Assessor Maintaining Certification
Attendance at Annual Conferences Conducted by the Department of Revenue
The continuing education alternative requires individuals to attend at least four of the annual meetings called by the Department of Revenue (Sec. 73.06(1) of the Wis. Stats) for the five consecutive years preceding the expiration date of their certification AND by meeting the continuing education requirements established by the Department of Revenue. The annual meetings are conducted by the Equalization District Offices at many locations throughout the state. Information concerning the dates and locations of the meetings can be obtained by contacting the nearest Equalization District Office.
For each annual meeting called by the Department and approved non-credit program attended, the participant will receive a certificate of attendance. An individual who takes approved credit courses should keep the grade reports. These certificates and reports should be kept and used to fill out the PM-112.
Continuing Education
In addition to attending annual meetings conducted by the Department of Revenue, there are continuing education requirements. The continuing education requirements for recertification by certification level and subject area are shown in Figure 2-5.
When an individual holds a certification at multiple levels, a program may meet continuing education requirements for the multiple levels. For example, if an individual certified as an Assessor 2 and Assessor 3 attends a course approved for three hours of continuing education in the area of appraisal, those three hours could apply to both the Assessor 2 and Assessor 3 continuing education requirements.
Figure 2-5
CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS BY CERTIFICATION LEVEL
(Minimum Classroom Hours)
| Appraisal | Property Tax Law or Supervisory/Management |
Total Program Hours Required | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Technician | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Property Appraiser | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| Assessor 1 | 15 | 15 | 30 |
| Assessor 2 | 15 | 15 | 30 |
| Assessor 3 | 3 | 27 | 30 |
To receive continuing education credits for classroom instruction, the program must be approved by the Department of Revenue prior to attendance. A Committee on Continuing Assessor Education is responsible for reviewing:
- reviewing materials submitted for continuing education credits and recommending approval, based on whether the subject area of the program is appropriate as appraisal related, property tax law, or supervisory/management related instruction;
- whether the instructor is qualified to teach the course;
- and the number of hours each program will count toward meeting the continuing education requirements.
Credit programs offered by an accredited institution are automatically approved for assessor continuing education credit, if the conditions of Tax Rule 12.065 are met.
Tax Rule 12.065 defines the following items.
- A credit program as a course that can be applied toward an associate or higher degree at an accredited institution of higher education.
- The course content must fall within the guidelines of "Appraisal," "Property Tax Law" or "Management Instruction".
- Appraisal instruction programs as those programs which consist of appraisal knowledge which is broad based and essential to assessors and assessment personnel in performing the appraisal function.
- Property Tax Law or Management instruction as those programs which consist of assessment administration knowledge which is broad based and essential to assessors in performing the assessment function.
To receive assessor recertification credit for credit programs the person requesting it must provide the Department evidence of satisfactory completion within 30 days of the conclusion of the course. Satisfactory completion means receiving a passing grade for the program. Auditing of a credit program does not satisfy the requirement of satisfactory completion.
Approval for non-credit programs must be requested in advance by a school or a program sponsor. All applications for approval for continuing education should be submitted to the Department 60 days prior to the beginning of the program on a form provided by the Department. All requests for course approval should be sent to the Bureau of Assessment Practices.
For additional information, please see the continuing notice page.
Last updated January 10, 2008