Genesee County in Michigan faced economic hardship after the 2008 stock market crash, limiting staffing in key departments like equalization and GIS. Ken Koleda (GIS director) and Peggy Nolde (equalization director) saw how this impacted workflow. They proposed updating Pictometry imagery by splitting costs between 28 townships, cities, and other entities. This allowed nearly 100% participation and fit each entity's budget. The updated imagery and tools improved productivity for assessing, emergency response, and more. Users found Pictometry invaluable and look forward to the next flight.

1. 12 The Michigan Assessor ww.maa-usa.org January 2016
Since the crash of the stock market in 2008, Genesee
County, Michigan has been at an economic disadvantage.
One of the largest counties in Michigan with a population
of 425,000 residents covering 630 sq. miles, the thought
of updating Pictometry orthogonal and oblique imagery
was merely a dream during this downturn.
Once having over 13 equalization and GIS personnel,
cost cutting left the equalization department with seven
employees and the GIS Department with one, Ken
Koleda, GIS department director. When he and Peggy
Nolde, equalization department director, discovered that
the economic hardships were affecting the workflow of
the county personnel, they knew the implementation of
Pictometry’s imagery and analytical tools would help,
yet still faced the challenge of finding funding for the
project.
With the county being divided into numerous townships
and cities, the project was too costly for one entity to
cover by itself, but Koleda and Nolde were undeterred.
They met with representatives from many of the entities
and promoted the option of splitting the cost throughout
the entire county as had been done with the 2006
Pictometry project. Twenty-eight townships and cities,
representing nearly 100 percent participation, agreed to
cost-share 50 percent of the total cost. Desired image
resolution and parcel count was used to calculate each
contribution amount, while another five local government
entities covered the remaining 50 percent. This cost
determination method appealed to each entity as it
provided them a cost that fit their budget - the more
parcels they have, the larger the contribution.
After the flights in 2006 and 2009, Genesee County found
Pictometry imagery and analytical tools to be helpful for
the staff in 911, Drain Commission, Road Commission,
Land Bank Authority, GIS and many other departments.
Their current intergovernmental funding agreement
allows for well over 400 users in various departments
to use Pictometry CONNECT™, a cloud-based platform
providing easy access to the imagery, data and analytical
tools.
“It’s a smart product for counties with limited staff
mapping properties,” said Koleda. “It really improves
productivity and efficiency as a lone GIS worker because
Genesee County
County Rallies
Townships and Cities to Implement Pictometry®
Imagery and Analytics
by: Melissa Mazurek
I can now look at everything from my desk. Pictometry
also aids the Equalization appraisers by cutting down
hours spent in the field to determine improvements
sitting on individual parcels.”
Gaining access to properties for field visits isn’t always
easy, especially when a property is gated and the owners
aren’t home. “CONNECT allows the many assessors in
Genesee County to do their job when circumstances
aren’t allowing them to. They are true believers in
Pictometry, they all love it,” stated Nolde.
Pictometry imagery was easily integrated into the
county’s BS&A CAMA System and utilized in GIS, but
first responders found a great use for it as well. Koleda
installed Pictometry access in several of the fire trucks
in Genesee County, which has assisted in search and
rescue missions. “It gives them the capability of fully
understanding their environment when they’re looking
for someone,” Koleda explained.
The imagery was also used by GIS staff to plot flooding,
creating mapping the state had never seen before. The
equalization team used Pictometry imagery and tools to
create maps for FEMA to show the wet neighborhoods.
“Pictometry has been invaluable for Genesee County. It
has been extremely useful for all entities and we didn’t
know how much we needed it until we began using the
imagery,” Nolde concluded. “We look forward to our next
flight!”
www.pictometry.com/assessment
Michigan’s
Choice for
Premier Imagery