Linda Leadbetter, State Supervisor of Assessments, addressed the group reiterating that this is a team effort and that their Department is accountable to each of us. Leadbetter said that business items will be addressed later in the meeting and that the new Disabled Veterans Brochures were available for each jurisdiction to take one bundle, noting that it was also updated and available on the web site.

Pearson introduced Jeremy Bengtson, CEO REDI Comps, a real estate service company with a major focus on the Appraisal Valuation industry. Bengtson addressed the group and reviewed the services they offer

of 6 and how it would be administered. REDI Comps would like to offer NDAAO an association wide collaborative and standardized database system. REDI Comps participate in maintaining the database by continuously and independently collecting and researching sales transactions. Each user has the ability to add new or enrich existing records. The enriched data is stored privately in the NDAAO FREE DBMS and can be searched on by NDAAO members whom are invited in to the database management system. There would be no costs during the organizational period. Each user will carry a unique login and will be assessed for access. Fees would be based largely on the number of users, and the more users there are the lower the fees are for everyone.

President Dean Pearson opened the business meeting at 1:20 pm by introducing the executive board: Dean Pearson, President; Paul Houdek, Vice President; Linda Morris, Past President, Brenda Johnson, Member-at-Large and Carla Broadland, Secretary/Treasurer.

Introduction of members was done by each member standing and introducing themselves with their names and jurisdiction.

Minutes: Minutes of the 2014 annual meeting held on August 11, 2014, were provided to each member at registration. The minutes were reviewed by the members. Secretary Broadland indicated a correction to the minutes, listing President Pearson, not President Peterson on page 4. Gary Emter made a motion to approve the minutes as amended; seconded by Nick Lee; motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report / Audit: Broadland reviewed income and expense form July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015 with an ending checking account balance of $24,781.94 along with a Certificate of Deposit of $13,029.19; Total Assets as of June 30, 2015: $37,811.13.

Stacey Swanson reported for the Auditing Committee. Stacey along with Robert Harshberger completed the annual audit of the financial records. The financial records were complete. The Annual Financial Report is on file with the Treasurer. Stacey asked for the association to approve the financial audit. Janell Walz made a motion to approve; seconded by Lori Hanson; motion carried.

Ben Hushka said that years ago he had served as Secretary/Treasurer and at that time it took many hours to complete the tasks assigned to that position. Hushka felt that the tasks had evolved since that time and that the stipend should be increased to $1,500 per year. Ben Hushka made a motion to increase the Secretary/Treasurer Stipend to $1,500 per year; seconded by Allan Vietmeier; motion carried.

Report of Officers President Pearson commented on the Executive Board meetings held over the past year. The Executive Board continues to work with the State Tax Department regarding Education. He stated how important it was to maintain this discussion with legislative changes made to our licensing requirements.

Introduction of NCRAAO Directors: President Pearson introduced the directors for the North Central Regional Association of Assessing Officers: Kevin Ternes, Linda Morris and Robert Harshberger.

of 6 Linda Morris said that the drawing for the $500 NCRAAO Scholarship was now open to all attendees, not just new attendees and asked everyone to sign up for the drawing located in the rear of the room that will be drawn on Wednesday afternoon. Linda encouraged everyone to attend the NCRAAO 2016 on June 19- 22, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Paula Fedder was the winner of the $500 scholarship to attend the NCRAAO 2015. Paula thanked Brenda for being her driver, said that she received a Certificate of Attendance along with 10-15 hours of continuing education credit, and that the entertainment was great. Paula suggested that NDAAO Members take a bus to NCRAAO in Iowa for 2016.

NDACo Delegate & Directors Jerry Ratzlaff, NDAAO’s Director for NDACo, provided members with information on the Association of Counties. He introduced the delegates to NDACo, Lisa Peterson & Lori Hanson. He encouraged our association to become involved. NDACo provides training for every office in the Court House and he encouraged attendance at their annual conference being hosted this year October 25 – 27th at the Bismarck Event Center. Shuttles will be provided from downtown hotels to the event center.

Report of Regular Committees: Executive Committee: President Pearson thanked the Executive Board for their time and the State Tax Department for the work this past year on education and certification requirements.

Membership Committee: Lori Hanson, Membership Chairman, commented on the number of new members to NDAAO. She recognized members who have reached milestone years with our organization. The membership committee presents certificates for members who have 5-10-15-20 or more in 5 year increments. She presented certificates to the following members:

Thirty Five Years: Robert LeQuire Thirty Years: Ross Dettmann Twenty Five Years: Wayne Ham Twenty Years: None Fifteen Years: None Ten Years: Ed Sevigny, Justine Thompson Five Years: Henry Gerving, Emily Wigen, Heather Hanna, Corrine Jochim, Heather Kippen, Bob Lehn, Ryan Oberg, Richard Score, Shirley Shaw, Allan Vietmeier

Hanson reported that there were no Lifetime Memberships requested. President Pearson asked if there were any nominations from the floor; further nominations include Wanda Wilcox and John Herz. Pearson commented that the Board will accept the nominees and vote at a future Executive Board meeting for confirmation.

