Introduction by Kirk Boone

Maybe the assessment stars were aligned two weeks ago when PTEP held IAAO 300, Fundamentals of Mass Appraisal, in Rocky Mount, NC.

  • On August 20, the first day of class, WRAL, our local NBC affiliate, published an article about leading edge statistics software used to support Wake County mass appraisal. Marcus Kinrade, AAS, Wake County Revenue Director, shared the following article with me.
  • WRAL is a pioneer in technology. In 1996, WRAL provided the first public high definition television broadcast in the United States. In 2016, they became the first US station to broadcast a full time service using standards for 4K ultra HD content.
  • SAS Institute, the company providing the statistical technology, is leading-edge.  The world’s largest privately held software company, right here in Wake County, is used by Google as a model for some of their own workplace development.
  • Mr. Kinrade was attending IAAO 300 that week.  The course introduces statistical techniques used in mass appraisal. Although IAAO 300 topics such as clustering and  regression analysis have been in use for hundreds of years, it is the same mathematics combined with today’s technology and local government leadership that allow for what you’re about to read. This is an impressive collaboration between a leading-edge company and a leading-edge county.

 

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