Parcel mapping is identified as a priority in the state’s Strategic Plan for Spatial Data Infrastructure.  With support from Information Technology Division and other agencies, MassGIS has initiated a project to create a seamless, standardized parcel map statewide. This will involve converting existing paper maps and CAD files and upgrading GIS files to the new version of the MassGIS Standard for Digital Parcel Mapping, released in November 2010.  The new version of the standard reflects current trends in the industry, e.g. the ESRI “parcel fabric,” and was developed with input from groups involved in parcel mapping including assessors, municipal GIS staff, regional planning agencies, and GIS consultants.

Following a competitive procurement, MassGIS contracted with six vendors (Tighe & Bond, James W. Sewall Co., Color and Colantonio, Camp Dresser & McKee, Cartographic Associates, and Applied Geographics) for work in the current fiscal year. MassGIS sought bids on a total of 270 communities of which 121 (list below) were selected for completion by June 30, 2011.  MassGIS’ objective is to continue working on this project next year, and to complete statewide coverage the year after, if funding is approved.

The communities selected for delivery by June 30, 2011 were the ones that could be delivered most cost-effectively in a short time frame; priority was given to those communities that currently lacked a digital assessor map and to those that were involved in proposed or existing regional 911 call center projects.  Significant economies of scale were achieved by conducting a statewide procurement.

The work being completed in these 121 communities will extend and enhance the parcel mapping available to municipal and state agency staff and also to the public through town web sites and through MassGIS.  Amongst many other uses, parcels are critical for routing calls, mapping emergency response zones and supporting dispatch in the new NextGen-9-1-1 system that the State 911 Department will be deploying over the next several years.

The communities where standardized parcel mapping is being developed in FY11 are: