Appraisal technician

Job Description

Responsible for a wide variety of real estate inspections, appraisals, valuations, property market data analysis and sales verifications. Assists in real estate tax abatement application reviews.

Essential Elements

• Conducts field reviews or (re)evaluations on new or changed residential, commercial, industrial or other properties.

• Building Permits: Reviews, takes field measurements, makes inspections, and places values thereon. Evaluates land and land changes. Assesses alterations and recommends revised valuations.

• Participates in appraising taxable personal property of retail, wholesale and industrial establishments.

• Analyzes and verifies sales of residential properties and uses sale values of "comparable" properties to assist in determining "Fair Market" values. Analyzes, reviews and acts upon abatement applications.

• Responsible for maintaining, revising, and changing property data in data base. Ensures that all relevant data on land, deed and property changes, and valuations are entered into computer system and ensures all city property is accounted for and valued.

• Assists patrons in responding to and answering requests for information.

• Assists management in department planning and strategy. Responds to Appellate Tax Board cases and supplies information as an expert witness. Prepares abutters lists.

• Prepares appraisal and other reports.

• Follows and adheres to department, City and other government rules, regulations, policies and procedures.

Secondary Elements

• As required, attends department counter and provides necessary assistance regarding department policies, procedures, and laws. Generates listing sheets.

• As required, analyzes neighborhood trends; assessment to sale ratios.

• As required, recommends, identifies, lists, and inspects taxable and non‑taxable property values.

• Participates and attends conferences, staff meetings, and workshops.

• Keeps abreast of Assessing programs and activities or other areas of interest.

• Performs other duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE: Bachelors and one to three years of related experience and/or training or equivalent combination of education and experience. Advanced knowledge of business administration and appraisal and assessment practices. Ability to operate equipment such as personal computers and technical computer software.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Ability to read, analyze and interpret professional journals, technical procedures or government regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedures manual. Ability to present information effectively, which may be controversial in nature and respond to questions from outside organizations, clients, citizens, or employees of the City.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS: Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, decimals. Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions and percentages. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra.

REASONING ABILITY: Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS: Valid Massachusetts Motor Vehicle operator’s license is required. State Appraisal License preferred.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here represent those requirements that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Please note that the posted salary range is not necessarily the hiring range. The starting salary typically falls within the first few steps of the posted salary range. The starting salary is influenced by relevant qualifications, and where applicable, by collective bargaining agreement.

Company Description

THE CITY:


The City of Newton is a wonderful place to live and work. Newton has safe and attractive neighborhoods, an excellent public school system, an active community life, multiple transportation systems, proximity to Boston and a well-managed and financially strong City government. The City of Newton has a population of approximately 88,900, with 32,600 housing units and occupies a land area of 18.3 square miles. Newton is principally suburban-residential in character. Unlike many other communities that are established around a single Main Street or downtown, Newton is comprised of thirteen distinctive villages. Newton has a diversified economic base with approximately 4,700 establishments employing approximately 79,500 people. Newton is special in many ways. It is home to a variety of private secondary and post-secondary schools including a portion of Boston College, Lasell University, William James College, Hebrew College, and the UMass Amherst – Mount Ida Campus. The longest stretch of the Boston Marathon runs through the City, including the well-known Heartbreak Hill. Newton-Wellesley Hospital, part of the Mass General Brigham health care system, serves as an important partner to the City. In September 2018, Newton was again ranked #1 in Massachusetts as the best place to live and #12 in the U.S.



OUR GOVERNMENT:


Newton has what is known as a “strong Mayor” form of government with the Mayor having the executive and administrative powers of the City. The legislative branch is comprised of 24 City Councilors. Mayor Ruthanne Fuller was sworn in on January 1, 2018 after serving on the City Council. She ran on a platform of providing Newton’s children with a top-notch education in an inclusive environment where empty nesters, seniors, young families, and people of diverse incomes can live together in vibrant villages and neighborhoods. Mayor Fuller is committed to keeping Newton safe, improving the city’s infrastructure, addressing climate change, providing excellent and responsive city services, and fostering art, culture and community life. The first female Mayor of Newton, she is a tireless advocate for all the city’s residents and is committed to making sure the city is welcoming, inclusive and diverse. The City of Newton was evaluated by Moody’s Investors Services in February 2020 and assigned its highest rating of AAA. Newton was thus well-positioned to weather the pandemic and economic downturn.



AS AN EMPLOYER:

The City of Newton believes that its employees are its greatest asset. To that end, we are committed to supporting our employees by providing competitive wages and growth, a comprehensive benefits package which includes a defined municipal pension plan, quality health and dental insurance plans, generous paid leave benefits, paid holidays, and access to supplemental benefits such as deferred compensation, short term disability plans, flexible spending accounts, and other employee benefits. We also provide access to an Employee Assistance Program and access to employee training and professional development opportunities. We continuously work to review and expand upon our benefit offerings. We encourage you to visit our Human Resources Department website to learn more about our organization and benefits which are available to our employees. And as always, you are encouraged to reach out to our dynamic HR Team by emailing [email protected].

Human Resources Diversity Statement

We recognize our workforce is a source of strength that is vital to our ability to effectively serve the City of Newton’s diverse community. We will:

• Actively recruit, develop, and retain a diverse and talented workforce.
• Proactively address discrimination through education and in partnership with other departments and leaders.
• Serve as a role model to celebrate and nurture diversity.
• Foster inclusion by staying curious and clarifying assumptions.
• Evaluate and develop policies and practices that reflect the diverse nature of our workforce.
• Build and strengthen accountability at all levels to support diversity efforts.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• 457 Deferred Compensation plans
• Metro Credit Union
• Verizon Wireless discount
• Employee Assistance Program
• Generous paid leave time benefits and paid holidays.
• City Retirement (Mandatory)
• Weekly Direct Deposit
• Opportunity to serve the public and join a dynamic team of dedicated employees