Broome County GIS
Parcel Mapper Help


The Broome County Parcel Mapper allows users to access tax parcel and related information for Broome County. It was developed by Broome County GIS and Mapping Services using parcel data generated by Broome County GIS from data maintained by the Office of Real Property Tax Services.
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HOW DO I...

Retrieve Parcel Information?
There are three main ways to retrieve parcel information:

  1) You can search for specific parcels by Parcel ID , Owner Name , or Parcel Location Address . Enter the search term ("Smith," 100 Main," "080.03," etc.) into the search box at the upper-right. You may enter partial search terms and in some cases this may be advisable ("100 Main" versus "100 Main Street"). You can also limit any search to selected municipalities, zip codes, a particular land use, a range of acres, or a user-created graphic by entering the additional search options window .

  2) You can interactively select parcels by clicking a parcel on the map.

  3) You can select parcels based on user input such as graphics or buffers (see below).

  If one parcel is found, the map will zoom to it and the parcel's popup information window will open. If more than one parcel is found a listing of those parcels will open in the Search Results pane on the right. Clicking on a parcel in the list will zoom to the parcel on the map and open its popup information window. The parcel's popup information window includes limited information about the parcel including ID number, owner(s), location address, zip code, and acreage. The popup window also contains links to the Parcel Detail Summary Sheet, the tax map, a bird's eye view (Bing maps), and a Google street view (where available). From the popup window you also have the ability to email information about the parcel (link to the Parcel Detail Summary Sheet and link to the parcel in the Parcel Mapper). Finally, you can also select parcels within a certain number of feet of that parcel.

  The Parcel Detail Summary Sheet is a PDF document with detailed information about the parcel. Anything underlined is a link to more related information. As a PDF, it can be saved and/or printed.
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Select All Parcels within a Certain Distance of a Selected Parcel (And Create a Mailing List)?
When one parcel has been selected through either the Search function or interactively, you have the ability to create a buffer around it and select all parcels within this buffer distance. This is done from the parcel's popup window. Parcels selected in this manner will be displayed in the Buffer Results pane that opens on the right. To use the information generated for mailing labels or envelopes, click the save button in the upper right of the Buffer Results pane. Your browser should save the file as '###Feet_buffer_results' as a CSV which can be opened in Excel and used as the database for creating labels or envelopes through the mail merge process.
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Select Parcels by a Graphic?
When a graphic has been created using the Drawing function (see below), all the parcels touching the graphic can be selected from either the Drawing window or the Additional Search Options window.
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Retrieve Information About Other Map Layers?
Information about selected layers other than the parcels will also be displayed in the popup window when you identify a feature. When avialable, a small arrow will appear in the title bar of the popup window. Not all layers have information which can be displayed and only layers that are visible can be identified. Clicking the arrow will display the next identified feature. Note that these features can be used to select parcels within a certain distance as well.
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Navigate Around the Map?
Although there are zoom in , zoom out , and pan tools provided in the toolbar, you do not have to use these if your mouse has a scroll wheel. Simply scroll up to zoom in and scroll down to zoom out. To move the map, left-click and hold, move the mouse, then release. To zoom to the full county extent, click the world button . To zoom to a specific scale, enter the scale in the scale box and hit enter. To view the last extent, use the previous button . To view the next extent, use the next button .
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Add or Remove Map Layers/View Map Legend?
To add or remove map layers and/or view the map legend, select the layers button from the tool bar. The layers pane will open on the left. Layers are subdivided into content-related categories. Click the plus sign to expand a category and the minus sign to collapse it. Check a layer to see it or uncheck it to hide it. Checking the box next to the category name will turn all layers in that category on. Unchecking it will turn them all off. If a checkbox is grayed out, it means that the layer is not visible at the current scale. If you use a certain set of layers all the time, you can make their visibility the defautlt whenever you start the Parcel Mapper by selecting the save button at the top of the map layers pane.
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Print a Map?
To print the current map, select the print button from the tool bar. A PDF will be generated and open in a new window. The default map is letter size and landscape orientation. To change these defaults and other options, select the print settings button to open the Print Settings window. The following settings can be changed: size and orientation, output format, whether to use the map scale, the map title, whether to include a legend, and the scale bar units. After changing any of these settings click the 'Apply Settings' button.
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Measure Distance?
To measure distance, select the measure button from the tool bar to open the Measurement window. Then select the distance button. Units may be changed using the drop-down on the right. Click on the map to begin measuring and click to continue or double-click to end. The measurement results will be displayed at the bottom of the Measurement window.
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Measure Area?
To measure area, select the measure button from the tool bar to open the Measurement window. Then select the area button. Units may be changed using the drop-down on the right. Click on the map to begin measuring and click to continue or double-click to end. A minimum of three points is needed to determine area. The measurement results will be displayed at the bottom of the Measurement window.
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Display or Get Coordinates?
To display or get coordinates, select the measure button from the tool bar to open the Measurement window. Then select the location button. Units may be changed using the drop-down on the right. As you move the mouse around the map, the current coordinates will be displayed at the bottom of the Measurement window. Clicking on the map will display the coordinates at that location.
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Locate Coordinates on the Map?
To locate coordinates on the map, select the coordinate button from the tool bar to open the Locate Coordinates window. Then enter the latitude and longitude in decimal degrees. Click the Locate Coordinates button and the coordinates will appear on the map. You also have the option to label the coordinates if desired. Clicking on the map will display the coordinates at that location.
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Add Graphics and/or Text to the Map?
Graphic functions are accessed by selecting the drawing button from the tool bar. This opens the Drawing window which contains all the relevant graphic functions. From this window you can add text, points, lines, polygons, freehand lines, freehand polygons, arrows, triangles, circles, and ellipses to the map. The color, transparency, font, etc. can be adjusted for each graphic. You can select parcels using the last created graphic (see above) and the last created graphic can also be used in a parcel search to limit the spatial extent to that graphic.
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Save or Open a 'Project'?
You can save a project by selecting the project management button which opens the Project Management window. To save a project, enter a name and click the save button. Previous saved projects will appear in the saved projects dropdown list. Select a project from this list and click the open button to open it or the delete button to delete it. The following information is included in saved projects: current map extent, current layer visibility, graphics, and any selected parcels.
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Email a Direct Link to the Parcel Mapper?
You can email a direct link to the Parcel Mapper by clicking the email button which opens a new email message that includes the link URL in the body of the email. When followed by the recepient, this URL will open the Parcel Mapper to the current map extent, visible layers, and single parcel selection (if one is selected) that existed when the link was created. For example, if you want to direct another users attention to the fact that a particular parcel is located in the 100 year flood plain, turn the flood plain layer on, select the parcel, then click the email button, add a subject line and/or additonal information to the body of the email, and send it.
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Know Where I Am In the County?
To locate your position within the county, click the small arrow at the bottom-right of the map. This will open the overview map. Click the arrow again to close the overview map.
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TIPS
Do not double-click on the map--you only need to use a single-click of the mouse.

After selecting a tool or clicking on the map, wait for the response to complete before clicking something else.

When response time is an issue, keep in mind the more layers turned on and the more territory the map view covers, the slower the response time will be. Also, only turn on layers at appropriate scales and only when absolutely necessary.

After one parcel is selected, a window will open with the parcel information. Everything underlined in this window is a link to another website or additional information.

Pause the mouse over a tool or button to get a description of what the tool or button does.