For town data, TRORC generally requires permission from the town to release the data in the form of a letter or phone call from the town data manager. Data are available free of charge for the ESRI shapefile or coverage format; conversion to other formats incurs a labor charge. Requests can be emailed to Pete Fellows. Data are sent via email, but larger datasets may require a CD and a handling charge. For other town data, please contact Pete Fellows.
Towns generally manage two datasets that are of interest to the town and to other groups: tax parcels and road information. Listers are usually in charge of managing the tax parcel data. Road data comes in several flavors and these datasets include address information, road names, and mileage and classes. These data are usually managed by the listers, E911 coordinator, and road commissioner. Before getting GIS, towns should check that their roads data and parcel data are up-to-date.
There are two sets of road data. Mileage and class information are handled by the road commissioner and address and name information are handled by the E911 coordinator and/or listers.
The road commissioner is required to examine the Town Highway Map, (state aid diagram), and then send any mileage or road class inaccuracies/changes into VTrans in late summer. The Town Highway Map data can contain inaccuracies and should be checked for completeness. Town officials receive copies of the Town Highway Map every year. They can download a copy from the link below:
The E911 coordinator is required to submit address changes or additions as well as road name changes or additions. Below are links to the update forms from the VT E911 Board.
All Road and Site Update forms should be sent directly to the E911 Board.
Each Vermonter has the option to keep their name and the street address of their property from being linked in a municipal public record.
Listers are charged with managing these data and most towns manage their tax maps differently. Several towns do not have any maps, many have paper or mylar maps, and many have digital data. Once compiled, a digital parcel map can be very helpful in the town office. Using a GIS, the town can link their digital parcel map to the grand list and do abutter notifications and assessment queries directly from the tax maps.
Below are a set of guides prepared by TRORC and others. Hopefully, these will provide answers to your initial questions and please contact Pete Fellows at TRORC with additional questions. Adobe Acrobat is required for the download of these files. If you do not have a copy of Adobe Acrobat, you can download it here.
Parcel Guide (VCGI) These guidelines contain recommended specifications for property mapping programs carried out at the municipal level. They should help ensure that all property is accounted for, as well as accurately identified on the grand list and is translatable into a format that is compatible with Vermont’s Geographic Information System (VGIS). This is not a standard. This is a guideline and should be used as such.
Parcel Guide (MassGIS) is a good general reference for getting up to speed on parcel mapping from MassGIS.
Checklist is a guide for obtaining a tax map contractor.
Important Items to include in tax parcel mapping RFP
Taxmaps and surveys describes the relationships between surveys and tax maps.
Taxmaps and the grand list outlines how towns can link the grand list digitally to their tax maps.
Parcel Disclaimer is a sample disclaimer for tax parcel maps.
Why do Tax Parcel Mapping is a list of reasons to develop tax parcel maps.
Tax Parcel Maps and Acreage Calculations discusses how listers can use various acreage values (deeded, GIS mapped) to complete assessments.