parcels

Citation:

Citation Information:

Originator: Maine Library of Geographic Information (MLGI), Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS) (comp., ed.)
Publication Date: 20081113
Title: parcels
Geospatial Data Presentation Form: vector digital data
Series Information:

Series Name: Maine GIS
Issue Identification: SDE server; Internet Data Catalog

Publication Information:

Publication Place: Augusta ME
Publisher: Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS)

Other Citation Details: 1:4800 or better (LEVELS 2-4)

Description:

Abstract:
PARCELS contains municipal parcels data developed through municipal grants of the Maine Library of Geographic Information (MLGI). Submission of the municipal parcels data was guided by standards presented to the MLGI Board, May 21, 2005, "Standards for Digital Parcel Files". Municipal parcels data is published as a statewide layer in the Maine GIS infrastructure for the Maine Geolibrary by the Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS). Thirty three towns are included in the current publication.
Items in the statewide GIS data layer PARCELS include: STATE_ID, MAP_BK_LOT, PARENT, PROP_LOC, GEO_LOT, TOWN, GEOCODE, TAG, and STAGE. The field GEO_LOT provides a town specific identifier for each MAP_BK_LOT number in the PARCELS data layer. The STATE_ID is a unique statewide identifier assigned to each parcel on submission to the Maine GIS infrastructure. It is intended to serve as a means of tracking changes to each parcel over time.

The SDE layer PARCELS also contains municipal parcel data from the Department of Environmental Protection. This extra data is not published on the MEGIS data catalog. The two data sets are differenciated by the item FMSCORG. See Entity and Attribute.

Purpose:
The purpose of the municipal grant program was to create and upgrade digital tax parcels data for the creation and publication of a standardized statewide parcels geospatial data layer for Maine.
Property maps are a fundamental base for many municipal activities. Although GIS parcels data cannot replace detailed ground surveys, the data can assist municipal officials with functions such as accurate property tax assessment, planning and zoning. Towns can link maps to an assessor's database and display local information. Officials can show tax-payers how proposed development or changes in municipal services and regulations may affect the community. In many towns, parcels data also helps to provide public notices, plan bus routes, and carry out other municipal services.

The accuracy of PARCELS varies across the statewide layer, according to the level of accuracy established by grant requirements. There are four LEVELS of accuracy specified in the MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" under which grants have been made. The accuracy of LEVEL 1 submissions is unknown; LEVELS 2-4 provide data suitable for parcels studies and detailed local planning at a scale of 1:4800 or better. Users will find these levels, specific to each town, indicated in the attribute STAGE.

Supplemental Information:
In October 2001, a survey was issued to a wide group of Maine GIS stakeholders for a GIS Needs and Requirements Analysis mandated by the Maine legislature. As part of that survey, GIS users were asked to identify data layers that would most benefit their operations. Of the layers requested, property parcels (digital cadastral maps) had the highest priority. The final report* recommended the development of digital parcels data, and detailed standards for digital parcels data.
In January of 2003 under the auspices of the Maine Geolibrary Board, a Digital Parcel Standards Committee was formed to develop published standards for digital tax parcels data. The committee was composed of representatives from the following public and private sector organizations: Bureau of Information Services, Central Maine Power Company, City of Bath, City of Portland, Maine Department of Conservation, Maine Department of Transportation, Greater Portland Council of Governments, Hancock County Planning Commission, Island Institute, James W. Sewall Company, Maine Revenue Service, Maine State Archives, Maine Development Commission, and the State Planning Office. Standards for the development of digital parcels data were presented to the Maine Geolibrary Board by the Committee May 21, 2003 and the current version of "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" is published at http://www.maine.gov/geolib/Policies/policies.htm .

