Jim McCathern - CAMA Systems and Their Markets

The technology landscape in property assessment has evolved dramatically since the days of mainframe computers and hand-calculated valuations. Yet as Jim McCathern observes from his four decades in the industry, the most critical factor in successful technology adoption isn't the sophistication of the software, it's the mindset of the organization implementing it.

Breaking Free from Legacy Thinking

"The most important thing when you're buying a new CAMA system is to have an open mind about your workflow," McCathern emphasizes. This advice, coming from someone who's implemented systems across 18 states, strikes at the heart of why many technology transitions fail or underdeliver.

Too often, jurisdictions approach new CAMA implementations with a simple mandate: make it work exactly like our old system. This approach fundamentally misunderstands both the opportunity and the challenge of modernization. As McCathern notes, many existing workflows are actually "workarounds due to the inflexibility of the old system." Recreating these inefficiencies in new technology is like buying a sports car and limiting it to first gear.

The State-by-State Reality

The fragmentation of the CAMA market isn't an accident, it's a reflection of our federalist system. Each state's unique property tax statutes and assessment practices create what amounts to 50 different markets. "There's really no one size fits all CAMA system," McCathern explains, noting that even expanding from 18 to 19 states requires "quite extensive gap analysis" and significant development work.

This reality shapes everything from vendor strategies to implementation approaches. It's why some vendors focus on regional dominance while others pursue broader but shallower market penetration. For assessors, it means that vendor experience in your specific state carries real weight, not because of relationships, but because of the deep understanding of local requirements that comes with that experience.

The Evolution of Transparency

Perhaps the most significant shift McCathern identifies isn't technological but philosophical: the move toward greater public transparency. Modern taxpayers expect to understand their assessments, to look up the methodology online, and to see how their values were calculated. This isn't just about customer service, it's about building and maintaining public trust in the assessment process.

The technology enablers are already here: geospatial capabilities, mobile data collection, real-time field updates. But the real work lies in reimagining how we communicate our work to the public. The assessor who calculated values with a calculator plugged into a cigarette lighter could explain his methodology to anyone who asked. Can we say the same about our algorithmic models and mass appraisal techniques?

Finding a Partner, Not a Vendor

McCathern's distinction between vendors and partners isn't mere semantics. A vendor sells you software; a partner helps you transform your operations. The difference becomes apparent in how they approach your existing processes.

A vendor asks: "How can we make our system do what you're doing now?" A partner asks: "What do you do well that we should preserve, and what could we do better together?"

This partnership mentality extends beyond the sales process. When evaluating CAMA systems, McCathern advises looking past PowerPoints and infographics to see real implementations with real data. Talk to current users about their production experience, not just their implementation story.

The Discipline of Strategic Growth

Even with a mature product in nearly 20 states, Catalyst maintains what McCathern calls a "disciplined" approach to expansion. They evaluate the difficulty of entering new states before committing, rather than "signing a bunch of contracts and then worrying about the gaps later."

This discipline offers a lesson for assessors as well. The pressure to modernize is real, but rushing into the wrong solution, or the right solution with the wrong approach, can set an office back years. Better to move deliberately, with clear eyes about both the opportunities and the challenges.

Key Takeaways

For Assessors: When evaluating new CAMA systems, focus on transformation, not replication. Your current workflows may be accommodations to old technology rather than best practices worth preserving.

For Leadership: Successful technology adoption requires cultural change. Prepare your team to think differently about their work, not just to use different tools.

For the Profession: The push toward transparency isn't going away. Our technology choices should support not just efficiency but also our ability to explain and defend our work to an increasingly engaged public.

The future McCathern envisions, automated processes, transparent methodologies, seamless field updates, is achievable. But getting there requires more than purchasing decisions. It requires partnership, patience, and most importantly, the willingness to imagine our work differently than we've done it before.