Career Opportunity

Real Property Appraiser - Office of the Assessor-Recorder (4261) - (131093)

Recruitment: RTF0131092-01132178

Published: February 10, 2023

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

2.9.2023 Update: This Job Ad has been amended to extend the filing period. This recruitment could close at any time but not before February 17, 2023. Applicants who already applied to this recruitment do not need to reapply.

THIS IS A CITYWIDE EXAM.

Application Opening: January 27, 2023

Application Deadline: Friday, February 17, 2023

Compensation Range: $94,172 - $114,478 annually

Recruitment ID: RTF0131092-01132178 / CBT-4261-131093

San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city, on the forefront of economic growth & innovation, urban development, arts & entertainment, as well as social issues & change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City's commitment to heighten the quality of life for the diverse population of San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco.

Our Office

The Office of the Assessor-Recorder is responsible for carrying out property tax-related functions governed by the State Constitution and State and local laws. Our core responsibilities include locating all taxable property in the City and County of San Francisco, identifying ownership, establishing a taxable value, and applying all legal exemptions. Property broadly includes both real property and personal property owned by businesses. The Office of the Assessor-Recorder is also responsible for recording documents and maintaining those public records. Over 400 different types of documents are recorded annually, including deeds of trust, reconveyances, liens, and public marriage licenses. The Office is also responsible for collecting any transfer tax due upon a change in property ownership. The Office of the Assessor-Recorder strives to conduct our work with the core principals of professionalism and integrity. 

What We Do

We’re proud of our work to ensure the financial stability of San Francisco. This past year, our Office successfully enrolled property cumulatively valued at over $328 billion generating over $3.7 billion dollars in property tax revenue. This revenue is the single largest source of the City’s General Fund, representing a contribution of over $2.4 billion or nearly one-third in Fiscal Year 2020-21. These funds pay for crucial services ranging from public safety and education to neighborhood improvements and health and family support services.

Our success is a product of the Office’s continued focus and investment in our people, systems, services, and engagement. In recent years, we have taken significant steps toward modernizing our operations, including helping to lead a cross-departmental effort to modernize city-wide Property Assessment & Taxation Systems (Project SMART). When our new system goes live, it  will replace the legacy property assessment system we currently depend on to manage the City’s $328 billion in assessed property value, providing increased security, efficiency and service, including greater integration with other City systems like those managed by our sister finance departments at the Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector and the City Controller's Office.

Role description

The Office of the Assessor-Recorder currently has full time vacancies in class 4261 Real Property Appraiser. Under general supervision, performs professional appraisal work in connection with examining, analyzing and evaluating real property of moderate complexity for tax assessment purposes. The 4261 is the journey level class in the Real Property Appraisal series.

Essential duties may include, but are not limited to:

1. Appraise various types of moderately complex real property, to establish values for tax assessment purposes, and to make and recommend changes to valuation.

2. Estimate property value by conducting site inspections and using standardized market, cost and income valuation approaches.

3. Gather and analyze information from a variety of sources in order to maintain current information on real property. Investigate complaints on property assessments; make recommendations regarding the resolution of such complaints; explain findings to property owners.

4. Perform special investigations and appraisal surveys, such as commercial area rent surveys.

5. Prepare appeal packages for properties under assessment appeal; testify and or present before Assessment Appeals Board; may present at other quasi-judicial bodies.

6. Prepare and maintain various records and reports, including those related to appraisal of real property.

7. Explain appraisal and assessment procedures to property owners and general public.

8. Interact with members of the public, City staff of other departments and City officials during the course of business.

9. May include additional duties as assigned.

How to qualify

These minimum qualifications are to be used as a guide for establishing the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license which may be required for employment in the class. Although these minimum qualifications are typical of the class, additional minimum qualifications and special conditions may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the job announcement.

Education:

Requires a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience:

One (1) year of experience in the past 10 years appraising real property in a County Assessor’s Office.

License and Certification: 

Possession of a valid California driver license.

Eligibility for certification from the California State Board of Equalization as an appraiser for property tax purposes. In accordance with the California State Board of Equalization, appointees to this class, must possess or obtain permanent certification as an appraiser for property tax purposes, within one (1) year of appointment, and must maintain certification as a condition of continued employment.

Substitution:

Additional relevant experience in the appraisal of real property, building, cost estimating, engineering and accounting or in buying, selling or managing real estate, or in a related area defined by the State of California, may be substituted for the education on a year for year basis (up to a maximum of two (2) years). One (1) year of education is equivalent to either thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units.

Three (3) years of experience in the past 10 years appraising real property as a fee, institutional or government appraiser may substitute for the required experience.

Completion of a 12 month real property appraiser trainee program equivalent to the City and County of San Francisco’s 4260 Real Property Appraiser Trainee Program may substitute for one (1) year of professional experience.

Note: Candidates currently enrolled in a 12 month real property appraiser trainee program may apply and participate in the selection process, but will be placed under waiver until the full experience requirement has been met and verified. (Applicants are responsible for submitting documentation to have their waiver lifted.)

Verification of Education and Experience:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualifications Supplement Questionnaire (Weight: Qualifying)
Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: 100%)

Qualifying candidates will be required to complete a Supplemental Questionnaire as part of the selection process. The Supplemental Questionnaire is designed to measure the knowledge, skills and abilities required for the 4261 Real Property Appraiser position which may include but may not be limited to: Knowledge of real property appraisal methods, theory, practices and procedures used in establishing fair market value for all types of real property; Knowledge of government codes, regulations and laws, as they apply to appraisal of real property for tax assessment purposes; Knowledge of modern office procedures, methods, and equipment including computer equipment, word processing and spread sheet programs, including proficiency with Excel; Ability to understand, interpret, and analyze, data/information, laws, regulations and policies governing appraisal program operations; Ability to prioritize multiple assignments in order to meet deadlines; Ability to apply basic arithmetic skills to calculate property value; Ability to establish and maintain effective and cooperative working relationships with all persons encountered during the course of business; and, Ability to clearly, concisely and effectively communicate work-related information to the public, departmental staff, other agencies, organizations and official bodies.

Candidates must achieve a passing score on the supplemental questionnaire in order to move forward in the Selection process. Candidate scores from the Supplemental Questionnaire will be used to determine the final score and rank on the eligible list.

All responses to the Scored Essay Questionnaire are subject to verification and must be consistent with the information provided in your employment application.

A passing score must be achieved in all test components listed above in order to be placed on the Eligible List/Score Report. Candidates will be placed on the Eligible List/Score Report in rank order according to their final score. The department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures to make final hiring decisions.

What else should I know?

Eligible List/Score Report:

A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of 6 months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ .] The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY
Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the human resources analyst, Kimberly Gibney by email at kimberly.gibney@sfgov.org.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.