Beyond the Paper Map
A few years back, maybe longer, confirming which parcels fell within a Special Financing District meant spreading out a set of assessor’s parcel maps and manually cross-referencing boundary descriptions to the original boundary. It worked, but it was slow, error-prone, entirely dependent on the quality of the paper record, and expensive.
Thankfully, those days are behind us.
Today, a thorough district parcel audit draws on GIS platforms such as Esri’s ArcGIS which allows administrators to overlay recorded district boundaries against live county parcel data with precision that no paper map could match. Add in Google Maps and Google Street View for an extra layer of confirmation when needed to visually confirm development status, identify newly subdivided lots, and flag parcels whose physical condition no longer matches their classification.
The result is an audit that catches what manual processes miss: parcels inadvertently omitted from the levy roll, misclassified land uses, and “undeveloped” parcels that have definitely initiated development.
Revenue integrity starts with knowing exactly what you’re levying.
These types of district audits are a natural part of our onboarding process as well as an ongoing tool as districts change and develop. I highly recommend all districts are audited in this manner. Please reach out if you have any questions about how to get started with your own audit.
“The application of GIS is limited only by the imagination of those who use it.”
— Jack Dangermond, Co-founder of Esri