WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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The Monroe County Commission approved a $271,000 contract on February 21 with a company that plans to take aerial photographs of the entire County.
The company, Pictometry International Corporation, would fly over the area to take high-resolution pictures for the County Assessor’s office.
Assessor Judy Sharp said one way her staff uses images like these is to detect changes in properties, which can affect their assessed value and in turn their property taxes.
“This is the third time we’ve done this,” Sharp said, “We fly over every three years because Monroe County is such a fast-growing community. In three years, you have a lot of new product out there. This company can actually tell us the changes, good or bad, to a piece of property”
Sharp said the contract, which covers three years, includes a stipulation that prevents the public from accessing the photographs.
“It is strictly in the assessor’s office,” Sharp said, “The city police could use this, but it isn’t a tool just anyone use because it’s licensed. You can go online at our 39 degrees GIS website which does something very similar, but it isn’t what we use.”
The commission voted unanimously to approve the agreement.
