Technology Committee Benefits from July Presentation
by Trina Wiater,
Tech Users Committee
7/27/04
Joe Testa, Franklin County Auditor, spoke to the to July Technology Users Forum regarding
many new features available on their website. This dynamic presentation covered many new and
improved techniques to help the way that Realtors® provide information to their clients.
The Franklin County Auditor website became available in 1998, and is one of the most advanced
websites in the nation. The data available is updated regularly, and homes are reassessed
periodically in order to provide an idea of market value to the public. Good data creates fairness
and equality from a tax aspect.
The Geographic Information System (GIS) within the Auditor's website provides a wealth of
information. Maps showing the appraisal area, taxing district, school district, township, and zip
code area are available. Other features, in the "Select Items" area include aerial photos and flood
plain maps. The flood plain maps in Realist.com are available, but for a fee. However, this
information is free via the Testa website.
Proximity reports are also available. For example, if you would want to generate a mailing list
around the proximity of a subject property, the names and addresses are generated, and are able
to be copied/pasted into another application.
Theme maps are helpful when comparing neighboring properties. The appraised total values
map shows how other properties are appraised. This can be helpful when doing a comparative
market analysis and "weeding out" unique properties within the neighborhood. Price range maps
show the different ranges of prices within a particular subdivision. Maps that show the transfer
date by year are helpful in determining which neighborhoods might be ripe for farming.
All of these maps and reports are available to print for clients. There are many points of interest
that can be helpful to prospective buyers, such as libraries, banks, etc., as well as "what if"
scenarios for proposed tax legislature. It is evident that a lot of work has gone into the website,
and as a community, we are blessed to have this available to the public.
Following Joe Testa's report, Trina Wiater from Sell and Save Homes presented and Advanced
Tempo presentation, discussing how to create and save prospects, use special characters in
searches, exclude data from searches, and how to save custom searches. She also shared some
tips to do basic screen captures for documents (Print Screen), or to capture a "window" (Alt/Print
Screen), then pasting those screen captures using a Paste command into another application.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Technology Users Forum, please contact Ted
Oatts at Worthington Realty, at 431-7000.
Calendar