Right of Way Appraisal Process Mapping Project

Project Summary

Objective

The Center for Performance Excellence (CPE) was asked by Gary Fawver,P.E.,former Division Chief, Right of Way and Utilities Division, and Carol Myers, Chief, Appraisal & Appraisal Review, to develop a comprehensive set of process maps depicting the Right of Way Appraisal Process. The maps were to be used to:

  • Serve as a guide when conducting appraisals
  • Identify business requirements of appraisal process
  • Identify statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements of appraisal process
  • Assist in the training of new Appraisal staff

Deliverables

The Deliverables completedfor this project consisted of:

  • “As Is” process maps and explanations of appraisal process
  • Business requirements of appraisal process
  • Statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements of appraisal process
  • Spread sheets to predict approximate completion times for appraisals

Approach

A Top Down Map was created to identify the critical steps of the appraisal process, then a process mapand explanation was created for each critical step. The As-Is process, business requirements, and statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements were gathered in detail to determine hand-offs, legal requirements, persons involved in each process/sub-process, decision points, and data or information collected or created during the business process.

Each process map was reviewed and if necessary revised until the entire Team concurred with its content. When all of the process maps were complete the next step was to identify the requirements for each process map. The last step of the project was to develop, based upon defined assumptions, minimum and maximum sub-step times and total time for the least (RW-260) and most difficult (RW-270A) appraisals.

Project Library

Information and documentation regarding the appraisal process has been collected to create a project library. This information served not only as a starting point for the project, but also as a means to understand how the processes worked.

No. / Real Estate Appraisal Data Collection Library Document Description
1 / Right Of Way (ROW) Manual – Publication 378 (7-07)
2 / ROW Process Flow Chart-Appraisal Review Services #359907
3 / ROW Office System-Project Screen Prints (6 screens)
4 / ROW Office System-Establish Appraisal End User Procedures-
Appraisal Screen Prints (16 screens)
5 / PennDOT Pub 1 SAP-Service
6 / Appraisal Review Specialists Cost Calculations for Preparation of Field Proposal/Purchase Orders (ID-44)

MappingTeam Members

The Mapping Team which created the Top Down Map, process maps and explanations, identified the business requirements, andthe statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements was comprised of:

Name / Position / Organization
Awes, Eric / Real Estate Appraiser / District 10
Gaylor, John / District ChiefAppraiser / District 2
Hnat, Michael / Right Of Way Administrator / District 2
Myers, Carol / Chief, Appraisal & Appraisal Review / Bureau of Design
R/W Appraisal Unit
Ragan, Mike / Central Office Review Appraiser / Bureau of Design
R/W Appraisal Unit
Reefer, Jack / Real Estate Specialist / Bureau of Design
R/W Appraisal Unit
Shea, Paul / District ChiefAppraiser / District 4
Welsh, Taylor / Central Office Review Appraiser / Bureau of Design
R/W Appraisal Unit

Next Steps

The initial purpose of this endeavor was to develop or purchase an IT program to help complete an appraisal through an Automated Valuation Modeling (AVM) System. ROW completed and submitted materials for approval on IT Benefit Cost Analysis forms to OA. The request was disapproved and the needed funding to make the purchase is not available. Therefore, there is no reason to take this effort any further for the ROW Appraisal process.

CPE recommends the next step should be mapping the Acquisition process. This would provide a detailed explanation of a critical piece of the Project Delivery Process.

Recommendations for Improvement

The following are the Recommendations for Improvement to the Right Of Way Appraisal Process:

Topic / Recommendation
Plan Processing / Right of Way (ROW) appraisal process needs to begin with a correct appraisal plan.
ROW process end dates should be adjustable to allow for plan revisions, funding delays, property ownership conflicts, legal concerns, etc.
Staffing / Reclassification of appraisal staff with pay scale commensurate to similar job positions in other state agencies and/or appraisal industry will help retain current staff and attract quality new hire personnel.
Develop a career path and compensation based upon level of licensure, experience, knowledge, and skills. This will differentiate between a general license, which requires more knowledge and skill, than a residential license.
Topic / Recommendation
Training / Develop aROW “boot camp” and/or mentoring program that teach the practical aspects of condemnation appraisal, e.g. the thought process involved in valuing portions of property that are to be acquired.
Develop continued training in advanced appraisal topics.
Funding / Adequate funding is necessary to provide appraisal staff with the tools necessary to perform their job functions, such as:
  • Local multi-list services that provides real estate sales data
  • Online access to county tax assessment and deed recorder offices
  • User friendly appraisal forms with integrated (or stand alone) sketch program software which allows for drawing building improvements
  • Subscriptions (online and/or hard-copy) to industry recognized cost service such as Marshall-Swift or R.S. Means
  • Access to Graphic Information System (GIS) online county/municipal mapping technology
  • Portable Global Positioning System (GPS) for efficient navigation to subject and comparable properties.

System Improvements/
Data Access / Revise ROW Office System to reduce the number of fields and enable data entries to populate the same fields located on multiple screens.
Integrate SRM (SAP) with ROWOffice System so claims data can be tracked between each system (i.e. via a Crystal Report).
Develop SAP/SRM training specific to the services needed and at the level of the individuals who will be using the software.

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