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History of the original dataset - Public and Academic Interests

Version 2.0 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests (September 2003 - July 2004)
Version 1.2 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests (June 2002 to October 2002)
Version 1.1 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests (August 2001 to March 2002)
Version 1.0 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests
1. Unique Parcel Identification Number (November 1998 to January 1999)
2. Academic Interests Access Policy (same as Public Sector interests) (Winter 1996 to January 2000)
3. Initial Definition (October 1998 to October 2000)
4. Public Sector Pilot Project (November 2000 to July 2001)

Version 2.0 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests (September 2003 - July 2004)

A Regional Parcel Data Users Forum was held on September 25, 2003. The purpose was to engage a group of individuals who use the regional parcel dataset and who are representative of the broad community to identify desired enhancements to the dataset. The forum summary is posted at http://www.metrogis.org/data/datasets/parcels/0903_forum.pdf. A number of desired enhancements to this regional dataset were identified and ranked in order of highest priority.

In October 2003, a workgroup began to evaluate the practicality of pursuing each of the identified enhancements and the resources that would be necessary to accomplish them. The workgroup's recommendation was approved by the Coordinating Committee on June 23, 2004 and forwarded to the Policy Board, which unanimously approved it on July 28, 2004. The resulting Regional Parcel Data Policy Statement can be viewed here. The enhancements approved on July 28 were scheduled to go into effect with the January 2005 release of the Regional Parcel Dataset. Among these enhancements is the expansion of the number of attributes from 25 to 55. Assembly of the seven county components into a Regional Parcel Dataset and the licensing conditions that apply to the distribution and use of the Regional Parcel Dataset are specified in the 2004-2008 Parcel Data Sharing Agreement between the seven Metro Area counties and the Metropolitan Council. This agreement includes funding of $7,000 per county to cover one-time programming expenses necessary to support the expansion of the number of attributes from 25 to 55. See http://www.metrogis.org/about/history/sharing.shtml#phase3 for information about this agreement.

Click here to review the ordering instructions, license agreement, and general information about Version 2.0 of the Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests Version.

Version 1.2 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests (June 2002 - October 2002)

The Regional Parcel Dataset Technical Workgroup, created by the Technical Advisory Team and comprised of representatives from each of the seven Metro Area counties, reached consensus on several outstanding topics initially identified at the April 2001 Parcel Data Users Forum. These modifications/enhancements to the regional solution involved: a) a quick reference table, b) a quality assurance/quality control plan and c) a metadata template. Additionally, county representatives to the Technical Advisory Team had raised the following parcel data-related issues upon the release of the first regional dataset: a) handling multiple parcels in same polygon/geography, including rights-of-way and additional attributes, and b) quarterly release dates. Work on two other Forum-identified modifications/enhancements to the regional solution (plan for multiple address issues and process for data anomaly feedback to counties) were deferred to 2003.

The workgroup recommended several clarifications to the Version 1.1 roles and responsibilities that had been approved January 9, 2002 and the addition of a 25th attribute entitled "Parcel Polygon to Parcel Point and PIN Relationship Code" to inform the seven counties to "flag" which of the points is and is not represented by a one-to-one relationship with a polygon in the polygon shapefile and visa versa.

The Coordinating Committee endorsed the workgroup's clarifications at its September 25, 2002 meeting and the Policy Board adopted the modifications as recommended by the Coordinating Committee on October 22, 2002.

Version 1.1 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests (August 2001 - March 2002)

Following the Policy Board's action to establish the Version 1.0 regional parcel dataset on July 11, 2001 and its decision to "move from the pilot status to a long-term commitment to supporting a regional parcel dataset", research was initiated into five additional parcel attributes that the user community had identified at the April 19, 2001 Regional Parcel Data Users Forum. These five additional attributes were: taxpayer name and address in addition to owner name and address, homestead status, tax exempt status, and present land value as three separate categories - building value, land value, and total value. Although the Coordinating Committee had concurred on May 22nd with the forum participant's desires, inadequate information about them was available to include them in the Policy Board's July 11th action. On August 22nd, the Technical Advisory Team agreed on a standardized tabular database structure for the core parcel attributes, specifications for the five additional attributes bringing the total to 24, and several modifications to the roles and responsibilities for clarification purposes. The Coordinating Committee endorsed the Team's recommendations on September 27, 2001 and recommended Policy Board approval.

