Almy, Gloudemans, Jacobs & Denne
Property Taxation and Assessment Consultants
About AGJD Services Clients Publications Contact Us Home

Our Services

Reputation for Competence and Objectivity

Evaluating property tax systems and developing solutions require competence, independence and objectivity. Different agencies and tiers of government have different priorities, and tensions among different parties are inherent in property tax administration. Even well informed professionals will disagree as to the nature of problems and as to solutions.

Almy, Gloudemans, Jacobs & Denne has established a reputation for competence, fairness, objectivity, and even-handed representation of differing perspectives, as our many long-term client relationships testify. An overview of our many services follows. We are not a revaluation contractor, and we do not sell CAMA software.

Performance Audits, System Analysis, and Business Process Engineering

AGJD uses a structured approach to making procedure audits and defining property tax system needs. Our experience gives us extensive knowledge of all phases of the valuation and assessment processes (data collection, valuation, review, and appeal) and of the personnel, computing, and funding resources required to support them.

During our careers, we have led or participated in dozens of performance evaluations. The evaluations ranged from small local jurisdictions to national property tax systems. The Canadian provinces and U.S. states and territories in which we have worked include Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Saskatchewan, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. We have helped design, implement, or evaluate property tax systems in Argentina, Armenia, Bahamas, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Namibia, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.

Ratio Studies and Equalization

The design and evaluation of ratio studies and provincial and state equalization programs are areas of specialty. We have experience with the ratio studies and equalization programs of Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Saskatchewan, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

(back to top)

Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) Systems

Our work with computer-assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) systems includes:

  • Hands-on experience in CAMA system development and mass appraisal model building. North American clients for whom we have built operational CAMA models include Alexandria, Virginia; the State of Arizona; Brevard County, Florida; the City of Calgary, Alberta; Cook County, Illinois; the City of Detroit, Michigan; the District of Columbia; Douglas County, Colorado; the City of Edmonton, Alberta; Jefferson County, Colorado; Johnson County, Kansas; Kent County, Delaware; Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona; the State of New York; the Province of Ontario; the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Pierce County (Tacoma), Washington; Pima County (Tucson), Arizona; Polk County (Des Moines), Iowa; the Province of Saskatchewan; Shawnee County, Kansas; Shelby County (Memphis), Tennessee; the City of Superior, Wisconsin; Tulsa County, Oklahoma; the City of Two Rivers, Wisconsin; and the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Other countries in which we have built either pilot or operational models include Armenia, Egypt, Iceland, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Namibia, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.

  • Writing and training in CAMA model building. We have been fortunate to have had major responsibility for leading treatises on the subject of mass appraisal for property tax purposes, including the following publications of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO): Improving Real Property Assessment: A Reference Manual (1978, we were coauthors); Property Appraisal and Assessment Administration (1990, we were technical editors and contributors); Mass Appraisal of Real Property (1999, Mr. Gloudemans is the author), and Fundamentals of Mass Appraisal (2011, Mr. Almy and Mr. Gloudemans are the authors). We have taught mass appraisal concepts and mass appraisal modeling using PC-based exercises for operational clients, IAAO, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. In addition to exercises in Canada and USA, we have provided training in Armenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Namibia, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.

  • Evaluations of in-place CAMA systems. We have evaluated CAMA systems for the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska; the State of Arizona; Boulder County, Colorado; Brevard County, Florida; the City of Calgary, Alberta; Cook County, Illinois; the District of Columbia; the City of Edmonton, Alberta; Fulton County, Georgia; the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut; the Idaho Tax Commission; Kent County, Delaware; the State of Massachusetts; New Castle County, Delaware; the City of Norfolk, Virginia; Oklahoma County, Oklahoma; the Province of Saskatchewan; Sedgwick County, Kansas; Solano County, California; the City of St. Albert, Alberta; Tulsa County, Oklahoma; the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia; the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba; Wyandotte County, Kansas; and the State of Wyoming, as well as systems in Cape Town, South Africa; England; and Iceland.

  • Assistance with CAMA system procurement. This has included developing specifications, evaluating proposals, and monitoring implementation. Clients we have served in one or more of these capacities include the State of Alaska; Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania; the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska; the State of Arizona; the State of Connecticut; Cook County, Illinois; the District of Columbia; Dona Ana County, New Mexico; the City of Edmonton, Alberta; Erie County, Pennsylvania; the State of Massachusetts; Peoria County, Illinois; the City of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Shelby County (Memphis), Tennessee; the State of West Virginia; and the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. These evaluations included comparisons of system functional capabilities, provisions for staff training and system support, and cost.

(back to top)

Revaluation Project Requirements, Planning, and Oversight

We have extensive knowledge of all phases of the revaluation project process, ranging from determining the need for a revaluation through development of project specifications for data collection, valuation, review, and appeal. We also are experienced in estimating personnel, computing, and funding requirements.

We have helped the states of Connecticut, Oklahoma, and West Virginia develop plans for statewide revaluations. We reviewed a revaluation program in Saskatchewan and have helped the Province develop a quality assurance program. We have performed similar services for local governments, including Brevard County, Florida; the District of Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; Erie and Lancaster counties, Pennsylvania; Jefferson County, Colorado; Kent and New Castle counties, Delaware; the Province of Ontario; Peoria County, Illinois; Shelby County, Tennessee; and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Strategic Planning

We believe successful efforts to improve property tax administration often require a strategic planning approach. Our strategic planning experience includes Cook County, Illinois; the City of Edmonton, Alberta; the Florida Department of Revenue; the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency; the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba; and the Republic of Armenia.

Writing

Project reports, requests for proposals (RFPs), manuals, and the like must be well organized and well written if they are to communicate requirements clearly. As the discussion of our individual qualifications reveals, we have extensive experience in writing texts and manuals, professional standards, technical specifications, and training and testing materials.

(back to top)

Teaching and Training

Our first-hand experience with teaching in property tax policy and administration, valuation, CAMA systems, ratio studies, and other subjects helps us anticipate the views and needs of property tax administrators. Mr. Gloudemans has taught the following courses and workshops for the International Association of Assessing Officers: Fundamentals of Assessment Ratio Studies; 201, Land Valuation; 202, Advanced Income Approach; 301, Mass Appraisal of Residential Property; 302, Mass Appraisal of Income Property; 303, Computer Assisted Appraisal Systems; 305, Mass Appraisal Model Building; and 306, Advanced Mass Appraisal Modeling for Income Properties. He is a primary author of many IAAO instructor and student reference manuals. Mr. Gloudemans has also taught University of British Columbia-sponsored courses and courses for client jurisdictions in mass appraisal model building using SPSS. These clients include the cities of Boston, Calgary, Edmonton, Philadelphia, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg; Brevard and Orange counties, Florida; Cook County, Illinois; Harris County, Texas; Jefferson and Summit counties, Colorado; Johnson and Shawnee counties, Kansas; Harris County, Texas; Pierce and Snohomish counties, Washington; the Institute of Iowa Assessors; the Utah Association of Assessing Officers; the states of Arizona, Florida, Kansas, New York, and Utah; and the provinces of Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. Mr. Almy teaches valuation and property taxation courses in Europe and Asia for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and he helped write the materials for these courses. Mr. Almy and Mr. Gloudemans have served on the teaching faculty of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Mr. Almy also has developed materials for IAAO Course 402, Property Tax Policy. We also have both group and individual tutorial teaching experiences in the areas of valuation model building, ratio studies, and introducing market value-based property tax systems.

(back to top)