Beacon Web Site Tutorial - City of Ames

Property of Ames City Assessor’s Office and The Schneider Corporation

www.amesassessor.org

A Basic TutorialFor the Ames City Assessor’s GIS Web Site

For Real Estate Data and Maps

Created July 1, 2008

Updated: 9/16/2008 G:\AsrGroup\DOC\City Orientation\Beacon Web Site Tutorial.doc Page 2 of 15

If you're having problems getting into the web site, click on “How to use thisSite,” and follow the troubleshooting techniques to help resolve your problem.

Select

Select

Select

After you’ve made theproper selections,click on “Enter.”

Guidepost Search Engine

If you use the name searchfunction to search multiplestates/counties, your resultswill not display anything forAmes or Story County.

However, if you useaddress search, yourresults will include Ames andStory County.

If you want to makeStory/Ames yourdefault jurisdiction,check here.


Search Page Overview

See Page 4

MapSee Page 14

ReportSee Page 8

ResultsSee Page 6

SearchSee Page 5

To connect to StoryCounty Assessor’s other

website, click here.

To connect to Ames CityAssessor’s other website,

click here.

To access commercial andresidential sales listings in

the City of Ames, click here.

To access commercial and residentialsales listings in Story County

(excluding Ames), click here.

When datawas last

uploaded to

the web site.

See Page 7


Send Feedback

Change Options

Help PagesHelpEach page/tab in Beacon has acorresponding help page. Depending on

what page you are on, clicking the buttonat the upper right corner of the page willtake you to the corresponding help page.Also, once you have entered the Helparea/window, you can click on the link forany other help page.

You are not required to fill in contact informationif you want to send feedback. However, if youwould like us to reply to your feedback be sureto fill this in.

If you were already looking at anappraisal report for a specific parcel, thisfield will be populated with the propertyID number for that parcel.

If your feedback does not have to dowith a specific parcel, just uncheck the

box .

Your defaultsettings for theMap function.


How to Use the Search Page/Tab

Address Search Examples and Results

Examples Results

Bals

4203

3100-3120 Ever

401 20th Parcel ID Owner Property Address City0535250000 AMES, CITY OF 401 E 20TH ST AMES

To protect individual privacy, a search by name is not available to the public at this time.

Enter the Parcel IDeither with or

without the hyphens

See below forexamples

(Do not spell out numbered streets, i.e. Type 3rd instead of third)

Example (Property ID): 09 – 02 – 350 – 100

Township: Washington (T83N R24W) – 09 Section: 2 Block: 350

You can either scroll down inthe drop-down list to find thestreet you want or type thefirst letter of the street nameto narrow down your list.


Results Page/Tab

The Results Page/Tab returns a list of resultsA) from the criteria you entered on the Search PageB) that were identified on the Map Page

If the criteria entered on the Search Page defines only one parcel, the program will go right to the ReportPage and skip the Results Page.

The Results Page will retain your list of results until you do one of the following:A) enter new criteria on the Search PageB) on the Map Page

1) identify a new parcel (feature) or set of parcels.

2) clear your results using the eraser on the Maps toolbar.

Results can be sorted by Parcel ID, Owner, Property Address, City or Sec/Twp/Rng

To view a report for a parcel, click on either the report icon or the corresponding Parcel ID.

If you would like to see a results list showing all of the property owned by a specific individual, click onthat owner’s name. (If they own only one parcel, the program will automatically take you to the ReportPage.)

To sort a column, click the column header. The first sort will be done in ascending order.Click the column header again to change between ascending and descending order.

SMITH, KAREN L (D)

CAREMOLI, ANDREA & CAPRA, MARIAGRAZIA (D)


Print Setup / Print / Email

Print the report Email a linkto the report

Double arrows on the far right side ofeach module may be clicked to

collapse/expand a module, so only thedesired modules will be displayed/printed.

