Neal Carpenter – President / CEO
I had the honor of speaking on this topic at the 2016 GIS / CAMA Technologies Conference in Savannah, GA. I was joined by Brent Jones, Esri’s Global Manager for Land Records/Cadastre. Brent and I will repeat this presentation at the NCRAAO Conference in Des Moines, IA on June 22nd, and again at the IAAO Conference in Tampa, FL on August 30. The summary statement from our presentation abstract states, “Your cadastral data will eventually be used as part of the national parcel map. The question is, will you have a voice in determining how your maps will be shared and aggregated into that system?” While admittedly intended to be provocative so as to get people’s attention, this statement accurately reflects our expectations for the future and our challenge to the audience.
It is widely believed that the development of a national parcel map assembled and aggregated from local sources is simply a matter of time. Since counties and other local governments are the most common custodians of cadastral data, I believe that it is vital that they have a proactive role and voice in shaping the policies that emerge in the future.
For many years, there has been discussion about the need for a national parcel map for the United States. The US is the only modern nation that does not have such a database. This is rooted in the fact that unlike most other developed countries, this data is most commonly created and maintained at the local-government level in the United States.
Momentum and support for the development of a national parcel map increased significantly in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008 and its close relationship with the downturn in the real estate economy. Many analysts believe that had a modern national parcel map existed at that time, the geographical impacts of the downturn could have been understood more quickly and perhaps mitigated. The US government is developing an inventory of all federally-owned lands and buildings, and is working to aggregate its cadastral databases into one sharable system. There is growing support among legislators and in government departments for the development of a cadastral system for all property in the US. In fact, a “parcel summit” is being planned for this summer, bringing together representatives from federal, state, and local government agencies as well as academia and the private sector.
I am the IAAO (International Association of Assessing Officers, www.iaao.org) delegate to COGO (the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations, www.cogo.pro). COGO membership is comprised of 13 national professional societies, trade associations, and membership organizations in the geospatial field, representing more than 170,000 individual producers and users of geospatial data and technology. COGO speaks with one voice whenever possible on geospatial data and policy issues and has been at the forefront of discussions at the national level on the development of a national parcel map. It recently published the “Report Card on the National Spatial Data Infrastructure” (http://www.cogo.pro/uploads/COGO-Report_Card_on_NSDI.pdf), which includes an assessment of the current state of cadastral data across the United States, and proposes a vision for the development of a national parcel map aggregated from locally maintained data sets. There are a number of other publications on this topic. Please let me know if you are interested in those references.
So, what should you do? I recommend that you learn more about this topic, discuss it with your colleagues, and engage in the national dialogue! You are certainly welcome to attend either one of our upcoming presentations or contact Brent or me if you would like to discuss this with either of us. Our email addresses are: bjones@esri.com and ncarpenter@sidwellco.com.
You might also want to consider the extent to which your existing cadastral data is ready to be shared and aggregated into a regional, state or national database. Issues to consider include currency, accuracy, completeness and adherence to commonly-accepted data formats and standards. Making improvements in these areas will allow you to better serve your users, regardless of if or when a national parcel map becomes a reality. Please let us know if Sidwell can be of assistance in any way.