August 11, 2010 -- St. Charles, IL – Terry County, located in northwest Texas, covers approximately 890 square miles and encompasses 10,000 land parcels. The Terry County Appraisal District (TCAD) recognized a critical need for a modernized cadastral-based GIS that would allow staff to effectively perform their requirements for land records management. To help them achieve these goals, TCAD turned to Sidwell to provide professional GIS services.

As part of this multi-year project, Sidwell will develop a cadastral-based GIS for all parcels within the service area of the Terry County Appraisal District. TCAD’s existing digital orthophotography will be used as the base map for construction of the new ESRI ArcGIS 10 geodatabase. TCAD staff will be actively involved with the design and review of the geodatabase, and will support Sidwell as any necessary parcel research and ongoing parcel maintenance is performed. Sidwell will provide on-going maintenance of the parcel data for the next four years.

Sidwell will also be developing and hosting a GIS website (Parcel Builder Portico) accessible to both TCAD staff and the public. An integration component will be developed for the internal website that will directly access TCAD’s CAMA (Computer Aided Mass Appraisal) application. TCAD staff will be able to query parcels in the CAMA application and automatically locate the selected parcels in the GIS; and vice-versa. Sidwell’s Portico websites utilize ESRI’s ArcGIS Server and Microsoft’s Silverlight Technology.

According to TCAD Chief Appraiser Ronny Burran, “The Terry County Appraisal District has long awaited the opportunity to implement a GIS mapping system into its operations. Until the last 3-5 years, a digitized mapping system was cost prohibitive and the district had to rely on hand-drawn, paper maps. Also, all appraisal districts in Texas must now undergo a biennial Methods And Assistance (MAP) audit conducted by the Property Tax Assistance Division (PTAD) of the Texas Comptroller’s Office. This is a giant step forward that will allow Terry CAD to be in compliance with Comptroller’s Rule 9.3002 regarding Tax Maps which is a very important element of the audit.”

“Last but not least, The Sidwell Company came highly recommended as a resource for implementing a digitized mapping system and we are looking forward to working with the Sidwell team to gain the advantages and benefits that a GIS system can provide to the appraisal district and to the citizens of Terry County.” TCAD is the latest Texas appraisal district to benefit from Sidwell’s depth of experience and ability to create functional and flexible GIS solutions for jurisdictions of all sizes.

About Sidwell
The Sidwell Company is an employee-owned firm providing integrated land records management solutions and GIS mapping and software development to local government and private-sector organizations across the United States. Sidwell’s premier parcel mapping solution, Parcel Builder™, is currently in use at over 150 sites nationwide. Sidwell also offers a full range of aerial photography and photogrammetric services, and is the Authorized Dealer and Midwest Distributor for Ashtech GPS products and solutions. For more information about Sidwell services and products, call 877.SIDWELL (877.743.9355) or visit www.sidwellco.com.