City assessor recommends C3AI valuation software after pilot; council approves five‑year small purchase

Darius Gould, the city assessor, presented results of a pilot with C3AI and recommended a five‑year small purchase agreement at $36,000 per year for the company's property appraisal application. Gould said C3AI's model produced a roughly 4% increase in total residential assessed value in the pilot and measured a 17% improvement in appraisal uniformity (coefficient of dispersion) and a 32% improvement in appraisal accuracy (AI predictions within ±5% of sales price) compared with the city's prior automated valuation tool. Based on the pilot, staff conservatively projected a 1% increase in tax revenue (about $225,000) from better alignment with market values.

Council members asked technical and policy questions: how the model is trained and updated, whether the tool is generative AI (staff said the product uses machine‑learning decision trees rather than generative AI), data security and whether the city would be the first in Virginia to deploy the tool. Darius Gould and Trevor McLaughlin (C3AI representative) explained the application integrates MLS sales, the city's CAMA data, and GIS, produces evidence packages for each property, and allows appraisers to review and adjust values in a human‑in‑the‑loop workflow. Staff said no personally identifiable information beyond public records is exposed and that the Manassas Park model would not be used to train models elsewhere.

Several council members raised concerns about public reaction if some assessments rise materially; staff committed to a public outreach and education plan and to providing neighborhood‑level reporting before wide rollout. Council approved the small purchase agreement by motion and voice vote.