Following the Committee's action on September 27th, these recommendations were shared with representatives from each county to ensure clarity of expectations. MetroGIS also offered funding to each of the counties, which was accepted by several counties, for any one-time programming that might be necessary to extract parcel data from their respective systems and submit it to regional custodian in the standardized format desired by the MetroGIS community.

On January 9, 2002, the Policy Board approved the Committee's recommended modifications to the regional parcel data specifications and the associated custodian roles and responsibilities, bringing to a close the policy deliberations for Version 1 of the Regional Parcel Dataset for Public and Academic interests.

The final piece of the Version 1.1 solution involved securing a multi-party agreement between the seven metro area counties, who produce the source parcel data, and the Metropolitan Council, which agreed to assemble the source data into a regional parcel dataset and distribute it. Agreement-in-principle was reached in January 2002. See the "second generation" agreement page for more information.

Version 1.0 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests
1. Unique Parcel Identification Number (November 5, 1998 to January 27, 1999):

In September 1997, the Parcel Data Committee of the Minnesota Governor's Council on Geographic Information (GCGI) published a white paper entitled "Identifying Land Parcels: Is a Statewide Standard Needed?". A suggestion was set forth the Committee calling the addition of the three-digit FIPS code to each county-assigned parcel identifier to create a unique identifier protocol for parcel data generated by counties throughout the state.

In May 1997, the MetroGIS Policy Board had endorsed "Unique Parcel Identifier" as one of thirteen priority information needs of the MetroGIS community. Following the November 5, 1998 Parcel Data Peer Review Forum (more below), the Coordinating Committee, on the recommendation of its MetroGIS Content and Standards Advisory Teams, concluded that MetroGIS should endorse the guideline that had been suggested by the Parcel Committee of the GCGI as policy for the MetroGIS community. Subsequently, on January 27, 1999, the Policy Board endorsed use of the county FIPS code as the preferred means to create a unique parcel identifier when integrating multiple county parcel datasets.

Version 1.0 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests
2) Academic Interests Access Policy (same as Public Sector Interests) (Winter 1996 - January 2000)

The concept of granting academic interests access to the regional parcel dataset, as if public sector interests, had been introduced to the metro area counties, the primary producer of parcel data, but not acted on in 1996 and 1997 during negotiations for the Initial Data Sharing Agreements. Academic interest access to parcel data, according to the same rules as public sector interests, had been granted in 1997 by The Lawrence Group for the regional street centerline dataset.

The topic was raised again with the counties in the fall of 1999 during the policy discussions that preceded adoption of MetroGIS's initial Business Plan and as part of the planning for Regional Parcel Dataset Public Sector Pilot Project. As a result of these discussions, representatives of the seven Metro Area counties reached agreement to treat academic institutions that serve Minnesota the same as governmental units that serve the seven county Twin Cities Metropolitan Area in terms of access to geospatial data. The Policy Board officially endorsed this policy on January 27, 2000 and, subsequently, each of the seven counties submitted an official statement acknowledging and agreeing to it.

Academic interests, for purposes of this policy, are defined by MetroGIS as: "Colleges and universities that belong to the University of Minnesota System, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) or the Minnesota Private Colleges Council".

This policy went into effect Spring 2002 with the release the Regional Parcel Dataset: Public Sector and Academic Interests Version 1.

Version 1.0 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests
3) Initial Definition (October 1998 - October 2000)

In October 1998, the MetroGIS community began development of a strategy to address its Parcel Boundaries Information Need. A technical workgroup was created to help MetroGIS staff prepare for a Peer Review Forum. The workgroup began by summarizing the components of the Parcel Boundaries "fragment" of the Business Object Framing Model and identifying topics that needed more discussion. The purpose of the Forum was to expand upon and refine information provided by the fragment to address the specifics of the broad MetroGIS community's parcel boundary information need. The model itself was created in the initial phase of MetroGIS's Business Information Needs Project.

