For Immediate Release
March 30, 2000
Cumberland County Announces
Parcel Number Changes
Cumberland County Tax Administrator Garrett Alexander, has announced that the parcel identification numbers (PINs) of real property throughout the county are being changed. What this means to property owners in the County is that the unique number used to identify their property in the tax department's databases will be different this year than in previous years. Most property owners will be largely unaffected except for noting a different number on their property tax notifications this year.
The PIN changes are necessitated by the County moving to a coordinate system based on a more modern reference for geographic locations in North Carolina. This coordinate system allows precise measurements of specific locations on a map and is a representation of latitude and longitude, but with linear feet as units instead of degrees.
"This project is a continuation of Cumberland County's efforts to modernize the information systems of Tax Administration in order that we may provide greater service to the community," said Alexander. "Many people depend on the geographic information and maps produced by Tax Administration. This project not only provides the most accurate information available, but it also will make the information more accessible and easier to use."
Ground Control, a local geographic information systems (GIS) software development and systems integration firm, has built specialized software to perform the update. This software builds a new PIN based on the location of the geometric center of each parcel of land in the county. The PIN conversion project is one of the primary steps in a process of updating the County tax department's land records GIS. When all of the updates are complete, Ground Control will begin building a specialized web site for Tax Administration to allow internet users access to the land records GIS.
"The GIS Internet map service will make life a lot easier for a number of professionals in Cumberland County including realtors, developers and people making investments in property in Cumberland County," says Doug Ruppel, President and Founder of Ground Control.
Ground Control builds, maintains and implements GIS technology for a wide variety of customers. In addition to work locally with the County, City of Fayetteville and Public Works Commission, Ground Control has built specialized software for local government and industry across the country.
Other Ground Control customers include International Paper and Southern Company, the largest energy producer in the U.S. Recently, Ground Control has completed an implementation plan for integrating City, County and PWC geographic information systems and resources.
Cole, Layer, Trumble Company (CLT), the provider of the Tax Administration's OASIS assessment and collection software is also working with the County and Ground Control in the conversion process. CLT expects to complete the updates to the OASIS software around mid-April.
Property owners will receive notification of the new parcel identification number on the tax bills that will be mailed in July. The conversion programs will store the old parcel identification numbers in the County's records, so property owners will not need to have the new parcel number to obtain information about their property.
Customer Service representatives will be available to assist property owners who may need to obtain parcel number information prior to July. This change will not affect business and personal property account numbers.
For more information on this news release, please contact Cumberland County Tax Administrator Garrett Alexander at 678-7505 or Public Information Director Tonya Harris Council at 437-1921.