Alex Alsup - Land Parcel Data with Regrid

The relationship between assessment accuracy and public trust isn't theoretical, it's written in the vacant lots and abandoned homes of cities that got it wrong. Alex Alsup's journey from mapping Detroit's parcels to reforming its tax system offers lessons every assessor should consider, whether you're in a booming suburb or a struggling rust belt city.

The Hidden Cost of Bureaucratic Barriers

In 2015, roughly half of Detroit's homeowners were tax delinquent. Many qualified for poverty exemptions they didn't know existed. The application process? You had to physically visit city hall to request an application that would then be mailed to you.

"That was how they kept that exemption hidden away at the time," Alsup notes, with the understated directness of someone who's seen the human cost of administrative friction.

Today, Detroit's delinquency rate has dropped to 14%. The lesson is clear: accessibility isn't just about customer service, it's about fundamental fairness. When we make it hard for people to access the programs designed to help them, we're not protecting the tax base. We're undermining public trust in the entire system.

The Assessment-Trust Spiral

Detroit hadn't conducted a comprehensive reassessment in 30 years when the crisis hit. Think about that. Three decades of market changes, neighborhood evolution, and economic shifts, all ignored in the official valuations.

This isn't just about technical accuracy. When assessments drift from reality, property owners lose faith in the system. That distrust persists even after reforms. As Alsup observes, despite improvements in Detroit's assessment process, "there is still a lot of distrust. There's still a lot of concern for individuals and homeowners and property owners over whether their assessments are accurate."

The profession often focuses on defending assessments during appeals. But Alsup's work flips this dynamic: give property owners the tools to understand their assessments before they become adversarial. His Detroit Assessment Gauge shows homeowners how their assessment compares to similar properties nearby, not to challenge the assessor, but to start an informed conversation.

When Real Estate Stops Being Real Estate

Perhaps the most striking insight from Detroit's experience involves properties selling for $1,000 to $5,000 in tax auctions. At these prices, Alsup explains, "the real estate doesn't really behave like we expect traditional real estate to behave."

Speculative landlords would buy these properties, extract rent for three years without paying taxes or maintaining the property, then let them fall back into tax foreclosure. The state's law, which completely severs ownership ties after foreclosure, enabled this cycle.

This challenges a fundamental assumption in mass appraisal: that property owners act rationally to preserve asset value. When properties become disposable commodities for rent extraction, our models and assumptions break down. How many of our valuation approaches assume owner behavior that simply doesn't exist in distressed markets?

The Language Barrier

One of Alsup's most practical insights concerns communication. Property owners "don't necessarily know how to speak the language of an assessor," he notes, "which is completely reasonable, because why would they?"

This isn't about dumbing down our work. It's about recognizing that technical precision and public accessibility aren't mutually exclusive. When Alsup built tools to help residents prepare for appeals, he wasn't undermining the assessment process, he was strengthening it by ensuring both sides could have substantive discussions.

Consider your own jurisdiction: How many appeals could be avoided if property owners understood the basics of how their value was determined? How much time do you spend explaining the same concepts repeatedly because there's no accessible resource for the public?

Building Trust Through Transparency

The parcel mapping work that started Alsup's journey wasn't initially about reform, it was about understanding. "Nobody really understood what was going on, nobody really understood the properties that were being affected," he recalls about Detroit's foreclosure crisis.

This points to a broader truth: data transparency isn't just about compliance or public relations. It's about creating shared understanding. When communities can see and analyze the same data assessors use, conversations shift from suspicion to substance.

Key Takeaways

For Assessors: Regular reassessments aren't just legal requirements, they're trust-building exercises. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes to defend any assessment, accurate or not.

For Leadership: Administrative barriers to exemption programs don't protect revenue, they create inequity and erode public faith in government. Every extra step is a tax on those least able to pay it.

For the Profession: We need to invest in translation, not of languages, but of concepts. Making assessment understandable to property owners isn't capitulation; it's completing our public service mission.

The Detroit experience reminds us that assessment isn't just about getting values right, it's about maintaining the social contract between property owners and their government. When we forget that human element, we risk more than appeals. We risk the very foundation of public trust that makes our work possible.