St John’s & Nassau County to Use Esri Canada’s Assessment Analyst

HOUSTON, TX, GIS-CAMA Conference – March 20, 2018 – Two very different locations are taking advantage of Esri Canada’s Assessment Analyst desktop review solution and the GeoSketch extension that makes it even more efficient. This software gives property appraisers advanced sketching capabilities as well as the ability to assess properties via the desktop, hence reducing the requirement for on-premises inspections.

The City of St. John’s, Newfoundland has already started assessing 45,000 parcels in their city. Over the next two years, they expect to maintain an accurate assessment on properties by examining 9,000 parcels each year.

“Assessment is all about fairness,” says Rob Butt, manager of Information Services Planning & Project Management with St. John's. “This software ensures that everyone is paying their fair share. Also, most of the data we have is paper based and we needed to move it to digital.”

Nassau County, Florida’s Property Appraiser Michael Hickox also wanted to modernize his current Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) system. It is a bit old but still works and he says, “we couldn’t justify the cost of a new system, but Esri Canada’s Assessment Analyst works well as an add on, which will help us modernize our processes and allow us to complement the work of our assessors in the field.”

The fully integrated tool set includes parcel location, imagery, oblique aerial photography, street front photography and geo-referenced building sketches all seamlessly working together to ensure that the CAMA data that is used for valuation is the most accurate and reflective of what is actually on the ground. Enhanced visualization reduces the need for onsite inspections and gives assessors the ability to visualize and correct the property’s overall roof cover, square footage, pool and garage configurations, permit and sale information. Because it enables the use of various imagery to visualize a building from many different angles and zoom in and out of street front photos, it allows assessors to get a clear look at a property and the surrounding infrastructure and correct it all within one application.

“Many assessment organizations don’t have the resources to physically inspect every property within their jurisdiction,” said Michael Lomax, Director, Assessment, Esri Canada. “As well, a lot of educated assumptions go into assessing a property’s value. By using Assessment Analyst, these counties have reduced the need for physical inspections, allowed greater factual evidence when making a change while ensuring they are complying with regulatory standards for data maintenance.”

Assessment Analyst is based on Esri’s ArcGIS technology, the world’s leading geographic information system (GIS) platform used by more than 350,000 organizations. It is a fully configurable solution that allows assessors to view, analyze and correct CAMA data simultaneously to produce more accurate, fair and consistent assessments. Ultimately, the Assessment Analyst Suite provides an integrated suite of components enabling appraisers to create defendable assessments underpinned by well-organized, accurate data.

The GeoSketch extension is a spatial geometry editing environment that is tightly integrated with the Assessment Analyst solution. It makes it possible to verify a property value increase by quickly and easily identifying new construction or other changes constructed without a permit. Integrating GIS, imagery visualization and sketch technologies into a complete solution allows the appraiser to resolve most data discrepancies at their workstation with minimal field intervention.

For more information on Esri Canada’s Assessment Analyst solutions, visit: esri.ca/assessmentanalyst.

About Nassau County, Florida
Nassau County is in Northeast Florida with a land area of 726 square miles and is part of the Jacksonville metropolitan area. The county seat and the largest incorporated city is Fernandina Beach, located on Amelia Island. Population growth in the county has increased by more than 22,000 residents since the year 2000 due to Nassau's proximity to downtown Jacksonville, and the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay and tourism locations. According to the United States Census, in 2016 the county's population was 80,622.

About St. John’s Newfoundland
St. John's is along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, on the northeast of the Avalon Peninsula in southeast Newfoundland. Starting as a fishing outpost for Europeans, St. John's consisted mostly of buildings constructed out of wood. Often compared to San Francisco due to the hilly terrain and steep maze of residential streets, with housing typically painted in bright colours. The city covers 172.22 square miles and is North America's most easterly city. In 2010 and 2011, the metro area's gross domestic product (GDP) led 27 other metropolitan areas in the country, according to the Conference Board of Canada, At $52,000 the city's per capita GDP is the second highest out of all major Canadian cities.

About Esri Canada
Founded in 1984, Esri Canada provides geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower people in business, government and education to make informed and timely decisions by leveraging the power of mapping and spatial analytics. These solutions enable organizations to better manage their resources, plan their future and collaborate within and beyond their organization. Esri Canada’s products and services help advance successful digital transformation. In 2015, Esri Canada became a Gold Standard winner of Canada’s Best Managed companies and in 2016 was named one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures. More information can be found at esri.ca. Follow Esri Canada on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

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