generating individualized tax assessment information · 1 generating individualized tax assessment...
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GENERATING INDIVIDUALIZED TAX ASSESSMENT INFORMATION MAPSCUSTOMIZING ARCGIS DESKTOP TO BUILD MORE THAN A MAP
R. Michael WhiteGlobal Information Systems, LLC
May 10, 2019
INTRODUCTION• Global Information Systems
• Based in Lexington, KY• Offices in Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta and BANGOR• GIS Services for Pipeline, Railroad, Municipal
• Fayette County, Kentucky• Property Valuation Administrator• Looking for way to inform property owners how
their taxation compares to neighbors• Cut down number of reviews after tax bills go out• Previous year ran a test
• Chance meeting between owner of Global and the PVA
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PROJECT PARAMETERS
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• Many thousands of documents to generate
• Data provided as CSV Files
• Use template Word/Publisher documents
• Avoid hand-editing of final product
• PDF generation in ArcGIS designed just as export of layout
• Need simple interface to select and generate batches of documents
• Formatted for bulk mailing
COMPONENTS OF THE DOCUMENT – FRONT PAGE
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• Full Color• Uses Word/Publisher template, PDF with text added• Owner info• Property info• Comparable sales• Link to online property records• Building/Property photo• Mailing address block
• USPS Bar Codes – removed• Had to be exactly correct location when printed
• Replaced text
FRONT PAGE
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COMPONENTS OF THE DOCUMENT – BACK PAGE
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• Monochrome to save printing expense
• Map of Neighborhood (highlighted)
• Target property call-out
• Recent Sales callouts• Maximum 36 call-outs, most recent first• Street address, sale price, assessed value• Call-out blocks vary in width• Finding a way to prevent leaders from crossing was a major issue!
• Key street names
BACK PAGE
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TOOLS UTILIZED
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• ArcObjects• Customization of ArcGIS Desktop
using VS C#• User Interface• Data loading• Build maps• Build front pages• Combine to make final
• Able to integrate a wide variety of tools to make a unified product
TOOLS UTILIZED
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• Use XML support file• Modification of XML used for
Assessor Tools™• Contains
• Folder Paths and File Names• Replacement text• Layer info• Template file names• Feature Info
• Customer can modify as needed• Named similar to mxd file, different extension
TOOLS UTILIZED
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• Processing CSV Files• Issues with consistency of format• Ultimately had to settle on a specific format from
year to year• Use GenericParsing C# library
• Fast and efficient• Relatively easy coding• Many options to handle different CSV formats
• Missing data caused problems
TOOLS UTILIZED
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• PDF generation• ArcGIS not suitable• Custom code to build front page
• Tax information• Photo• Comparables
• Third-party library for front page • QuickPDF
• Use PDF created from template Word file as basis, add custom elements
• Combine front and back pages as last step• Required creation of two source files and one final file
ISSUES
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• Paths• Program needs to know where to find files
• Many text formatting issues• Dates• Money
• Vagaries of ArcObjects• Example: text styling and callouts• Memory leaks In ArcGIS/ArcObjects
• Modified dialog to select multiple parcels by neighborhood• Data issues
• Problems when data from different CSV files out of synch• Problems when parcel data incorrect
FINAL PRODUCT
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CONCLUSION
• Now in third year of production• Many thousands of documents generated and mailed• Almost no format changes year to year• Customer able to modify XML as needed without
assistance• Future may load data directly from CAMA system
database• Most important: positive results from property owners
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