Print Setup /Print Options = Options only available with the Map Page

OptionalTitle Bar Items

The Update button will redraw the printpreview page to reflect the changes you

have made to the print options.


Report Page/Tab (Residential Property)

As we to start to move our residential data to ProVal, the format of the Residential Report willstart to look more like the Commercial Report.

This is the mostcurrent ownerinformation.

Updated by theAuditor’s Officeat the Story CountyAdministrationBuilding in Nevada.

Hyperlink to the CountyAuditor’s Change ofAddress Form

1) Print the form.2) Fill it out.3) Mail it to the CountyAuditor’s address that islisted on the form.

Abbreviated LegalDescription

Maintained by theAuditor’s Office

This information comes from the Ames City Clerk Not every parcel will have this hyperlink.

Hyperlink to the City of Ames ZoningOrdinance Summary

Maintained by Ames Planning & Housing


Neighborhoods are assigned by the Assessor’s office. A neighborhood is an homogeneous group of properties.

Normal Parks (positive condition) Railroads (negative condition) Busy Roads (negative condition)

Above-grade living area

Above-grade living area Generally, attic area that is finished, but of lower quality Could include utility area of a home built on slab

Quality rating for basement corresponds to ceiling height ranges

*LvQ = * Living Quarters

Shed, Pool, Tennis Court, 2nd Garage, Elevator…

Includes residential andconversion sales from

1995 to present.


The Story County Treasurer calculates property taxes.

The Assessor calculates the assessed value.

This module is linkedto the Story CountyTreasurer’s Office

This module is linked tothe Iowa State CountyTreasurer’s Association

This is the most current instrument recorded (legal document) for this parcel.

Clicking on the hyperlink takes you to Iowa Land Records where you should be able to view theactual instrument.

The Story County Recorder is responsible for uploading the instruments to Iowa Land Records.

Urban Revitalization


Report Page/Tab (Commercial/Industrial/Agricultural Property)

If the owner’s name is displayed as a hyperlink, it meansthey own multiple parcels in Story County. When you clickon this hyperlink the Results Page/Tab will display a list of

their parcels.

This will inform you as to whichAssessor is responsible for this parcel.

Only agricultural parcels and parcelswith forest reserves will list gross and

net acres.

The neighborhood for commercial,industrial and agricultural parcels islisted here.


Legal Sq Ft and Measured Sq Ft can be different values, but for ourjurisdiction they should be the same.

Typically: Level Other Possibilities: High, Low, Rolling, Swampy

Typically: All Other Possibilities: Water, Sewer, Gas, Electricity

Typically: Paved Other Possibilities: Unpaved, Proposed, Sidewalk, Alley

Typically: Static Other Possibilities: Improving, Declining, Blighted

No data will be providedAgricultural parcels only

Since we have so few agriculturalparcels in our jurisdiction, the Story

County Assessor has beengraciously processing them.

Please refer to the SoilsReport/Tab.


Details concerning yard items & special features will appear here.

Pavement thickness in inches

If there are multiple buildings onthe parcel, there will be a card anda sketch for each building.


Map Page/Tab

Toolbar


Photos

The photos are for internal purposes of appraisal, but made available to the public on the web site. As we havelimited resources and difficulty keeping up with photos, we only re-take pictures when there has been a structuralchange or significant improvement that would affect the appraised value of the home.

Ames Comp

Important Things to Know

The site is best displayed and operated at a minimum of 1024 x 768 resolution, with dsl or cable modeminternet service.

In order to view the progress bar at the bottom of the application, you must maximize your window.

This application is operated with session variables. These session variables time out after 15 minutes. If yousit on a page for more than 15 minutes without any activity and then execute a page, the application will actas if you just entered the site.

Depending on what layers you have activated on the Map Page/Tab, the page may not fully display on yourscreen. When this occurs, use the scroll bar at the bottom of your window to display the far right portion ofthe page.

Documents

Beacon Web Site Tutorial - City of Ames