Fulton County, Georgia, home to over one million residents and the economic hub of the Atlanta metropolitan area, is the most populous county in the state. With more than 360,000 residential parcels, its GIS Division within the Board of Assessors is tasked with maintaining accurate land records that support critical functions like taxation, public safety, and planning. In 2024, the County partnered with Sidwell to modernize its GIS infrastructure, moving from legacy systems to Esri’s ArcGIS Parcel Fabric environment.
The Challenge
Fulton County’s existing system was no longer supported, lacked flexibility, and demanded considerable staff time for basic parcel updates. Parcel lines often failed to align with aerial imagery, and the custom-built workflow solution in place had become difficult to maintain. The GIS team needed a more reliable, accurate, and future-ready solution that could support process automation and enable advanced GIS analysis without overburdening staff.
The Solution
Sidwell led a comprehensive modernization effort that included:
- Migrating the County’s land records to Esri’s ArcGIS Parcel Fabric.
- Implementing ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Enterprise as the new GIS foundation.
- Deploying Workflow Manager to support automation and consistency.
- Integrating Sidwell’s Parcel Administrator to improve parcel ID management.
This implementation was tailored to meet Fulton County’s specific needs, especially the configuration of workflows to reflect internal review processes and data standards.
Results
While the project had only been live for a few months at the time of reporting, early returns showed significant promise:
- Workflow Efficiency: Parcel editing and update tasks were faster and more intuitive, allowing the team to shift attention to more strategic GIS initiatives.
- Improved Accuracy: The integration of municipal data and aerial imagery alignment led to immediate improvements in northern Fulton County’s parcel accuracy.
- Operational Focus: Freed from repetitive manual tasks, the team could begin focusing on change detection, GIS analysis, and broader support for appraisers and public service needs.
- Future Scalability: The platform positions the County for AI-enabled analysis and additional automation in tasks such as parcel number creation and retirement.
Why Sidwell
Fulton County’s relationship with Sidwell began over a decade ago, and the decision to continue the partnership was rooted in trust and a proven track record. As Reginald Elder II, Geospatial Program Manager, explained:
Our comfort level with Sidwell is extremely high. Since 2012, the experience has been consistently positive. This transition felt natural—we were committed to staying partners.
Looking Ahead
The County’s GIS team plans to expand its capabilities in the coming year, including exploring AI to enhance data analytics and decision-making. With foundational systems now in place, the team is well positioned to evolve their operations and deepen the value GIS provides across departments.
Ready to modernize your land records? Take our GIS Needs Assessment today and explore how modernization can work for your county.