The MetroGIS Parcel Boundaries Peer Review Forum was held on November 5, 1998. Click here to review the "Workgroup Turnaround Document". Research was then conducted by staff to address user needs identified at the Forum. One of the results of the research was a Data Comparison Document to communicate in one table the specifications of the parcel boundary data maintained by each county. Another workgroup, comprised mostly of county officials, met on January 21, 1999 to discuss core attributes that should be provided when parcel data are assembled for multiple counties. This group identified 24 parcel attributes they believed each county could provide. This analysis was purposely conducted from a producer capability perspective, rather than a user need perspective, to better understand possibilities.

On September 23, 1999, the Coordinating Committee endorsed for Policy Board approval:

1. Desired data specifications for the initial version of a regional parcel dataset,
2. Desired roles and responsibilities for the primary data producers and regional custodian,
3. Acknowledgement that the seven counties should serve as the primary data producers.

The Committee also concluded that it needed to know more about the effort needed to carry out the desired responsibilities for the regional custodian before recommending an organization to assume these responsibilities. The Dakota County Director of Land Information and Survey also volunteered the Dakota County GIS staff to head up a "proof of concept" workgroup, comprised of GIS staff from each county, to investigate the procedures needed to create a regional dataset in accordance with the desired regional data specifications. This workgroup became known as the "stitch committee".

These recommendations were unanimously approved by the Policy Board on October 27, 1999, including postponing assignment of an organization to assume the regional custodian responsibilities until more was known about the effort involved.

At the Committee's December 16, 1999 meeting, the "stitch committee" shared the results of its demonstration project that a regional parcel dataset, in excess of 900,000 parcels, was in fact possible to accomplish. Speaking on behalf of the "stitch committee", Gary Stevenson, Director of Surveying and Land Information for Dakota County, stated "that the pilot definitely demonstrated that a Regional Parcel Database can be can be accomplished with little effort and expense". Stevenson also offered a possible scenario in which "MetroGIS maintains an FTP site where a server runs automated procedures to combine, verify, and install data for applications. Counties could run automated pre-processing procedures to prepare the data, transform to UTM, and upload the data to the MetroGIS server. In response, the committee identified several organizational and technical matters that needed to be resolved to accomplish a regional parcel dataset."

In January 2000, in conjunction with the MetroGIS's initial Business Planning initiative, the Policy Advisory Team and representatives from each county began to address issues identified by the Coordinating Committee at its December 16th meeting that needed to be resolved to operationalize a regional parcel dataset. It was agreed that a pilot project(s) was needed to obtain a mandate from public sector users regarding desired parcel attributes, distribution capabilities, and access preferences. In addition, at its April 27, 2000 meeting, the Policy Board created a workgroup as a Business Planning-driven project to decide how to best provide non-profits and for-profits access to parcel data for the seven county area. This Policy Board workgroup was chaired by Anoka County Commissioner Kordiak. An overview of the MetroGIS Regional Parcel Dataset: Public Sector Pilot Project and the MetroGIS Regional Parcel Dataset: For Profit and Non-Profit Sector Interests Initiative are provided below.

Version 1.0 - Regional Parcel Dataset: Public and Academic Interests
4) Public Sector Pilot Project (November 2000 - July 2001)

The public sector pilot was officially launched November 1, 2000 and the findings were acted on by the Policy Board on July 11, 2001. This pilot was a component of the MetroGIS Business Plan adopted by the Policy Board on April 26, 2000. The pilot was limited to governmental interests; the primary focus of MetroGIS. (See the Private Sector Parcel Data Access Initiative below for information about the parcel data access policy agreed upon by the seven counties for non-profit and for-profit interests.)

Purposes Of The Public Sector Pilot Project:

1. Decide if the concept of a regional parcel dataset was in the public interest.
2. Evaluate the "alpha version" of the regional dataset developed by the "stitch committee" and suggest enhancements for the next version.
3. Identify desired enhancements to the Compact Disc (CD) method of initial distribution.
4. Provide experience to better understand the pros and cons of MetroGIS remaining an unincorporated organization, which entails a variety of multi-party agreements to grant required permissions, versus seeking some form of incorporation in an attempt to streamline the permissions processes.
5. Help MetroGIS test and refine the National Spatial Data Infrastructure's (NSDI) Area Integrator concept.