Hanson asked if the Membership Committee or Regions should take turns to host a social on Sunday evening which would give the new members the opportunity to meet the experienced assessors. Discussion followed to have the social for 3 hours – 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Linda Morris, conference coordinator, explained that since the conference did not start until 1:00 pm on Monday most members would drive in Monday morning and the Executive Board did not think most jurisdictions would allow employees to come in Sunday evening to attend the social.

of 6 Legislative Committee: Discussion will be held when Linda Leadbetter, State Supervisor of Assessments, reviews legislative changes.

Report of Standing or Special Committees:

Education Committee: Allen Vietmeier, Chairman of the Education Committee, stated that there have been lots of changes to the educational requirements for certified assessors and that the State Tax Department along with the Education Committee and Executive Board are working together to provide good quality education to our members by the certification deadlines.

Linda Morris asked if the Education Committee could work with the State Tax Department to see why Continuing Education Credit was not allowed at the recent NCRAAO Conference for specific classes. Janell Walz asked what the criteria was for the State to count the hours. Allan stated that he thought if it was an “enhancement course” the hours would not be credited but if the material directly related to a course required to receive certification those hours would be considered. Ben Hushka suggested the committee visit with the appraisal board to see what their requirements are along with the IAAO. Vietmeier will follow up with Kathy at the appraisal board.

Technology & Website Committee: Stacey Swanson, Chairman of the Website and Technology Committee, asked members to review the information she is passing around in reference to the type of software and GIS that each jurisdiction is using. She will update that information on the site. Swanson also reminded members that the password to the forms section was case sensitive and is all lower case: ndaao2009 and that the orange stars are the jobs available and the links to them.

Certification Committee: Vice President, Paul Houdek, reported that he had contacted Rick Stuart to see what the cost would be for him to write the test for the North Dakota Registered Assessment Appraiser. Cost to write the test was $7,200 and $11,000 to provide a three day course to prepare for the test for a total cost of $19,200. Houdek asked how many members would be interested in NDRAA Certification, ten members showed interest at this time. Discussion followed. The Executive Committee will continue to look for alternatives and volunteers to help write the test. There are only two members currently employed in ND who have the NDRAA designation: Ben Hushka & Gary Martinson.

(Members don’t have to wait for the test. They can start their project and check if they have met the education requirements.)

Reports by Region: The six regional representatives reported on activities and meetings held throughout the year. Region 1: Lori Hanson, President, commented that the region met once for open discussion on member’s concerns, legislative changes, and general issues. Region 2: Sponsored Vanguard training along with oil field properties, multi-story apartment buildings, and GRM cost approach. Region 3: Shirley Shaw, Secretary/Treasurer, reported that they met once and that they will meet again directly following this meeting. Region 4: Amber Gudajtes, President, indicated that the Region will meet following the annual meeting.

of 6 Region 5: Not very active – they had met after last year’s annual meeting which was the only meeting they had. Region 6: Had met twice during the year. The October 2014 meeting was discussions on general issues and the May 2015 meeting dealt with legislative changes. West Fargo hosts the meetings and the next meeting is scheduled in October 2015.

Introduction of Vendors: President Pearson introduced the four vendors / sponsors attending our annual conference. Each gave a brief comment on their company. Sponsors included: Bill Wetzel with Sidwell Company; Brenda Dahlstrom with GIS Workshop, Inc.; Bob Lehn, with Pickett and Co.; and Bob Ehler and Ryan Ehli with Vanguard Appraisals.

Unfinished Business: There was no unfinished business.

New Business: President Pearson reviewed a proposed By-Law Change to Section F stating that the Education Committee is not a standing committee and would like to make it a regular committee. Members reviewed the proposed change:

Education Committee: The Education Committee shall work with the State Tax Commissioner's office to assist with the responsibility of planning and coordinating education of the membership. Their goal is to improve the assessment profession in the State of North Dakota. The Education Committee shall consist of seven members appointed by the President, including a representative of the State Tax Department.

Janet Cron made a motion to approve the proposed By-Law Change adding Section F. Education Committee; seconded by Diana Krause; motion carried.

Election of Officers for 2015-2017: Jerry Ratzlaff, Chairman of the Nominating Committee, submitted the following names as nominations for the executive board: Paul Houdek, President ~ Henry Gerving, Vice President ~ Carla Broadland, Secretary / Treasurer. He asked for nominations from the floor. There being no nominations from the floor, Betty Koslofsky moved and Janell Walz seconded that nominations cease and that a unanimous vote be cast for the nominees; motion carried.

Recognition: Paul Houdek presented out-going president Dean Pearson with a thank-you gift from the NDAAO members for everything that Dean did for the organization during his term as president.

General or Further Discussion: o Recognized those members that plan to retire during the 2015 – 2016 year including Mary Wild, Janet Cron, Diane Brines, Gary Emter, and Barb Zerface. o Linda Leadbetter, State Supervisor of Assessments, addressed the membership reviewing education and legislative changes. HB 1059 establishes required certification as a Class I

of 6 Assessor for county directors of tax equalization and assessors of cities with a population of 5,000 or greater; establishes a Class II Assessor Certification; and establishes 24 month requirement to attain certificate from the date of appointment. Leadbetter also reported that the Property Tax Division is transitioning to an Automated IT Division.

There being no further business President Houdek asked for adjournment. Janell Walz made a motion to adjourn; seconded by Nick Lee; motion carried. Members were asked to meet in the pool area of the Comfort Inn for a group picture following the meeting.

Respectively submitted, Carla Broadland Secretary/Treasurer