"MUNICIPAL ASSESSING AND GIS"
Best Options For Using & Assessing Personal Data

Moderator - Carl Nylen, formerly of MassGIS, currently with ESRI, Inc.

Presentation by George Moody - Brookline Board of Assessors

• assessors must first use maps in order to value and assess parcels
• maps no longer updated yearly - Prop. 2 1/2 cuts - Englineering Dept. not funded enough
• GIS can solve update problem of seeing subdivision, etc,. transfers, new owner, sales transactions; use sales to assess other properties
• new businesses, other personal (residential) properties assessed; "walk streets" to look for new stores, etc., info put into database
• "Cost method" - what $ would it take to replace a property
• Brookline now in The Early Phase Of Using GIS

For Revaluation of '97:

• plot sale, show new bldg, structures sold, bought
• maps to identify, neighborhoods, then use maps to "fine-tune" neighborhood
• denote traffic flows
• "problem areas" - shown with wetlands, topography
• ID commercial areas, which can influence home values
• plot rental properties and rents
• hope to set up routing system for inspection schedule; (see which inspectors are doing most work!)
• ** hope to use GIS to show patterns of sales in appellate court cases (to show real sales to "non-believers", i.e. "Qualify" sales)

Presentation by Regina McArdle - Mass. Dept. of Revenue, Community Relations

• DOR has tremendous database of info on all 3 towns
• reviews & certifies towns' assessing practice
• has standards on tax mapping - lost in 1982, good as base guide for towns' tax guide (all towns have a tax map) - but some towns still use pen & paper (with straight ruler!) GIS not used enough.
• Issues & Deed research policies, size, layout, scale, types of info on maps (Map #, lot, acreage, original lot line of subdivision, major easement and right of way)
• difficult for some towns to get new maps. Works when many town departments (i.e., Conservation Commission, assessors, engineer) work together as a coalition -- GIS aids in this, to draw in users
• 76 vendors have done base maps
• 46 new maps since 1986 -- only 2 vendors
• few have digital maps; 8 - 10 developing digital data, DOR using Map info, will use ARC/INFO
• currently no parcel-level data base for entire state, difficult for such standardization, too costly with 35I "Sovereignties"
• some vendors developing such data (one such vendor is Taconic - which has done 300 parcel maps)
• now all towns have computerized assessing system - but not all use same standard.
• A vendor DOR works with is developing a conversion scheme
• Use code system is standardized
• must address exempt lands when coding in a GIS
• don't want to update codes too often -- too messy for all towns to update
• Community Software Corporation - towns using compter-based town appraisal system, to be updated to a windows-based relational database, with links eventually to GIS; one goal is to create a web-based system, which would be especially useful for smaller towns, and good for central updating.
• Funding - 10 Yr - (with aerial photos) or 7 year bonds; EOCD has $ for projects, maybe for GIS tax maps
• Problems of computerized data - what format? Can small towns provide same data products? (may have to go through private vendors)

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Elizabeth Miley - Metropolitan Area Planning Council

"South Weymouth Naval Air Station Study"

• In-depth analysis of base study area in Weymouth, Hingham, Abington, and Rockland; study area is bigger than base itself
• Digital database based on tax maps, but all four towns' maps are different -- different scales, standards, quality
• MAPC digitized tax maps; used for land use, transportation analysis, public education
• MAPC tried to standardize database with the following process:
• Where possible, scanned mylars at MassGIS
• editing/cleaning of images
• registered to orthophotos
• vectorize linework/edit coverage in ARC/INFO
• join/edit 4 towns into 1 coverage
• Split features to develop different data layers:
• parcels
• roads
• water bodies
• easements
• commuter rail line
• road center lines (digitized)
• town lines
• Now - 2 towns may have own GISes
• Results/Benefits of regional projects to using GIS and assessors data:
• lessons learned can be shared
• data can be used for different groups with different purposes
• towns aware of GIS in other towns and regional GIS activity
• assessors benefit -- good for error-checking on tax maps
• 1 town now plans to digitize rest of tax maps

Presentation by Kevin Flanders & Julie Sweitzer - Woodard & Curran

"Base Mapping Options in Sharon, Mass."

• "Classic" Approach:
• Large, up-front investment of mapping, hardware, software
• Small training investment, application investment (for customization)
• "Early-Win" Strategy:
• Base mapping according to available funding
• Focus on end users:
• software training -- 80 hours, using existing data
• user-friendly interfaces
• develop apps for current projects
• Several studies under way:
• nitrate loading
• rec. facility location
• zone II comparison
• town can produce own maps
• Result: more users - more support

Woodard & Curran website: http://www.woodardcurran.com/

Tina Finneran, GIS Specialist and Peter Helwig, Assessor

"GIS In The Assessors Offices - City of Cambridge"

• Aerial survey in 1995
• 1":100' Scale data for topo, tax, sewer and water datalayers
• City Fiber Network - $1.5 M ($257K - Phase 1)
• ARC/INFO on workstation, ArcView on Alpha & PCs (UNIX, Windows 95)

• Public information
• Tax maps, theme maps
• Automating Clerical Function
• Valuation suppport & analysis
• Orthos save field trips

• Had 280 assessor's maps - check each one!
• Converted by ASI (Colorado Springs)
• Check database of new maps to original paper map data

• integrate tax maps into the fabric of municipal options
• GIS as a communication catalyst database
• Data linking to assessors & real estate file (CAMA-- hierarchial database)
• update to relational database

Tax map maintenance important:

• communcations
• timely data
• linkable data



 

• clean and accurate maps
• clean databases
• integration with GIS (tabular & spatial data, plus people & depts.)
• improved efficiency
• improved quality

Last Updated 4/19/2000
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