GISValTech2025

Using the Modern Data Stack for Modeling and Analysis (Morning Half-Day) Workshop
Monday, March 3, 2025 - 8:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Instructor: Jean Cochrane, Senior Data Scientist, Cook County Assessor’s Office, IL

Are you struggling to build dashboards and models on top of your office's data systems, despite knowing how to write code and wrangle data? Teams that have software engineering and data science capacity can find themselves hamstrung by legacy databases or vendor tools that aren't built with programmatic interfaces in mind.

In this hands-on workshop, we'll learn about modern open-source and cloud-based data tools like Spark, dbt, Parquet, and AWS Athena, and we'll use them to build a simple ELT (extract, load, transform) workflow to pull data from a rigid source system into a more flexible data warehouse where we can easily manipulate them using tools like R, Python, SQL, and Tableau.

Hands-on workshop: Workshop participants will use their own computer/laptops for the exercises, using calculation tools provided by the workshop. 

Converting SPSS Regression Models to Python Regression Models Using Jupyter Notebook (Afternoon Half-Day) Workshop
Monday, March 3, 2025 - 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Instructor(s): Brad Welborn, Chief Technology Officer, Thimgan & Associates, La Junta, CO

This workshop will demonstrate how to convert an existing SPSS regression model to a Python regression model within the Jupyter Notebook development environment.

This course will cover such topics as:

• Differences between SPSS, Python and Jupyter Notebook
• Understanding the Pandas statistical package
• Importing CAMA data
• Creating additive and multiplicative models with Python
• Defining and using functions for modeling
• Using graphics to visualize modeling results
• Exporting predicted values
• Automating the modeling process

This workshop will walk through taking an existing SPSS model and convert it into Python model within Jupyter Notebook.  This workshop is most appropriate for experienced SPSS modelers who would like to leverage the power of Python.

Buckle up, assessors! This session is your one-way ticket to GIS greatness. Whether you're a GIS newbie or a seasoned pro, we'll show you how to harness the power of maps to make your job easier (and maybe even a little bit fun). Learn how to wrangle parcel data, spot property value outliers like a hawk, and explain those pesky assessments to stakeholders without breaking a sweat.

We'll even throw in some AI magic and field workflow tips to keep things interesting. Trust us, you'll leave this session feeling like a GIS superhero (cape not included).

• Exploring GIS for Assessors
  Linda Foster, PLS, GISP, MGIS, Director - Land Records/Cadastre, Esri
  Lauren Voelker, Senior Solution Engineer, Esri

Get ready to ditch those dusty old maps and dive into the wild world of digital twins! This session will take you on a whirlwind tour of how mapping tech has evolved from boring 2D blobs to mind-blowing 3D simulations. We'll show you how to use these fancy new tools to spot wonky property assessments, keep your tax base from imploding, and maybe even make your city a little bit smarter. We'll even throw in some real-world examples from Korea (because who doesn't love a good international property tax drama?). So, grab your thinking caps and get ready to level up your mapping game!

• Analysis of Spatiotemporal Changes in Seoul Apartment Prices Using the Space-Time Cube Model
  Su-Yeon Jung, Ph.D., Professor, Jeju National University, Republic of Korea
• From 2D Base Maps to Digital Twins
  Jason Caldwell, Vice President of Business Development and Sales, Sanborn Geospatial, Colorado Springs, CO

Get ready to ditch those dusty old spreadsheets and embrace the future of property data! This session will take you on a wild ride through the world of AI and GIS, showing you how these powerful tools can turn mountains of data into actionable insights. We'll show you how to teach computers to see like humans (well, almost), uncover hidden property value trends, and even make those pesky stakeholders happy. We'll even throw in some real-world examples to prove that this stuff actually works (no smoke and mirrors here!). So, grab your thinking caps and get ready to transform your property data game!

• Strategies to Transform Land Records & Assessment Workflows Using GIS
  Kyle Wikstrom, MGIS, GISP, Solutions Director, Pro-West & Associates, Walker, MN

Buckle up, folks! This session is your crash course in using GIS to make property assessments and appeals less painful (for everyone involved). We will show you how Cuyahoga County used maps to make their reappraisal process more transparent (and less likely to cause a riot). Then, we'll head down south to Bossier Parish to see how they're using GIS to fight property tax appeals like pros.

You will learn how to use maps to explain those pesky assessments to the public, spot wonky valuations before they become a problem, and even win those dreaded appeals. We promise it'll be way more fun than it sounds!

• Peaking Behind the Curtain: How GIS Empowers Transparency in Cuyahoga County’s Reappraisal
  Jordan Abbott, GIS Analyst, Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, OH
  Tom Fisher, GISP, AICP, Enterprise Geospatial Technologies Administrator, Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, OH
• Mapping Success: Leveraging GIS in property Tax Appeals
  Jake Parkinson, Assessor Consultant, Valuebase, Salt Lake City, UT
  Bobby Edmiston, Assessor, Bossier Parish, Louisiana, Benton, LA

Get ready to ditch those dusty old blueprints and embrace the digital revolution! This session will show you how high-tech tools like street-level imagery and LiDAR are transforming the way assessors do their jobs. We'll take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of how Clark County, OH is using these tools to catch property tax dodgers and keep their records squeaky clean. Then, we'll head over to Clermont County to see how they're using sketch verification to uncover hidden revenue and streamline their assessment process. You'll learn how to spot those sneaky property changes, recover lost tax dollars, and maybe even impress your boss (or at least avoid getting fired). So, grab your gadgets and get ready to geek out on GIS!

