Thursday, December 11, 2025
8:00 – 8:15 AM
Opening Remarks
Christina Lynch, Esq. – Director of Legal, Cook County Assessor’s Office, Chicago, IL
Will Shepherd, J.D. – President, William D. Shepherd P.A., Delray Beach, FL
Donna Vandervries – AAS, CAE, PPS, Esq., 2025 IAAO President
8:15 – 9:15 AM
Cases of Note in Your Jurisdictions
Thomas A. Jaconetty, Esq. – Attorney at Law, Chicago, IL
Presentation
9:15 – 10:15 AM
Problems with Valuing Utility Properties
Elliott B. Pollack – Attorney, Connecticut/Pullman & Comley, LLC, Hartford, CT
Session Outline
Presentation
10:30 – 11:30 AM
Anatomy of a Tax Assessment Case
Michelle Drea – City Assessor, Attorney-at-Law, City of Madison, WI
Jason Donker – Assistant City Attorney, City of Madison, WI
Session Outline
Presentation
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Affordable Housing Property Tax Exemptions
Tiffany Pinkstaff – Chief, General Litigation, Office of General Counsel, City of Jacksonville, FL
Session Outline
Presentation
1:30 – 2:30 PM
Debating the Hot Topics
Will Shepherd, J.D. – President, William D. Shepherd P.A., Delray Beach, FL
Thomas Wilhelmy – Partner, Ryan Law, Minneapolis, MN
Session Outline
Presentation
2:30 – 3:30 PM
The Dilemma in Assessing Marijuana Cultivation Facilities
Kevin Rudden – Principal Assessor, Town of Holliston, MA
Session Outline
Presentation
3:45 – 4:45 PM
Holy Cow! The Valuation of Wrigley Field and Other Special Purpose Sports Facilities
Christina Lynch – Director of Legal, Cook County Assessor’s Office, Chicago, IL
Will Shepherd, J.D. – President, William D. Shepherd P.A., Delray Beach, FL
Mildred Terzic – Director of Special Properties, Cook County Assessor’s Office, Chicago, IL
Presentation
Friday, December 12, 2025
8:00 – 9:00 AM
Special Purpose, Special Problems: A Case Study in Hospitality Valuation and Functional Obsolescence
Shawn Wilson, MAI – Fee Appraiser/Expert Witness, Compass Real Estate Consulting, Inc., Lakeland, FL
Session Outline
Presentation
9:00 – 10:00 AM
Turning the Tables: Attacking Valuation Experts in Equity Appeals
Lee Winston – Attorney/Shareholder, Gray Winston & Hart, Austin, TX
Tyler McCarty – Attorney/Shareholder, McCreary Veselka Bragg & Allen PC, Round Rock, TX
Session Outline
Presentation
10:15 – 11:15 AM
Mega-Mansion Valuations, Unrestrained Riparian Rights, & Country Club Challenges
Andrea Raila – Founder, CEO, Cook County, Training Research Advocacy & Education Network, Inc., Chicago, IL
Emily Frank – Property Tax Analyst, Cook County, Training Research Advocacy & Education Network, Inc., Chicago, IL
Session Outline
Presentation
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Property Tax Caps/Proposition 117—An Introspective Analysis
Michael Combrink, Esq. – Attorney, Gust Rosenfeld, PLC, Phoenix, AZ
Ed Hermes, Esq. – Partner, Snell & Wilmer, Phoenix, AZ
Session Outline
Presentation
1:15 – 2:15 PM
Which Is to Be Master: The Meaning of Words and Statutes
Joshua Wood, J.D., MAI, AI-GRS – Senior Managing Director, Valbridge Property Advisors, Houston, TX
Session Outline
Presentation
2:15 – 3:15 PM
Ensuring Assessment Quality through Public Policy that Promotes Oversight—Case Studies from Idaho and the Netherlands
Alan Dornfest, AAS, FIAAO – Property Tax Policy Bureau Chief, Idaho State Tax Commission, Boise, ID
Marco Kuijper – Strategist, Netherlands Council for Real Estate Assessment, The Hague, Netherlands
Session Outline
Presentation
3:30 – 4:30 PM
Adjusting the Temperature of AI LLM Prompts to Encourage More Reliable Outcomes in Property Tax Determinations
Ted Smith – Chief Counsel, Kansas Department of Revenue, Topeka, KS
Session Outline
Presentation