Dutchess County’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) initiative centralizes a wide variety of data and applications made available to local governments and publicly via web applications.
The County has worked with municipalities to collect and deliver parcel based information. To increase the access to this important data Dutchess County has developed the current ParcelAccess application. While it maps parcel boundaries and displays the municipal assessor collected and entered real property information, ParcelAccess also provides a venue to find other information. For instance links to County Clerk Filed Maps, Well Reports, and parcel photographs can be obtained. Most recently, ParcelAccess also overlays the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) new flood insurance rate maps. These all have an ‘unseen’ support infrastructure of applications, processes, and databases that aid municipalities obtain and share information that are spatially based.
To leverage the value of GIS data to a wider audience Dutchess County has published ArcStudio. This application combines all the major GIS layers in the county with robust query and analysis functionality. Many municipalities in the county use this tool to generate Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) reports mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Municipalities also have shared with the County their zoning information in exchange for the county making these layers GIS-ready and displaying them in conjunction with all other GIS layers in ArcStudio. Both ArcStudio and ParcelAccess have been utilized at Town Hall and Planning Board meetings to enhance their presentations.
Access to these GIS shared services reduces the amount of duplication in hardware, software and personnel efforts to use important spatial data in daily decision making. With immediate access to a wide variety of data, these shared GIS tools have saved time and money for local government and county staff alike. In addition, the County also provides access to a very similar set of tools for the public. For more information on these publicly accessible tools visit GIS In Dutchess County.
