Tippecanoe County Assessor GIS

Tippecanoe County Assessor GIS Mission and Policy Statement

Mission Statement:

The Tippecanoe County Assessor’s Geographic Information System’s (GIS) function is to gather, store, process and deliver geographic information both internally and to the public in an easy-to-use accessible and cost effective format.

GIS Policy:

GIS has proven to be integral in a variety of public and private decision-making processes. It is not only an important tool for internal government users but also for real estate professionals along with the general public to access data about our community. We seek to empower individuals within our organization, other governmental departments, and in the general public and professional community with geospatial technologies to view and analyze data. That data includes the physical property information, location of real and personal property, market data, and other community information.

Our map publishing standards are designed to provide complete transparency and accessibility of the content we deliver. Through expert data analysis, our staff presents geographical data in a creative, productive, and cost-effective manner that encourages both internal and external users to utilize the tools available.

The strategic GIS goals of the Tippecanoe County Assessor’s GIS initiatives are to explore new technologies to fulfill the vision and mission of our office; increase and maintain data integrity to provide the most current and accurate spatial data; form alliances and partnerships with other departments as a way to promote GIS to their specific needs; save taxpayer dollars by sharing our GIS data with others; and promote an efficient operation by optimizing business processes.

The Tippecanoe County Assessor's Office strives to provide accurate and timely data to be visualized on Public GIS systems for public benefit. We are committed to supplying any data that the Assessor’s Office maintains to facilitate other public data retrieval and GIS systems. However, any assessment data conveyed must meet the following standards:

-Any physical data and/or valuation information must be clearly dated.

-Historical information can be conveyed with appropriate dating but current valuation and physical data cannot be more than 12 months out of date.

Statement of Principles:

The Tippecanoe County Assessor recognizes that sharing of geographic information can result in considerable savings for local governments by minimizing duplication of effort in digital data creation and data maintenance procedures. In the event that tools or access are limited our office will seek independent solutions such as the use of cost-effective contracted services such as BEACON or maintaining our own ARC GIS Online accounts and HUB. Aside from protected or legally redacted data, it is at the discretion of the elected Assessor as to what information can be shared with the public and in what format via services that are paid for and maintained by our office.

The Tippecanoe County Assessor acquires, develops, maintains, and uses GIS data in support of its statuary internal functions and in the services it provides to the public. The GIS data which the Assessor distributes and to which it provides access may not be suitable for all purposes or uses. GIS data sets are provided with no warranty or guarantee of accuracy. The data is provided only as reference and should be cross-referenced by other sources. Our GIS data is not a substitute for legal surveys or records, and is simply a snapshot of information we have created and collected at a given time.

The Assessor GIS data is obtained from sources the Assessor believes to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the data and do not assume any responsibility for its uses.