Riding the technology wave
Modern tools, smarter assessments in Oklahoma County
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About Oklahoma County
Faced with outdated, inefficient ways of obtaining information on the county and increasing demand for accurate and timely assessments, Oklahoma County modernized its operations using high-resolution aerial imagery.
With more than 330,000 property parcels across 720 square miles, the county’s small staff performs more than 90,000 appraisals every year. Using high-resolution imagery, they can find new or improved residential and commercial properties to ensure accurate and equitable assessments.
The challenge
Keeping up with change
BAs the state’s largest county, Oklahoma County sets the standard. But community growth made it impossible to maintain that standard without modernization. Traditionally, data collection was a cumbersome process, including manual information input. “Back in the day, we just had stacks of aerial photos that were years old and not up to date. We had to do better,” said Oklahoma County’s Field Supervisor, Steve Stout.
Ignoring modernization came with the operational expense of time, cost, safety, and reliability.
- Time: The county was sorting through physical stacks of paper maps
- Cost: Sending assessors on-site to walk parcels individually increased expenses
- Safety: Field staff face potential conflict with property owners.
- Reliability: Making decisions that impact constituents based on quick inspection
By upgrading to a proactive aerial capture program, the county was able to reduce staff expenses.
This saved the taxpayers approximately $5 million a year.
“Previously the delivery of our aerial images took nearly a year to create a final mosaic. By the time it was online, it was pretty much out of date. The process was convoluted due to each county wanting different outputs.”
Mike Morrison, Chief Deputy, Oklahoma County Assessor’s OfficeThe solution
Going digital
Property assessors run on accurate data. In 2017, Tim Conner, the GIS Director at Oklahoma County, ran into Nearmap at the Esri User Conference. This was the catalyst for the Assessor’s office changing its strategy.
Larry Stein was Chief Deputy for the Assessor at that time and both he and Tim were convinced that Nearmap would be a more reliable data source and become a benchmark on how to integrate technology to reduce assessment work for county offices.
When new Nearmap data is available, internal and external field maps assessors use are updated automatically — allowing the team and constituents to identify changes across parcels with more ease, clarity, and historical reference data. When in the field, Oklahoma County’s team can operate with tablets to continuously update areas with additional details that in-office teams can also use.
With both the Assessor’s office and constituents using the same data, Oklahoma County started to watch its appeals decline and its reliability in data increase.
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Business impact
Better data, better value
The Assessor’s Office of Larry Stein is setting the benchmark by leveraging aerial imagery as the foundation for how it tracks and improves the community for locals across the county.
Industry leading accuracy in valuations
Fewer than 1% of property assessments are appealed annually – far below the 20% industry standard – saving time and reinforcing public trust in assessment practices.
Up-to-date parcel data without the wait
Multiple updates per year ensure assessors always work from the most current, high-resolution imagery — eliminating guesswork and site visits.
Get started today
If you want to experience the benefits of location intelligence for yourself, try Nearmap — the leading provider of geospatial imagery, insights, and answers.
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