GIS/ValTech 2027

Leveraging ArcGIS Pro to Manage Parcels (Full-Day Workshop)
Monday, February 22, 2027 - 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Instructor: ​Jason Camerano, Principal Product Engineer, Esri
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In this hands-on workshop, attendees will learn about managing parcels in ArcGIS Pro, utilizing the Parcel Fabric data model, and how to extend it for their data migration. Once data is migrated, the focus will shift to common record-driven and quality-driven workflows.

Agenda:
The ArcGIS Parcel Fabric information model and how to extend it for your organization
• Data migration to the Parcel Fabric
• Record-driven workflows and parcel lineage
• Quality-driven workflows to evaluate and improve data quality
• Modern implementation patterns that use service-oriented architecture (SOA) and versioning to support
• Multi-user, concurrent editing
• Using and configuring Tasks for your repeatable workflows
• The latest software trends and roadmap

Hands-on workshop: Workshop participants will use their own computer/laptops for the exercises and recommend ArcGIS Pro 3.5 or later installed on their own laptop/machine. The instructor will be using ArcGIS Pro 3.8.

Keywords: GIS & Spatial Analysis, Data Standards & CAMA Integration

Intermediate, Workshop

Join us for this informal gathering to connect with fellow attendees, put faces to names, and get an inside look at what’s ahead for the conference. It’s the perfect way to kick off your conference experience, meet new colleagues, and start making connections right from the beginning!

This session includes the steps necessary to build a GIS department from the ground up, including clever funding that allows for transparency and taxpayer savings.

Donna Prince, DLP, ABD, Assessor, Clarendon County, SC
Alan Lee, Emergency Services Director, Clarendon County, SC

Keywords: Process Improvement & Operations, GIS & Spatial Analysis, Beginner

As assessment and GIS offices face shrinking workforces, rising workloads, and increasing demands for timely, defensible results, modernization is no longer optional. This session explores practical approaches to improving workflows through lessons from private-sector appraisal practice and emerging generative AI tools. Attendees will see how centralized data, workload dashboards, standardized documentation and forms, selective automation, and lightweight AI-assisted applications can streamline routine work and improve consistency. The session will offer real-world examples and a practical framework for determining which tools and workflow strategies can translate to the public-sector environment while accounting for statutory, due-process, and organizational constraints.

Doing More with Less: Workflow Automation Lessons from Private-Sector CRE Appraisal for Assessment Offices
Randy Cook, Director of Strategic Growth, Valcre, CA
Timothy Boncoskey, Advisor, Boncoskey Advisory Consulting, MO

AI as an Office Force-Multiplier: Practical Tools for Assessment Administration
Jonathan Beck, AAS, Assessor, Beckham County, Ok

This session will be a fireside chat on leadership, communication, and technology adoption in the modern Assessor’s Office. Technology modernization projects are often evaluated by how successful they are at meeting implementation timelines, budgets, and system functionality, which are frequently measured through various metrics. Yet the long-term success of these projects is frequently determined by something less technical and more human: how leaders prepare, communicate with, and support their people through change.

Recent advancements in technology hold great potential for assessment offices, but these adoptions also face an equally important challenge: helping employees communicate change confidently and clearly while strengthening public trust. Oftentimes taxpayers are unfamiliar with the assessment process and may interpret change through uncertainty rather than understanding. How leaders prepare their teams to communicate those changes can significantly influence public confidence through the transition to new technology.

The speakers bring two perspectives shaped by their experiences to this conversation. With 15 years of experience in the assessment industry, Jennifer Rearich shares firsthand experiences from one of the nation's largest assessor's offices, discussing the realities of technology modernization, data management, and organizational change. Yara Banks, with more than 25 years of experience in fair housing investigations, civil rights compliance, and organizational accountability, complements that perspective by exploring how leadership, communication, and organizational culture influence employee adoption, reduce unnecessary resistance, and help employees explain complex changes in ways that build understanding and trust rather than defensiveness.
Together, they will share practical strategies for leading modernization efforts, preparing employees for change, and strengthening communication with both internal teams and the communities they serve.

This session follows a real-world continuous improvement project completed at the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office through the discovery and solution development phases for future improvements to the annual process of summarizing and reporting total values for approximately 2,500 taxing districts.

Attendees will learn how a variety of continuous improvement tools and techniques were used to identify underlying issues, uncover root causes, generate potential solutions, and prioritize improvement opportunities. While every Assessor's Office faces unique challenges, the principles and techniques presented can be adapted to identify opportunities, solve problems, and drive continuous improvement in any environment.

Matt Stellino, BS, PMP, Senior Data Scientist, Maricopa County Assessor’s Office - AZ

Keywords: Process Improvement & Operations, Beginner

The best broad education in our field already exists. What is often missing is the hyper-local layer: your state's statutes, your CAMA system, your corner of the profession. In 2023, we set out to fill that local gap for our own community and built a peer-run conference from scratch.

This session tells the story of how a peer-run education conference grew from an idea between two people into a thriving annual event, and it hands you the practical blueprint to do the same. You will learn how to spot the gaps worth filling, recruit a founding team, choose a format and governance structure, fund the event without pricing anyone out, and draw both speakers and attendees from within your own community. Whether the need is software, appraisal, GIS, leadership, or something no one else is teaching, the grassroots model works.

Come and learn how to build affordable, peer-led education that your colleagues genuinely need, and that outlasts the people who start it.

Falon Hoven, Chief Deputy Assessor, Whatcom County - WA

Keywords: Workforce & Professional Development, Intermediate

Hard Conversations Happen! Are you prepared to navigate difficult situations gracefully and generate positive outcomes? From exchanging simple feedback to facilitating passionate debate, this session explores the profound impact we have on one another and how to cultivate a culture of clear, open, and professional communication. Learn to address challenging workplace topics head-on while navigating the personal realities that can impact productivity. Want to discover the core of what makes professional relationships thrive? Come see how culture and communication can overcome enormous obstacles, even elephants in the room!

Phillip Leveille, GIS Specialist Supervisor, Maricopa County Assessor’s Office - AZ

Keywords: Leadership & Communication, Beginner

This presentation provides a comprehensive, practical framework for strengthening disaster preparedness and ensuring continuity of operations within assessor offices. Drawn from real disaster experiences, it guides participants through both immediate post-incident response actions and essential pre-disaster planning measures that safeguard staff, facilities, digital systems, and core assessment functions. The program outlines a structured response timeline—from Day One through the First 30 Days—to help Assessor offices stabilize operations, restore critical workflows, support public communication, and resume property assessment responsibilities following a disruption.
In addition, the presentation delivers actionable preparedness strategies, including staff safety protocols, facility and physical asset protection, IT resilience planning, public communication readiness, interagency coordination, and Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) development. Participants receive practical takeaway checklists, templates, and planning tools that can be immediately applied to their own assessor offices. By expanding awareness of the full range of hazards—natural, technological, cyber, infrastructure, and organizational—the session equips assessor offices with the knowledge and resources necessary to minimize operational interruptions and maintain vital public and statutory services during emergencies.

Janet Jennings-Doyle, RPA, CCA, RTA, CTA, Director of Internal Audit and Compliance Department, Travis Central Appraisal District, Austin, TX
Susan Powell-Chehadi, Chief Deputy Assessor, Boulder County Assessor’s Office, CO

Keywords: Disaster Preparedness & Continuity, Process Improvement & Operations, Intermediate