Lloyd Funk - Assessment Practices in Manitoba, Canada

The assessment profession stands at a crossroads. As jurisdictions across North America grapple with tight labor markets and rising taxpayer expectations, Lloyd Funk, Director of Property Assessment Services in Manitoba, offers a compelling vision: technology should reduce staff burden, not replace human judgment.

The Geography of Fairness

Manitoba presents unique challenges that mirror what many of us face, just amplified. Covering an area the size of Texas with only 440,000 properties spread across ten offices, Funk's team must assess everything from polar bear habitat in Churchill to vast potato farms shipping french fries to the northeastern United States.

"We have to be efficient with resources," Funk notes. "It's easy to drive an hour, hour and a half to a property." This geographic reality has pushed Manitoba to think creatively about efficiency, not to do more with less, but to do better without burning out staff.

The province's diversity, from specialized industrial properties to farmland to residential neighborhoods, demands assessors who understand local nuances. As Funk observes, "Local knowledge is very important... The market is varied significantly from one region to the next."

Building Trust Through Transparency

Manitoba's approach to public communication offers lessons for all of us wrestling with taxpayer skepticism. The province boils down complex valuation concepts to two fundamental principles: fairness and accuracy.

"We try and pull sales as the best comparable as possible," Funk explains. "Look at these sales. They were based... on the basis of your valuation, and they sold for, let's say, $200 a square foot. Your house is assessed very close to that."

But here's what sets Manitoba apart: their staff excel at picking up the phone. In an era of chatbots and automated responses, Manitoba assessors provide direct, human answers. The result? Remarkably few appeals.

This isn't just good customer service, it's strategic trust-building. By emphasizing that "our assessors are professionals... educated, they're trained," Manitoba builds public confidence in the institution itself.

The Technology Balance

Manitoba's tech initiatives reflect a mature understanding of automation's proper role. They're implementing tablet software for field work and exploring R programming and artificial intelligence for analysis. But Funk is clear about the goal: "Free up time for staff... You still need a human touch."

Their approach to Power BI dashboards is particularly noteworthy. Rather than using analytics solely for internal purposes, Manitoba plans to develop public-facing dashboards. "I think it's really important to tell our story about the important work and how fair and honest and accurate and transparent our valuation is," Funk says.

This transparency-through-technology approach addresses a fundamental challenge we all face: making our work visible and understandable to taxpayers who often only engage with assessment when they disagree with it.

Cultivating Tomorrow's Assessors

Manitoba's structured training program offers a blueprint for addressing the "accidental profession" problem. New hires receive district-level training for six months, followed by centralized training in Winnipeg to ensure consistency across the province. Additional training at the one-year mark, combined with formal education through IAAO or the University of British Columbia, creates a clear professional development pathway.

But technical skills aren't enough. "Those interpersonal skills are the most critical," Funk emphasizes. "Finding someone that can work with others, team players, a good attitude, willing to learn. That's who we want on the team."

This focus on soft skills makes sense when you consider Manitoba's secret weapon: human connection. In a profession increasingly dominated by algorithms and automated valuation models, the ability to explain, empathize, and build trust remains irreplaceable.

Embracing the Evolution

When asked about the industry's future, Funk sees artificial intelligence and advanced analytics not as threats but as tools for better storytelling. The goal isn't efficiency for its own sake, but rather creating space for the human elements that build public trust.

His advice to newcomers reflects this balanced perspective: "Be willing to learn not only from the books but from your senior co-workers. Have an open mind to all the possibilities and embrace change and innovation because it's coming fast."

After nearly 30 years in the business, Funk has learned a crucial lesson: "I better embrace change as being fun because if you don't... you're really in trouble."

Key Takeaways

Technology serves people, not the other way around. Manitoba's tech initiatives aim to reduce staff burden while preserving the human judgment that ensures fair, locally-informed assessments.

Transparency builds trust. By making assessments understandable and accessible, whether through phone conversations or public dashboards, Manitoba has minimized appeals and maximized public confidence.

Geography shapes strategy. What works in dense urban areas may not work across vast rural territories. Manitoba's distributed model offers lessons for jurisdictions facing similar challenges.

The profession's future lies in balance. As we adopt AI and automation, the assessors who thrive will be those who combine technical competence with strong interpersonal skills and local knowledge.

Change is the only constant. After three decades, Funk's enthusiasm for innovation reminds us that adaptation isn't just necessary, it can be enjoyable when approached with the right mindset.