Layers of information: Finding information at your fingertips

Jeff Broddle | Cadillac News Chad Collins reviews some printed maps. In addition to online services, the GIS department can create specific maps based on a variety of data.

CADILLAC — In many respects, the courthouse has become virtual.

More and more often, technology is replacing the need to visit the governmental center of Wexford County. Not everything is online but what is there might surprise you.

“We’re still growing,” said Chad Collins, Geographic Information Systems analyst for Wexford County.

Eleven years after its inception, GIS has more than 100 layers of data. For the casual user, that means things like property descriptions, assessed values, zoning, trail maps, roads, rivers, streams, parcel lines and plenty of aerial photographs.

Navigating the site

Once at www.liaa.info/wexford, casual users have two options: click “Property Search” or “Standard Maps” on the left side of the menu. Both links take users deeper into the site.

On the property search link, users can enter tax ID numbers, owner or address to bring up data on a specific property.

Once a parcel is found, it gives the owner’s name, assessed values, acreage, legal description, zoning and school district. It also gives users the option to map the location.

The standard maps link offers numerous other options, such as homestead tax, property class, zoning in cities and townships, zip code areas, school districts, commissioner districts, township and city office locations, outdoor and indoor recreation and trail maps.

Once you click on a map, it brings up a separate window with a key on the right and several options on the left.

It’s free

The county’s online GIS site is free to everyone. To date, Collins said the 2005 color aerial photos have been the most popular feature.

Aerial photos are available for free but the high-resolution pictures are not.

Collins said the site has seen 18,560 instances of map viewing and 46,630 property searches.

“It’s amazing, people don’t know it’s out there and then there are people that have used it from day five,” Collins said.

Although Internet access might be limited to dialup in some areas, Collins said the service still works as long as the user has a little patience.

In the future, Collins said he expects better and faster Web-based service and possibly 3-D mapping. The service is already utilized as part of the county’s 911 emergency service.

For example, when someone dials 911, a map pops up showing the caller’s location.

Other services

The GIS department isn’t just Web based. Collins can offer county residents other services.

For example, he gets a lot of demand for high-resolution printouts of a person’s property with parcel information placed overtop.

People seeking deer hunting or recreation property order maps to see what’s around a particular parcel, such as roads, trails or state land.

“Just about anything we want to know about a parcel, we can stick in here,” Collins said.

Your local connection

What is GIS?

It’s an acronym for Geographic Information Systems. Simply put, GIS stores data such as roads, railroads, rivers, streams and parcel lines. There’s a bunch more to it including high-resolution aerial, trail and zoning maps.

Where is the site?

There are two options online: www.liaa.info/wexford or the link at www.wexfordcounty.org.

What information can I find?

Interactive maps with limited viewing of aerial photography and unlimited property searches for the general public.

There are more than 100 map layers detailing a variety of information about Wexford County.

How much does it cost?

Much of the Web site is free. Additional maps such as property sale maps, sales information maps and high-resolution aerial photography are available by subscription for $250 a year or $20 a day.

mwhetstone@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)