RICK SINGH, Certified Florida Appraiser
Orange County Property Appraiser
Rick Singh is the first state-certified appraiser elected Orange County Property Appraiser (OCPA). He was voted into office in 2012 and re-elected by a wide margin in 2016. Some 20 years ago, Singh became a field appraiser for OCPA where he worked his way through the ranks of the agency, and in 1999 he became a State-Certified Residential Appraiser. The hands-on experience he gained proved invaluable as he now oversees the operations and growth of this busy office.
One of Singh’s first priorities after taking office was to ensure agency efficiency. He did this by leveraging new innovations in technology, and because of that, property appraisal assessments are now more accurate. Singh also uses mobile technology to ensure that real-time property assessment is done efficiently in the field.
During Singh’s first year in office, OCPA returned more than $51 million to the Orange County tax base by vigorously pursuing fraudulent claims through improved investigation work. Through exemption compliance, Tangible Personal Property audits, and ensuring appropriate agricultural classification, OCPA has returned in excess of $1 billion to the Orange County tax roll. A higher tax roll means more taxable value that will yield greater tax resources for community benefits like schools, parks, and infrastructure.
His vision is to make OCPA more customer-focused and user-friendly through greater efficiency in areas such as delivering essential services faster, increasing efficiency to save taxpayers money, and electronically updating maps and records. Singh values full transparency, citizen feedback and has adopted an open-door policy. This all means better service delivered at lower costs to residents of Orange County.
Singh is both a licensed Real Estate Broker and a State-Certified Residential Appraiser with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and his extensive experience in real estate, government, and civic activities is a perfect fit for his duties as Orange County Property Appraiser. During his early years with OCPA, he assessed thousands of properties and defended the office’s position on assessments at the Value Adjustment Board.
Singh also successfully completed more than 100 hours of professional appraisal courses with the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) and earned both the Certified Florida Appraiser (CFA) and Certified Florida Evaluator (CFE) designations from the Florida Department of Revenue. He is qualified in a wide range of valuation applications, including financial reporting, tax compliance, corporate finance, restructurings and litigation support. Prior to public service, his entrepreneurial spirit led him to begin a real estate company and his own appraisal firm. He owned and operated a Century 21 and during that time where he hired, trained, managed and reviewed numerous appraisers, brokers, and sales agents.
Singh leads an award-winning agency. OCPA was recognized in 2017 by the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) for its public information initiatives, and again in 2018 with its prestigious “Certificate of Excellence in Assessment,” earned by less than 1% of assessment authorities. Singh was personally recognized in 2018 with the Ian W. McClung Award from the IAAO for his dedication to advancing the appraisal profession on an international stage. The Agency has also been honored by the Center for Digital Government with a 2018 “Digital Government Experience” Award citing its effective online strategies for meeting constituent needs, and was recently (2019) named Customer Service Team of the Year, receiving a Gold Stevie® Award for excellence in the 17th Annual American Business Awards.
A proud veteran, Singh was privileged to serve the United States in the military. After graduating from the prestigious Aviation High School in New York, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division Mechanized. There, he worked on Helicopter Armament Subsystems, including tactical devices and hardware for weapons like machine guns, grenade launchers, auto-cannons, and rockets. Singh was honorably discharged in 1986.
As a believer in lifelong learning, Singh received an Executive Development Program certificate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Executive Education and is a graduate of both the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education program, and the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. He also completed studies on Artificial Intelligence from MIT’s Sloan Executive Education program.
Having made Orlando his home for more than 25 years, Singh is active in the community and has held memberships in several organizations. He has also served on various boards, including the American Lung Association, Boy Scouts of America Central Florida Council, Orlando Economic Partnership, and the World Affairs Council of Central Florida. Singh is a member of Rotary Club of Orlando, the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association, and the IAAO.
He and his wife Debbie, a nurse practitioner, are very proud of their two children, who both attended the University of Central Florida.