*Applied Geographics Inc., State of Maine GIS Needs Assessment & Requirements Analysis and Strategic Plan to Develop the Maine Public Library of Geographic Information, January 2002, page 29, page 22

Time Period of Content:

Time Period Information:

Range of Dates/Times:

Beginning Date: 4/1/2003
Ending Date: 11/13/2008

Currentness Reference: source dates

Status:

Progress: Complete
Maintenance and Update Frequency: unknown

Spatial Domain:

Bounding Coordinates:

West Bounding Coordinate: -71.3
East Bounding Coordinate: -66.8
North Bounding Coordinate: 47.6
South Bounding Coordinate: 42.9

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme Keyword Thesaurus: ISO Keyword Thesaurus
Theme Keyword: planningCadastre

Theme:

Theme Keyword Thesaurus: Maine GIS Thesaurus-Theme
Theme Keyword: parcels data

Place:

Place Keyword Thesaurus: Maine GIS Thesaurus-Place
Place Keyword: Maine
Place Keyword: Anson
Place Keyword: Auburn
Place Keyword: Bath
Place Keyword: Biddeford
Place Keyword: Bridgton
Place Keyword: Brooksville
Place Keyword: Cape Elizabeth
Place Keyword: Casco
Place Keyword: Cumberland
Place Keyword: Denmark
Place Keyword: Ellsworth
Place Keyword: Falmouth
Place Keyword: Freeport
Place Keyword: Gray
Place Keyword: Harrison
Place Keyword: Jackson
Place Keyword: Kittery
Place Keyword: Mariaville
Place Keyword: New Gloucester
Place Keyword: North Yarmouth
Place Keyword: Norway
Place Keyword: Oxford
Place Keyword: Paris
Place Keyword: Raymond
Place Keyword: Rockport
Place Keyword: Rumford
Place Keyword: Skowhegan
Place Keyword: Sweden
Place Keyword: Thorndike
Place Keyword: Unity
Place Keyword: Verona Island
Place Keyword: Woodstock
Place Keyword: Yarmouth
Place Keyword: Arrowsic
Place Keyword: Bethel
Place Keyword: Bowdoin
Place Keyword: Bowdoinham
Place Keyword: Castle Hill
Place Keyword: Chapman
Place Keyword: China
Place Keyword: Clifton
Place Keyword: Dover-Foxcroft
Place Keyword: Fort Kent
Place Keyword: Friendship
Place Keyword: Gorham
Place Keyword: Hermon
Place Keyword: Islesboro
Place Keyword: Saco
Place Keyword: Levant
Place Keyword: Lovell
Place Keyword: Lyman
Place Keyword: Madawaska
Place Keyword: Mapleton
Place Keyword: Ogunquit
Place Keyword: Phippsburg
Place Keyword: Readfield
Place Keyword: Richmond
Place Keyword: Searsmont
Place Keyword: Searsport
Place Keyword: South Berwick
Place Keyword: South Portland
Place Keyword: Standish
Place Keyword: Topsham
Place Keyword: Turner
Place Keyword: Waldoboro
Place Keyword: West Bath
Place Keyword: Whiting
Place Keyword: Woodland
Place Keyword: Winslow

Stratum:

Stratum Keyword Thesaurus: GCMD Parameter Keyword
Stratum Keyword: human dimensions

Access Constraints:
Secondary distribution by permission only. Please see Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS) License Agreement at http://megis.maine.gov/ . Any secondary distribution must have this documentation appended.
Use Constraints:
PARCELS is for planning purposes only and should not be used for conveyance of land.

Users must assume responsibility in determining the usability of this data for their purposes. Digital maps retain the accuracy of their source materials. The best use of data mapped at scales of 1:500,000 and 1:250,000 is in statewide planning and studies; at 1:100,000 in regional planning and studies; at 1:62,500 and 1:24,000 in detailed studies and local planning; and at 1:12,000 and 1:5,000 or larger scales in parcel studies and detailed local planning. In the use of Maine GIS data, please check sources, scale, accuracy, currentness and other available information. Please confirm that you are using the correct copy of both data and metadata from the Maine GIS Data Catalog. The Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS) provides notice of updates and corrections directly to the Maine GIS Technical Group and to Maine GIS Users, through the MEGISTECH and MEGISUSER list servers. To subscribe please contact MeGIS through the Maine Office of Information Technology (OIT) Customer Support Center (CSC) at (207) 624-7700. To request correction of, or provide updates to Maine GIS data, please use the contact information contained in the metadata. Updates, corrections, and feedback, incorporated in the Maine GIS database are made in accordance with "Data Standards for Maine Geographic Information Systems", 2002 and coordinated by MEGIS in consultation with the Maine GIS Executive Council.

