March 2000

President’s Message

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and the winter has treated you well. The best news so far this year is that Milwaukee has been awarded the 2006 IAAO conference. We have not had the conference in Wisconsin since 1948 so it is about time. A special thanks to Mary Reavey,  Peter   Weissenfluh  and Carol  Kuehn for their efforts in selling Milwaukee and Wisconsin. It would be nice to increase our IAAO membership over the next few years, so plan and budget ahead. You might even take the opportunity to attend the 2005 conference in Alaska and promote attendance in Milwaukee. There is also a tremendous amount of work involved with being the Host State and many volunteers will be needed.

The assessment profession continues to be a series of adventures and challenges:  the exemption status of YMCA’s is still an unresolved topic. Agricultural use value still has many unanswered questions. WAAO is forming an Ad Hoc committee to consider issues on ag use with representatives from the Real Estate Standards, Rural Concerns, Exemption and Legislative Committees taking part. Hopefully a vendor will have been awarded a contract for the Cost Manual Update and CAMA system by the time you read this.

Be sure to periodically check the Website and keep abreast of new developments. The Webpage is updated almost daily and is a great source for viewing the latest court decisions. In particular the Supreme Court Case of ABKA Limited Partnership vs. Fontana is worth reading. It is good to see some favorable language relative to bundle of rights and income approach issues.

If you find issues we need to address or you have opinions on issues, be sure to inform your Executive Board Members. We are elected by the membership to represent you!

Bob