Integration Points for Property Tax, CAMA, & GIS

Jason A. CromeVice President of Software Development, DEVNET, Inc.

2013 Nebraska GIS/LIS Biennial SymposiumApril 16, 2013

Project Overview

• Sarpy County enters contract with DEVNET to modernize Property Tax and CAMA software in Fall 2012

• Project aims to improve tax cycle efficiency through automation, integration, and improved workflow

Integration Goals• Make property tax data, CAMA data, and GIS

available to the user through a single application

• Reduce duplicate work where possible

• Visualize property tax and CAMA data in meaningful ways.

• Make it easy for non-technical users to produce complex maps in GIS

Areas of Integration• Property Tax

• CAMA

• Sketching

• GIS

• Imaging

• Pictometry

• E911

Integration Overview

Building the Interface

Options

• Use Esri APIs

• Use existing county GIS applications

• Do something else (!!!)

Use County Apps

• Faster time to production

• Browser-based; easy to embed

• County users already familiar with them

• Cooperative county GIS department makes this easy and attractive

Interface Options

• Pass parcels through URL

• Exchange parcel data through shared database table(s)

• Web Services

Pass Parcels through URL

• Advantages: Easy to implement

• Disadvantages: slow, breaks down for large result sets (unexpected truncation of URLs)

Web Services

• Advantages: well-accepted, well-documented, lots of good tools for creating/consuming

• Disadvantages: lots of crappy tools for creating/consuming, sometimes slow, sometimes quirky, often verbose (XML, anyone?)

XML Web Services

Shared Database Table

• Advantages: easy to implement, fast set-based operations, builds cooperation and trust between IT staff and vendor(s)

• Disadvantages: need cooperation and trust between IT staff and vendor(s)

Implementation

• Simple table containing a unique ID, session ID, and parcel number

• Tax/CAMA apps always fill table with session ID and parcel(s) we want to map

• Action-specific URL called with session ID

• GIS looks into table with session ID and generates desired map

Implementation (cont.)

• When we want map to drive tax/CAMA, call GIS with session ID and blank table

• After action performed in GIS, table filled with parcels and session ID

• Event triggered in tax/CAMA, reads table contents, responds appropriately

Workflow

Splits, Combines, etc.

• Parcels split/combined in GIS first

• Addressed in E911

• By the time it gets to us, can import site address, legal description, acreage, soil data

How?

• Have direct read access into county geodatabase

• County tells us where to find the data we care about

Desktop Integration Points

Viewing a Parcel

Viewing Ag Land

Viewing Pictometry

Sketching

Imaging

Search Results

Putting It All Together...

...on Multiple Monitors!

Other Desktop Integration Points

• Comparable Properties

• Ratio Studies

• Neighborhoods

• ....Anywhere we have a list of parcels

Other Desktop Integration Points (cont.)

Web Integration Points

Viewing a Parcel

Viewing Ag Land

Images

Appraisal/Sketches

Search Results

Demo!!!

Questions?

Thanks!For more information:

http://www.devnetinc.cominfo@devnetinc.com

Contact Jason at:crome@devnetinc.com