Closed - SS 1 – APPRAISAL INSTITUTE - SOLVING LAND VALUATION PUZZLES, 7hrs. Wednesday and Thursday, Instructor: Brett Hall, MAI, AMA, Hennepin County: This seminar will focus on a variety of land valuation and feasibility problems for the beginner to intermediate level. The focus is on commercial assignments, but the concepts have applications to residential assignments. Topics include H & B use considerations, land residual analysis, contamination, TIF, alternatives when inadequate land sales exist, subdivision analysis and condemnation. MN Commerce credits are available.  HP 12c Calculator is required.  Registration will close on May 13 for this seminar only. Limit 65

SS 2 – RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION, 4 hrs. Wednesday, Instructors: Jason Jorgensen, SAMA, Wadena County & Erik Skogquist, SAMA, Local Assessor:  Learn what different types of material and components go into a house from the excavation and footings to the shingles. This course will also cover some examples of what makes a home higher quality compared to a minimum code built home. This seminar was offered in May 2018. Limit 25

Seminar Full - SS 3 – EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION FOR ASSESSORS, 4 hrs. Wednesday, Instructor: John Gellatly, Retired Assessor: We begin with an analysis of concepts that assessors must attempt to explain to taxpayers and the value of written messages to that attempt.  This is followed by instructions in building the foundation of lucid writing to successfully establish the writer’s meaning in the mind of the reader:  choice of words, sentence structure, organization of the message, and presentation.  Examples related to the assessment field and other occupations are offered as well as sample outlines and letters dealing with assessment administration issues. This seminar was offered in May 2018. Limit 25

 SS 4 – FROM PAIRED SALE TO REGRESSION, 4 hrs. Wednesday, Ben Bedard, SAMA, Olmsted County: Appraisers make valuation adjustments every day. Often our experience and knowledge of the market are enough to make these adjustments. However, sometimes we need more. This class will instruct appraisers on different methods to quantify adjustments from sales data. We will review the sales comparison approach with simple paired sales analysis, complex paired sales analysis and group paired sales analysis. Discussion will also include an overview of regression and interpreting the results.  Limit 65

 SS 5 – GRAIN ELEVATORS, 4 hrs. Wednesday, Instructor: Bob Ehler, Vanguard Appraisals Inc.: Discussion will begin with the components of a commercial grain elevator, including what items should be included in the assessment and which items should be excluded as personal property/equipment. The various types of storage and types of grain elevators will be discussed including the pros and cons of each type and the design and layout of a grain facility and its impact on the facilities value. The history of the commercial grain industry will be explored including the impact of the ethanol industry to the flow of grain. Finally, we will review the proposed cost schedules for the new MN Grain Elevator Cost Schedule. Limit 65

 SS 6 – WHAT THE FF&E? A GUIDE TO HOTEL VALUATION, 4 hrs. Wednesday, Instructor: Tanya J. Pierson, MAI – Managing Director of HVS, Alyssa Browne, MAI, SAMA, City of Minneapolis: Do terms like blue-sky, business enterprise, going concern value, return of/on FF&E, etc... make your head hurt? Do you think the “Rushmore Approach” is from South Dakota? – If so, this seminar is for you.  We will have two very knowledgeable presenters instruct on the hospitality industry and the nuances of hotel valuation. Tanya J. Pierson, MAI - Managing Director of HVS will provide her experience and knowledge from working and analyzing the hospitality industry. Alyssa Browne, MAI with the City of Minneapolis, will present on common tactics from the opposition in Tax Court and provide insight on how the City of Minneapolis approaches the multiple valuation issues of hotel appeals. Limit 65

SS 7 – SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK, 4 hrs. Wednesday, Instructors: Andrea Fish, Jessi Glancey, Susan Raverty, and Mark Peterson: The work of the property tax administrator begins with the laws that explain how to do our work. While assessors may not feel in control of the laws they are held to, they must seek to fairly and uniformly implement them. This seminar will seek to remove the veil obscurity and help assessors understand how the legislative process impacts their work, how to consider the administrative and tax shift implications of proposed law changes, how to identify concerns with administering proposed law changes, and how to review policy proposals from a statewide lens – considering the many types of properties and priorities across a diverse state. At the end of the seminar, attendees will be able to better understand how property tax laws are developed and administered. Limit 65