Major Components of the Public Sector Pilot Project:

Phase one - Agreements and Objectives (February 2000-October 2000)

Involved negotiating and executing a multi-party Agreement among each of the seven metro area counties and Metropolitan Council, which had agreed to assemble the source data into a regional parcel dataset and distribute it for the pilot. This agreement defined the roles and responsibilities of the counties and the Council, as well as the responsibilities of the public sector organizations that received the pilot dataset. The agreement permitted public sector access to the regional dataset from November 2000 through June 2001 for purposes of the pilot project. The goals of the pilot project were also identified during Phase One.

Phase two - User Evaluation (November 2000 to April 2001)

Comprised of each participant using the pilot dataset and providing MetroGIS with a written evaluation on a form provided by MetroGIS. Of the 55 licensed users of the dataset, 28 submitted written evaluations. The Pilot Project Data Ordering Instructions, information provided about the Use and Care of the Regional Parcel Dataset, and the Evaluation Form were provided via MetroGIS's general information website.

Phase three - March 9, 2001 Information Forum

MetroGIS hosted a workshop for prospective users of the regional parcel dataset who had not elected to participate in the formal pilot project. Over twenty individuals attended, most representing government organizations whose jurisdictions encompass portions or all of more than one county. The purpose of this forum was to increase awareness of the proposed regional parcel dataset. Several of these participants agreed to evaluate the pilot dataset and to participate in the April 19, 2001 Parcel Data Users Forum.

Phase Four - April 19 Parcel Data Users Forum

This forum concluded the user evaluation component of the pilot project. Over 30 evaluators of the regional parcel dataset, representing all forms of governmental organizations that serve the Twin City Metropolitan Area, agreed to participate in this half-day forum. The conclusion of the pilot project participants was that MetroGIS should continue to evolve the concept of a regional parcel dataset and that it indeed was in the public interest to do so. A number of desired enhancements to the prototype dataset were also identified. The program, participants, and a summary of the discussion and direction received are provided in the Forum Summary Document.

Phase Five - Pilot Results and Action (April 20-July 11, 2001)

Staff, together with the Business Planning Consultant Team, summarized what was learned through the public sector pilot project and presented this material to a joint meeting of the Policy Advisory and Technical Advisory Team on May 2, 2001. On May 22, 2000, the MetroGIS Coordinating Committee considered the May 2nd recommendations of its Advisory Teams and unanimously recommended that the MetroGIS Policy Board endorse them. The Committee also directed its Technical Advisory Team to recommend courses of action to include five additional parcel attributes, beyond the 19 included in the recommendation to the Board, for a total of 24.

On July 11, 2001 the Policy Board, as recommended by the Coordinating Committee:

1. Endorsed moving from the pilot status to a long-term commitment to supporting a regional parcel dataset.
2. Modified the regional data specifications and roles and responsibilities adopted on October 27, 1999 based on the findings of the Regional Parcel Pilot Project.
3. Endorsed numerous enhancements to the data content and metadata guidelines that the Board had previously endorsed on October 27, 1999.
4. Accepted the Metropolitan Council's offer to assume the role of regional custodian for this dataset.
5. Authorized the Metropolitan Council to publish, on behalf of MetroGIS, a Request for Proposals to design and implement an Internet-Enabled Data Distribution Mechanism to serve the desired functionality identified by the MetroGIS data user community during the pilot project.
6. Concluded that the permissions required to undertake the pilot could not have been obtained through any other means than the complex multi-party negotiations that took from May to October 2000 to secure. The Board concurred that the fundamental issues addressed in the multi-party agreements centered on intellectual property rights; rights which the counties would not likely delegate to central body, such as a joint powers board. As such, the Board concurred that MetroGIS's unincorporated structure will be maintained into the foreseeable future.
7. Requested the Governor's Council on Geographic Information to investigate development of a statewide parcel dataset that incorporates the policies endorsed by MetroGIS. (On September 19, 2001, the GCGI acted affirmatively on this request and delegated it to its Land Records Modernization Committee.)