Read the latest story of how communities like the District of Columbia are using Vision 8 CAMA to implement excellent assessment practices.

During the 2019 IAAO Annual Conference, Vision users from the District of Columbia received special recognition for joining an elite group of fewer than 50 municipalities who have successfully achieved this certification.

Well known by members of the IAAO, the CEAA (Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration) is a particularly challenging and rigorous self-conducted evaluation of appraisal best practices as defined in the IAAO publication Assessment Practices: Self-Evaluation Guide.

Assessment offices in the U.S. have achieved the IAAO's CEAA

Here’s what Vladimir Jadrijevic, Director for the Office of Tax and Revenue’s Real Property Tax Administration, had to say regarding their motivation for achieving their CEAA:

“Within the District of Columbia’s OCFO (Office of the Chief Financial Officer) we have undertaken a very strong effort towards continuous improvement. This concept has been ingrained into our culture and is something we take very seriously. The ultimate goal of this effort is to make small, incremental, continuous improvements to fine tune our processes and procedures to ensure that we are positioned to serve our district as a best in class organization now, and in the future.

That’s really what initiated our interest in taking on the challenge of receiving our CEAA (Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration). In order to accomplish this goal we knew we needed to have the highest caliber of people, the best technology out there and the best partners out there.”

Vladimir Jadrijevic

Director for the Office of Tax and Revenue's Real Property Tax Administration, District of Columbia

As members may know, the IAAO has made a strong point of encouraging offices to integrate their best practices into their workplace, and highly recommends that each municipality consider pursuing this documented program of excellence in assessment administration. However, for some communities, outdated technology may be playing a factor in their decision to delay entrance to the program. Luckily for the District of Columbia this was not the case.

“From the technology perspective, we felt very strongly that the model we had designed within Vision and the flexibility of the tools at our disposal would fit the bill. Throughout the process there were several challenges and assignments that required us to present how we execute on our current model. Demonstrating how we use the Vision 8 platform with features like GIS and pictometry to deliver accurate assessments was a vital component in meeting the international standards set by the IAAO.

By completing this challenge, we were able to receive validation from an independent source on what we were doing right, as well as identify certain areas of our business practices that we can improve on in the future. It’s been very helpful in allowing us to create a road map for future improvements that may include additional technology like the mobile solution offered by Vision through their partnership with Data Cloud Solutions.“

Olufemi Omotoso

Chief Appraiser for the Office of Tax and Revenue's Real Property Tax Administration, District of Columbia

Based on this information we can begin to get a sense of the level of work and dedication required to achieve the CEAA. This begs a fair question. Is the time and effort required really worth it? Vladimir Jadrijevic would leave us with the following advice.
“As a government district we would highly recommend that everyone go through this process. The information collected along the way was invaluable in allowing us to move forward on our journey of continual improvement and our goal of delivering the best assessments possible for our community. With the right technology and talent in place there is no reason that this certificate shouldn’t be hanging on the wall of every assessing office in the country.”
Vladimir Jadrijevic

Director for the Office of Tax and Revenue's Real Property Tax Administration, District of Columbia

Learn more about Vision 8 CAMA

Designed by assessors, for assessors

Learn more about the CEAA

Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration