Washington State Parcel Data User Survey Results

Washington State Parcel Data User Survey Results

Luke RogersRural Technology Initiative

College of Forest ResourcesUniversity of Washington

Seattle, WA

ESRI UC Paper #1472, August 2006

Intent

• Qualify and understand the need for parcel data

• Quantify current efforts by state, private and federal organizations

• Assess the interest in a statewide parcel database

• Build interest in a statewide parcel database effort


Methodology

• Construct survey to collect quantifiable data and anecdotal observations about parcel data use

• Focus on state and federal agency use but also solicit local government and private organizations where possible

• Sent e-mail solicitations to UW-GIS, WAGIC, FMG and CPS-GIS lists


Respondents

• 43 responses representing: 12 state agencies 5 federal agencies 8 local agencies 8 private

Answer # %Private 5 11.90%City 5 11.90%County 2 4.76%State 16 38.10%Federal 8 19.05%Educational Institution 2 4.76%Not for profit 501(c)(3) 2 4.76%Other public 2 4.76%

Which of the following best describes your organization type?


Response Types

Answer Frequency PercentageI am responding as an individual in my organization 16 44.44%I am responding for multiple users in my organization 20 55.56%

Are you responding for multiple users in your organization/group or are users responding individually?

Total responses (N): 36


What software is most used?

Answer Frequency PercentageESRI ArcGIS Desktop 29 80.56%ESRI ArcInfo Workstation 6 16.67%Autodesk AutoCAD 0 0.00%ESRI ArcGIS 3.x 0 0.00%MapInfo 0 0.00%Microsoft Access 0 0.00%Grass 0 0.00%Other: 1 2.78%

What is the primary software your organization uses to work with county parcel data?Total responses (N): 36


Reasons for parcel data use

• Most respondents had multiple reasons for collecting parcel data

• Land ownership is clearly the most motivating reason for collecting parcel data

Answer Frequencyland ownership 15analysis/research/monitoring/modeling 6land use planning/change 5mailing lists/owner contact 5activity tracking/compliance/permitting 5property value/taxes 5city annexations 3geocoding 3legislative reporting 3real estate concerns 3risk assessment 3conservation 2guide field surveys 2boundary delineation 2georeferencing 1critical areas 1restoration 1

Why collect parcel data?


Public agency rationale

• If you represent a public agency, is there a law or mandate that provides the rationale for parcel collection or use?

Answer FrequencyYes 21No 6Not Directly 2

Is there a law or mandate for data collection?



Comments about reasons why organizations collect parcel data • Increased accuracy

• Decreased time associated with projects or ongoing initiatives

• Corresponding decreased cost


How is parcel data collected?

How do you collect parcel data? Check all that apply.


Answer Frequency Percentage

Directly from the county assessor or GIS department 35 85.37%

Download from county website (FTP or HTTP) 34 82.93%

From a hired contractor 8 19.51%

Purchased from a consultant or commercial business 3 7.32%

Other: 12 29.27%


For what geographic extent is parcel data needed?

• Geographic extent varies widely among respondents

• Many have project specific needs which range from sub-county to the entire state

For what geographic extent is parcel data needed?

Answer Frequency

Washington State 26

Single county / sub county 9

Puget Sound 4

Forestlands 3

Western Washington 2

USFS land and neighbors 1

Southwest Washington 1

Eastern Washington 1


License agreements & Data sharing agreements

• State and local agencies tend to have a low percentage of license agreements

• Private companies tend to have a high percentage of license agreements

• Federal agencies have almost no license agreements or are not aware if they do

• Very few entities have data sharing agreements. The disparity among users may suggest proactive behavior.


How many counties do people have data for?

• Again responses vary widely having to do mainly with project specific work vs. ongoing initiatives

• Some have attribute data only and others have linework only

Responses 39Mean 11.7Median 7Mode 1Min 0Max 39StDev 11.4


How many prohibit the sharing or re-distribution of parcel data?• No clear trend or

differential between public/private.

Responses 35Mean 30%Median 0%Mode 0%Min 0%Max 100%StDev 40%


In what geographic data formats do you receive data?

In what geographic data formats do you receive data from parcel data providers? Check all that apply.



Shapefile 38 92.68%

ESRI Coverage 21 51.22%

ESRI Geodatabase 17 41.46%

ESRI ArcSDE Export file 3 7.32%

AutoCAD 5 12.20%

Other: paper, tabular, web app 7 17.07%


How often does your organization collect parcel data? How often does your organization collect parcel data?



Weekly 3 7.14%

Monthly 6 14.29%

Quarterly 5 11.90%

Annually 9 21.43%

Less than once a year or as needed 19 45.24%


Comments about collecting parcel and assessor data

• Needs tend to be project specific although there are a few ongoing initiatives

• Many users unsure about license agreements

• Inconvenience of collecting data causes some to utilize outdated information

• Appears to be a general perception of difficulty or hassle associated with acquiring and preparing parcel data


Is parcel feature geometry important to your organization? • Other:

Tax assessment Compliance Surveys property lines road planning evaluation of forest fire

protection assessment identifying land owners

at specified points lease rights

If parcel feature geometry is important to your organization, what is it used for? Check all that apply.


Answer # %

not important 0 0.00%

spatial analysis 37 88.10%

mapping 1 95.24%

generating mailing lists

15 35.71%

geocoding 17 40.48%

Other: 7 14.29%


Which assessor attributes are important?If assessor attributes are important which ones are used? Check all that apply.

Total responses (N): 40 93% say attributes are important

Answer Frequency Percentage Answer Frequency Percentage

parcel ID number 35 87.50% owner state 27 67.50%

owner name 32 80.00% owner zip 27 67.50%

landuse 31 77.50% land value 24 60.00%

site address 30 75.00% owner country 23 57.50%

zoning 30 75.00% total value 23 57.50%

parcel acres 30 75.00% legal description 23 57.50%

site city 29 72.50% building sq ft 23 57.50%

site zip 29 72.50% timber acres 19 47.50%

owner address 28 70.00% residence status 18 45.00%

building value 28 70.00% Other: 14 35.00%

owner city 27 67.50% timber expectation value 13 32.50%


Other important assessor attributes

• mobile home, utility types, septic type, number of housing units, year built, bedrooms, number of floors, structure type

• sales history, sale price, land and building values from previous years

• forest fire protection assessment, fire district number, forest patrol/protection acres

• building permit information if available, such as: permit ID, permit type, permit issue date, permit completion date, issuing authority

• vacant/undeveloped status, boundary line adjustments, legal descriptions, plat info, taxing jurisdictions, township-range-sect-qtrsect, document numbers, water well number, special restrictions on property, land type, site city (legal city), tax account numbers


How is parcel and assessor data shared?

• Other ways data is shared Librarian Email FTP CD/DVD SQL Server

How is parcel and assessor data shared in your organization?



not shared 8 18.60%

network file system

26 60.47%

ArcSDE 11 25.58%

ArcIMS 4 9.30%

Other: 12 27.91%


Are derivative products created from parcel data?

Does your organization produce derivative products from parcel data? Total responses (N): 43

Answer Frequency Percentageyes 29 67.44%

no 10 23.26%

unknown 4 9.30%


Examples of derivative products

• impervious surfaces, land use, risk models and assessments, planning priorities, build out scenarios, developments, population estimates, housing density

• conservation, suspected septic systems, habitat improvement opportunities

• real estate classification/prospects, economic development

• annexations, forestlands, crime analyses, election maps, fire risk

• normalized statewide parcel database


Are derivative products publicly available?

If your organization does produce products from parcel data are they currently available outside your organization?



yes 14 32.56%

no 19 44.19%

unknown 10 23.26%

If derivative products are not publicly available, could they be made available to the counties that provide parcel data?



yes 28 87.50%

no 4 12.50%


What prohibits organizations from sharing products with counties?

• Other: network security, incomplete products, no mechanism to share/distribute, restrictive license agreements, confidentiality, staff resources, business advantage

If no, then what is prohibiting your organization from sharing the information back with the counties? Check all that apply.



Lack of interest from the counties 4 30.77%

Legal issues 4 30.77%

Liability 4 30.77%

Metadata not completed, irresponsible to share 8 61.54%

Other: 7 53.85%


Comments about the way parcel data is used or shared

• Project specific data rarely shared due to privacy/completeness/interest

• Map products may be shared but the underlying data is not

• General suggestions that sharing is good and should be encouraged but time/money, privacy and liability are concerns


Cost estimates

Acquisition Preparation Management

Responses 27 23 23

Mean $ 10,937 $ 16,363 $ 6,486

Median $ 1,500 $ 4,800 $ 1,000

Mode $ - $ 1,000 $ -

Min $ - $ - $ -

Max $ 160,000 $ 180,000 $ 60,000

StDev $ 32,178 $ 38,281 $ 14,996


Value of parcel and assessor data to organizations

• Agencies tasked with legislative or legal mandates view the data as critical and many state it would not be possible to do their jobs without it.

• General perception of efficiency and improved accuracy

• “The associated value is intangible in that it is both hard to value and invaluable.“


Assuming it met your needs and was available for your use, what dollar value would you place on an integrated, normalized statewide parcel database with a limited set of assessor attributes? Value if Available

Responses 25

Mean $ 25,258

Median $ 1,700

Mode $ 500

Min $ -

Max $ 500,000

StDev $ 99,526


If an integrated database was available for your use, how often would updates be desired?If an integrated, normalized statewide parcel database was

available for your use, how often would updates be desired?



Weekly 4 9.76%

Monthly 6 14.63%

Quarterly 17 41.46%

Annually 13 31.71%

Other: 4 9.76%


Any additional comments about the costs of parcel data collection?• Many organizations have no funds to

acquire or manage parcel data• Many organizations acquire data

infrequently due to costs and hassle. Would get updates more often if it was convenient.

• Consistency among counties desired


Additional comments

• Concern that a statewide database would be large Desire to be able to acquire regions or

sub-county areas• Majority of respondents see value in

statewide database• Some confusion with cost data

expressed


Next steps

• Summarizing survey results into a brief document

• Constructing a survey of county data producers

• Drafting possible data standard• Drafting a catch-all pass-thru license

agreement

Documents

Washington State Parcel Data User Survey Results