The fair market value of real estate in Wise County has changed over the past six-years with some property values going up, some down, and some staying nearly the same dollar value. The digital mapping provided through the Wise County Geographic Information System (GIS) now enables a user to check-a-box indicating “Real Estate Assessment Change” under the heading of Parcel layers to see a color-coded value change.
Deputy Clerk of Court Heather Nicole Yates, using her skills in Arc8 GIS software, created a value chart visualization of the 40,000 county parcels with green colored tones depicting value increases with the darker green the greatest while red tone colors depict degrees of declining value. The concept for the valuation map layer resulted from discussions between Commissioner of Revenue Doug Mullins, Jr. and Clerk of Circuit Court Jack Kennedy.
The values are traced from the 1996 and 2002 real estate assessments conducted by a private appraisal firm hired by the county. The visualization of value GIS layer had been in the works for several months but Yates completed the project rapidly and skillfully in a matter of days, Kennedy noted. “Careful review of the “Real Estate Assessment Change” layer gives one a better sense of where growth and development is happening or where it is not,” Kennedy said. “Users will find it interesting to study the pieces of real estate that have value increases and declines creating the digital mosaic of real estate parcel pieces.”