 SS 8 - MN RESIDENTIAL FORM REPORT, 4 hrs. Wednesday, Instructors: Form Report Instructors and Graders: This seminar will assist individuals in writing a residential demonstration form report. The student will be provided with the most complete and up to date checklist to refer to as the candidate writes their report. The student reference manual will provide step-by-step instructions for writing the report and will include many examples to help them successfully complete their report.  Limit 25

 SS 9 – UNDERSTANDING LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS, 4 hrs. Thursday, Instructor: Mike Fangman, LS, Rice County Surveyor & Past President of the MN Association of County Surveyors: This seminar is designed to help appraisers better understand legal descriptions. Legal descriptions may be complicated and a bit intimidating, but they don’t have to be. The discussion will include aliquot portions of a section, metes and bounds, platted lots, assumed bearings vs. county coordinate systems, strip descriptions, exceptions, area descriptions, riparian lots, Torrens vs. Abstract, and more. This seminar was offered in May 2017. Limit 25

 Seminar Full - SS 10 – FARM BUSINESS STRUCTURES AND OWNERSHIPS, 4 hrs. Thursday,Instructor: C. Robert Holcomb, U of M Extension Services: This presentation will provide an overview of MN farm financial and profitability trends from year end 2018. Data will be from SW Minnesota; however, this data normally is a good indicator of the overall agricultural economy. We will review the basic entity structures and why farm managers are changing the business structure of production agriculture. The discussion will be expanded to include the business organization, liability protection, formation and dissolution, entity maintenance and how money flows to the farm operator.  Limit 65

 Seminar Full - SS 11 - ESRI ArcGIS Online, 4 hrs. Thursday, Instructor: Kyle Wikstrom and Brandon Tourtelotte , Pro-West GIS: If you are an assessor who has been meaning to learn GIS skills that you can apply to your work, without the need to learn Desktop GIS software, this is the course for you. We will focus on Esri’s ArcGIS Online software. All you need is your web browser and we will provide you with a login that you can use during class. We will provide hands-on examples and next steps that you can take back to your office. We will also provide a showcase of pre-configured solutions that Esri offers for specific needs and challenges like those you face regularly. We will explore best practices for assessors and review tips on understanding the data you have, the tools you have, and what it takes to move forward. Laptop recommended with internet browser. Limit 25

 Seminar Full - SS 13 – SAFETY and SECURITY for ASSESSORS, 4 hrs. Thursday, Instructor: Brian Doughty, Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust (MCIT): As assessors, you run into all kinds of unpredictable situations. We will focus our discussion on road safety, common exposures assessors incur with slips, trips and falls and how to prevent them, how to deal with difficult taxpayers, best practices for off-site security, dog bite prevention and other pests or noxious plants you may encounter in the field, office and vehicle ergonomics, and general safety including office hazard identification and general exposures in the field. Limit 65

 SS 14 – DISASTER RESPONSE OVERVIEW, 4 hrs. Thursday, Instructor: Kelly Schroeder, SAMA, Pine County and Josh Schoen, SAMA, Rice County: This seminar will give the who, what, when, why and how of the disaster response and reassessment process. It will prepare you for the disaster before it happens. There will be discussion on differing techniques used in a disaster response, including using technologies if they are available. Many examples and real world exercises will be included. Limit 65

 SS 15 - MN RESIDENTIAL FORM REPORT – HANDS ON, 4 hrs. Thursday, Instructors: Form Report Instructors and Graders:  This workshop will be a hands-on experience where candidates can bring their form reports, all of their data, and have four uninterrupted hours to work on their report. Form Report Instructors and Graders will be on hand to help with any questions or stumbling blocks you may encounter.Please be prepared to work on your report. Bring more data than you think you need so you will have ample information and comparable sales to make suggested adjustments and changes. DON’T FORGET YOUR LAPTOP AND CALCULATOR. Limit 25