• Support Cyclical Reassessments with Street Level Imagery
  Bill Wetzel, Account Executive-Midwest, Cyclomedia Technology, Inc., Middleton, WI
  Shayne Gray, GIS Director, Clark County Auditor’s Office, Springfield, OH
• Sketch Verification: The Key to Uncovering Lost Revenue and Boosting Accuracy with Clermont County, OH
  Joe Oddi, Director of Partner Strategies, EagleView
  Cindy Hawk, Deputy Auditor, Clermont County, OH

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) successfully generates Council Tax bands for 26m+ residences and Business Rates for 2m+ non-domestic properties, yielding over £60bn for Local Authorities in England and Wales.

For several decades, the VOA has used a combination of specialist human knowledge and a relatively simple geospatial ecosystem. In 2019, the Business Systems Transformation (BST) program was set up to address VOA’s longstanding technical debt and meet an aspiration to develop resilience to changes in government policy.

This provided an opportunity to completely redesign the geospatial ecosystem, which is a core component of location intelligence used in property valuation.

The tasks included the transformation of a) ageing technology; b) legacy geo-analytical processes; c) fragmented geospatial data governance; and d) limited geospatial data and science literacy. In 2023, BST successfully delivered VOA’s first enterprise-level Geographical Information System (GIS), VMS, with the following activities:

1. Incorporating business and users’ needs closely during the design of application, change management, and learning; and incorporating best practices from other organizations.
2. Reducing development time, cutting expenses, and enabling reconfiguration for any type of mapping by using a single source code to create various VMS versions.
3. Enabling the historical mapping, multi-criteria decision-making, and interactive exploration through linked views.
4. Using rigorous novel geo-analytics to redefine how VOA models and visualizes the geographical homogeneity of valuation and link the properties to other geospatial intelligence.

VMS is used daily by over 1000 users within the VOA. Users have reported improved productivity, quality, and an uplift in their working experience.

Provision of variety of authoritative data layers (latest maps, aerial images, street views) in a single interface has made it easier to remain in a single workflow, rather than switching between windows. Use of government address data standards such as UPRN has reduced ambiguities in address search.

Aside from operational users, VMS has also been a catalyst in the use of geospatial data, science and technology for automated valuation modelling and machine learning by data scientists.

Sanjay Rana, Geospatial Lead, Valuation Office Agency (VOA), Bristol, United Kingdom

Get ready to dive deep into the wacky world of human psychology and data management! This session will explore the sneaky ways our brains can trick us into making bad decisions, especially when dealing with complex property valuations. We'll show you how to spot those pesky cognitive biases, like narrative bias and framing effects, and learn how to fight back with objective data analysis. Then, we'll take a trip to Cuyahoga County to see how they tamed their land records chaos and created a streamlined system that even your grandma could understand. You'll leave this session armed with the tools to make smarter decisions, tell better data stories, and maybe even impress your boss (or at least avoid getting fired). So, grab your thinking caps and get ready for a mind-bending adventure!

• Shaping Reality: The Power of Narratives in Data Analysis, Visualization, and Decision Architecture
  Bindi Shakya, Msc., Mass Appraisal Modeler I, City of Philadelphia, PA
• Modernizing Cuyahoga County Land Records: Overcoming Challenges
  Tom Fisher, GISP, AICP, Enterprise GIS Technologies Administrator, Cuyahoga County, OH
  Dan Giersz, Information Systems Analyst, Cuyahoga County, OH

Parcel Mapping in ArcGIS Pro (Afternoon Half-Day) Workshop
Thursday, March 6, 2025 - 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Instructors: Wendy Peloquin, GISP, Business Development Manager, Avineon, St. Petersburg, FL
Kent Rothrock, Director of Technical Services, Avineon, Banner Elk, NC

The focus of this workshop will be on parcel mapping in ArcGIS Pro (using the topology model and / or the Parcel Fabric). The format will be lecture / demo.
We’ll be discussing both using the topology model in ArcGIS Pro as well as using the Parcel Fabric in ArcGIS Pro. In both cases, we’ll discuss:

The required migration processes

• Necessary data preprocessing
• Necessary data upgrades
  
  

Demonstrate specific edit workflows including:

• Transfer
• Split
• Remap.
• Subdivisions.
  
  

Other details to be addressed include:

• Planning for the change
• Platform requirements (server hardware and software)
• PC considerations and requirements
• Software licensing details
• Training considerations
• Specific workflow details
• Updating downstream processes
• Web services
• Parcel data extracts / integrating tax data; etc
• Customizing the interface
• Attribute rules
• Potential gotchas