11/7/2009 12:44:00 PM Assessor seeking support for aerial photography
Assessor Pam Pearsall: "I'm trying to get a coalition together of other entities that could use the system and help pay for it. I want it to help with assessments, but the fire departments and police could have a lot of use for it, too."
By Bruce Colbert Contributing Reporter
PRESCOTT - Yavapai County Assessor Pamela J. Pearsall wants to buy a high-tech oblique aerial digital photography system, called Pictometry, to help her assess county properties.
However, it is not quite as high-tech as a government's "Big Brother" spy satellite system that worries some members of the public.
"You can't enlarge the aerial photos enough to read license plates or see in windows," said Ron Gibbs, deputy county assessor.
Pearsall is sold on buying the system, but her department cannot afford the price tag - from $45 per square mile to $400 per square mile depending on resolution and number of side angles. Yavapai County is about 8,100 square miles in size.
Therefore, she invited representatives from county, state and federal agencies to listen to Erin Ford, vice president of Pictometry, on Thursday to see if she could get some partners to help pay for the system.
"I'm trying to get a coalition together of other entities that could use the system and help pay for it," she said. "I want it to help with assessments, but the fire departments and police could have a lot of use for it, too."
Although the county's mapping department has some aerial photos of the county, they are not the high resolution Pictometry uses and they are orthographic projections - photographs made directly overhead and rendering a two dimensional view.
"Our specialty is 'visual intelligence,'" Ford told nearly 30 people watching his PowerPoint presentation at the Prescott Public Library. "This does not replace ortho photos, but it does give you an orthogonal (side angle) view so that you could see entry and exit points in a building.
"We provide the 'aha aha' experience for law enforcement."
Computer software allows a viewer to look at side views from four different directions. It also has the ability to measure distances between points, heights and widths of buildings and objects, and calculate square footage of a building, Ford said. Low-flying airplanes fitted with cameras make photos in resolutions of four inches, six inches or one foot.
Four-inch photos are the highest resolution. Four inches is the amount of information recorded in a single pixel in a photograph, Ford explained.
"I came to see if it would be good for our interface pre-planning," Mayer firefighter Mike Pearson said. "You look at a map and it's hard to really get a feel for what kind of terrain we might be driving to. This would tell us exactly before we even left the station."
Although fire and police departments could use the Pictometry photographs to improve responses to emergencies, Pearsall could use it to earn money for the county.
"We are supposed to assess properties every three years, but I don't have the money or the staff to do it," she said before the presentation. Property owners that build homes and structures and do not report them, cost the county big bucks in lost assessments, she added.
Ford said that the assessor in one county that bought Pictometry told him that one person reviewed 30,000 parcels in one month.
Pearsall wants to meet in the near future with other department and agency representatives and find out who is serious about buying into the system.
"If I can get other departments to help pay for this, everyone could benefit from it," she said.
Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Article comment by:
BAD IDEA
This is an absurd idea! I've seen aerial work before in other states. Double the price tag and know up front, trees, valleys and mountains all obscure the view. Just get out and hoof it to reassess. And as if the cops and fire dept have extra cash laying around.
Posted: Monday, November 09, 2009
Article comment by:
Terry
Why exactly is it that the county cannot afford to go out and "DO THEIR JOB". Property taxes are at their highest rate ever, combined with more and more fees tacked on to anything you do on your own property.
I do have one question... If Ms. Pearsall manages to find the funds to buy this technology, how many county staff members would be let go? Any? None? Does this high priced technolgy replace actual working staff?
I say cut loose the dead wood, get back to work and stop spending the taxpayers money and do your job.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
RV
"everyone could benefit from it" Everyone that is except the taxpayer who will have to foot the bill for this needless, expensive program as well as providing the government with yet another potential tool to invade the public's privacy.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Another big brother ploy
