Q: Can you give us an update on the Cyclomedia project that provides high resolution street level imagery of residences and businesses, which you introduced to readers in the December issue?
A: This project is complete and all imagery has been published on our website. If you want to look at your property, just enter the address. When the property record card comes up, there will be an aerial photo. Click on that and then click on the blue and white “C” (for “Cyclomedia”) in the legend of the aerial view of the street that comes up. After this, you can click on the property or the street for the street level imagery. You can go up and down the street or rotate 360 degrees in this extremely high resolution photo.
It should be noted that all images were completely scrubbed for any identifying information except the address, meaning all car license plates or faces of people who might appear in the photo have been blurred.
Q: How does this technology benefit your office?
A: This type of technology allows us to assess and appraise properties from our desktops in the office. It is more efficient and safer for both my appraisers and for property owners. For context, when I became the County Property Appraiser five years ago, we had 55 employees to assess 125,000 land parcels. Today, we have 38 employees who assess 147,000 parcels — and the office spends 10 percent less in hard dollars today than five years ago, even including purchasing the technology. (This translates to $500,000 per year less.) Also, our tax roll is more accurate, per the Florida Department of Revenue’s audit.
Q: What can your appraisers discern from these images?
A: They can tell if a roof has been replaced or if maintenance is up to date … all things we would use in an assessment. We use aerial photography to view the back of a house.
We also use some technology called Push Pin, which digests maps and sketches of buildings on every parcel and tells us if something changes from year to year. For instance, was an outbuilding taken down due to storm damage that would decrease a homeowner’s assessment? Or was something built on the property without a permit? It also keeps our assessments accurate for properly permitted items, so we can make an accurate assessment.
To the greatest extent possible, we are trying to use technology to stay ahead of the county’s growth without having to increase our office’s costs.
Q: What is the best way for our readers to contact you?
A: Our office is located at 4030 Lewis Speedway Ste. 203, (904) 827-5500. It is open Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Also, readers can email me at Eddie@sjcpa.us or call me at (904) 827-5500.
