Section 835-RICR-30-00-3.5 - Authority and Responsibilities of the Review AppraiserA. The Review Appraiser is authorized to determine the market value of compensable damages. The amount is used as the basis for subsequent negotiations and settlements. In making this determination, the Review Appraiser is obligated to consider all information available, including appraisals prepared for the Commission by a qualified appraiser representing the property owner, recent court awards on similar properties in the same area, and any other pertinent value information.B. The inherent analytical ability and judgment of the Review Appraiser cannot be strictly defined, nor can they be subject to exact guidelines. Having followed the required steps and having subjected all available data to a critical analysis, the Review Appraiser must apply expertise in making a series of supported and documented determinations as follows.1. That the compensation estimated in the appraisal report represents the best determination of market value for the property rights to be acquired or for disposition.2. That the appraisal report contains all the information and documentation necessary to substantiate the conclusions and estimates of value assigned by the appraiser. In the absence of adequate appraisal information or conclusions of value, the appraisal will be returned to the appraiser for additional support and/or revisions.3. That the appraisal does include consideration for all compensable items, damages and benefits, and that it does not include compensation for those items that are non-compensable under State Law.4. That the appraisal contains an identification or listing of the building, structures, and other improvements located on the parcel as well as an identification of the fixtures, which the appraiser considers to be a part of the real property to be acquired.5. That an equitable balance of appraisal damages has been obtained on a project basis.C. In evaluating the appraiser's work, the review must draw a reasonable conclusion and be persistent in obtaining any essential support that is lacking in the appraisal report, and must never attempt to dictate value or impose opinions upon the appraiser. Conversely, the Review Appraiser cannot accept unsupported opinions advanced by the appraiser.D. While the Review Appraiser is granted broad authority, it is tempered by serious limitations. Any changes that may be requested in an appraisal report cannot be arbitrary or capricious, but must be supported by reason and documentation. Without sound and supporting reasoning, the Review Appraiser may not substitute personal judgment for that of the appraiser's opinion, especially if it merely involves the substitution of one opinion or judgment for another. The Review Appraiser must never instruct an appraiser without support to change the appraisal. The appraisal at all times must reflect the judgment of the appraiser who produced it.E. In exercising these responsibilities, the Review Appraiser is granted the following specific authorities:1. Concurrence: If an appraisal is acceptable without reservation, a simple endorsement to this effect on the review form will suffice for approval.2. Return of Appraisals or Need for Corrections or Additional Information: If the Review Appraiser believes that an appraisal is lacking in its development of value, requires another approach, corrections, or additional information, the reviewer is granted the authority to return the appraisal report to the appraiser or to request the corrections or additional information. All such actions shall be in writing. Copies of both the original appraisal and the request for corrections or additional information shall be retained in the parcel file.3. Modification of Damages: If there is disagreement with appraised damages, the Review Appraiser may alter the estimate of fair market value by a narrative development of the reasons on the review form, supplemented by the amount of documentation necessary to fully support his determination of value.4. Correction of Minor Errors: The Review Appraiser may supplement an appraisal report with the correction of minor mathematical errors where such errors do not affect the final estimate of value. The Review Appraiser may also supplement the appraisal where the following factual data has been omitted:a. Project and/or parcel number.b. Owner's and/or tenant's names.c. Parties to transactions, date of purchase, and deed book reference on the sale of subject property and comparables.d. Statement that there were no sales of subject property in the past five (5) years.e. Location, zoning, or present use of subject property or comparables.5. Substantial Variance: During the review process, a variance between two appraisals may be resolved by the Review Appraiser by extracting or interpolating the values set for separate segments of each report.6. Under circumstances of divergence, it may be desirable for the Review Appraiser to arrange for a conference with the individual appraiser(s). The role of the Review Appraiser would be to arrange some acceptable basis of common thinking and value among all parties while still preserving the individual thoughts and professional judgment of the appraiser. In most instances, there does exist a common basis of substantial agreement even though the final appraisal reports may not arrive at the same conclusion of value.7. Divergent Opinions: A much more critical situation arises when there is no common basis of understanding or agreement between the consultant appraiser(s) and Review Appraiser, and neither appears willing to modify or alter their thinking. Under these circumstances, the Board of Commissioners or its designee(s) and the Review Appraiser must make the determination of whether to use an existing appraisal report(s) or whether to proceed and obtain a second or third appraisal report.8. There are, of course, appraisal problems that are not subject to a simple "yes or no" answer, but rely on interpretation of data or interpretation of economic trends. The resolution of these areas must be accomplished through a critical analysis of the logic and reasoning. The premise must be maintained that the professional conclusion of the appraiser can only be overturned by the Review Appraiser's logical and supported judgment.9. Every appraisal report approval does not have to bear the complete unqualified endorsement of the Review Appraiser, but should be made in the context that the appraisal report is within a reasonable range of value and generally represents an acceptable value determination.835 R.I. Code R. 835-RICR-30-00-3.5