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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 21, 2005 Lots on the Web SmartMap puts tax info in users’ hands By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings The public can use Smartmap to obtain information regarding individual parcels of land and view the land using aerial photography. Click here to go directly to Smartmap. Below is an actual photograph of a portion of the area featured above. For five years now, Jackson County has been offering those interested in real estate and land use a service that can typically cost hundreds of dollars in other areas. Its award-winning Web site, www.smartmap.org, allows users to view the county from above and select any tax lot by physical location, address, owner’s name and lot number. “There isn’t another county in Oregon that has this much information in Oregon,” Keith Massie, the geographical information system (or GIS) manager for Jackson County said. “It’s designed to replace the computers at the assessor’s front counter.” Massie said this type of tax and lot information is available at every town hall in America. Some, like Jackson County, charge citizens to access some of this information. However, few of them, he said, also give the information away for free in a manner that people can access from the privacy of their own home at any hour of the day. “A title company or an appraiser doesn’t have to come in between 9 and 5 anymore,” he said. “We decided to take all the stuff we have and make it available on the Internet — save them a trip to the courthouse.” SmartMap is an interactive computer mapping application that allows users to find a plethora of information, such as lot numbers, tax information and ownership deeds. “If a piece of property is sold in your neighborhood, you can find out who bought it by calling up a local real estate agent,” Massie said. “But this is much easier.” In fact, one doesn’t even the need the address to find out such information. As long as people know the location, they can fly over with their cursor and click on the appropriate tax lot. The county updates this site on a daily basis, so users can always be assured of having access to the latest information. And it’s not just for outsiders. SmartMap is the same application that employees of Jackson County use to do their land use-related jobs. “It’s the same tool we use,” Massie said. “So we’re motivated to keep it up-to-date.” Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams