Information from the database can be laser printed at a cost of 50 cents per page. These employees have a DEC workstation and two DEC X-terminals providing access to the Real Estate Appraisal applications on the IBM mainframe. About 125 abstractors from title companies have been trained on the public access system. Other members of the public use a quick-read training manual compiled by county staff. The customized system starts by providing a keymap of the entire county.
Users select an area to view, and the system provides an index map of that area.
Maps become more and more detailed as the user makes selections. At the parcel level the red-dot centroids are used to activate data about that lot. When users click on the dots, information from the appraisal system is displayed. Currently, the county's GIS links a few of its towns to both the real estate appraisal information and orthophotos. By fall, real estate appraisal information and tax maps for the entire county will be added to the system.