Point of Contact:

Contact Information:

Contact Organization Primary:

Contact Organization: (MEGIS) Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems

Contact Position: GIS Coordinator
Contact Address:

Address Type: mailing address
Address: State House Station 145
City: Augusta
State or Province: ME
Postal Code: 04333-0145
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone: (207) 624-7700
Contact Facsimile Telephone: (207) 287-3842
Hours of Service: Monday through Friday 0800 - 1700 EST

Data Set Credit: Credit should always be given to the data source and/or originator when the data is transferred or printed.
Native Data Set Environment:
Maine Office of Information Technology (OIT) Oracle 9i, Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS), Maine GIS SDE, SDEUSER, SDE.DEFAULT, Maine GIS Internet Data Catalog http://megis.maine.gov/catalog/
Cross Reference:

Citation Information:

Originator: Maine Library of Geographic Information (MLGI), Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (comp.)
Publication Date: 20051001
Title: PARCELSTABLE
Geospatial Data Presentation Form: tabular digital data
Series Information:

Series Name: Maine GIS
Issue Identification: SDE server; Internet Data Catalog

Publication Information:

Publication Place: Augusta ME
Publisher: Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS)

Other Citation Details: 1:24,000

Attribute Accuracy:

Attribute Accuracy Report: Attribute field names must be kept under 10 characters in length. Attribute accuracy has been proofed by submitting contractors or vendors and municipalities.

Logical Consistency Report:
All parcelsl files submitted to the Geolibrary must conform to at least MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" Level or Stage 1, the data must be digital vector data, a seamless depiction of all town property boundaries and other legal interests; projection must be specified; and the data must conform to "Data Standards for Maine Geographic Information Systems", June 27, 2002 with regard to spatial topology and edgematching. Project compliance for Levels 2, 3, 4 includes increasing levels of accuracy from coincident features and compilation to orthophotography, to survey grade.
The MLGI Board is currently confirming privacy and security requirements on submissions of related parcels tables information. As of 04/13/2006 publication includes only digital parcels.

Completeness Report:
In work. The MLGI Board, with the State of Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services ( DAFS ), has twice, in 2004 and 2005, requested proposals from Maine municipalities for creating, upgrading or standardizing digital tax parcels data.
By 2008, 70 towns submitted digital parcel data: anson,arrowsic,auburn,bath,bethel,biddeford,bowdoin,bowdoinham,bridgton,brooksville,cape-elizabeth
casco,castle-hill,chapman,china,clifton,cumberland,denmark,dover-foxcroft,ellsworth,falmouth
fort-kent,freeport,friendship,gorham,gray,harrison,hermon,islesboro,saco,jackson,kittery,levant
lovell,lyman,madawaska,mapleton,mariaville,new-gloucester,north-yarmouth,norway,ogunquit,oxford
paris,phippsburg,raymond,readfield,richmond,rockport,rumford,searsmont,searsport,skowhegan,south-Berwick
south-Portland,standish,sweden,thorndike,topsham,turner,unity,verona,waldoboro,west-bath,whiting
winslow,woodland,woodstock and yarmouth

The MLGI Board is currently confirming privacy and security requirements on submissions of related parcels tables information. As of 04/13/2006 publication includes only digital parcels.

Copies of the Request for Proposals, titled MAINE GEOLIBRARY DIGITAL PARCEL MAPPING PROJECTS can be obtained from: Carmen Fournier, Administrative Secretary
Dept. of Administrative & Financial Services
Maine Office of GIS
145 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333-0145
Telephone: 207-624-7840 OR 207-624-7884 (leave message)
Fax: 207-287-4563
Email: carmen.fournier@maine.gov

Positional Accuracy:

Horizontal Positional Accuracy:

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Report:
The horizontal positional accuracy of PARCELS varies across the statewide layer, according to the level of accuracy established by grant requirements. There are four levels of accuracy specified in the MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" under which grants have been made. The level of horizontal positional accuracy of digital parcels data known as LEVEL 1 or STAGE 1 is not known.

LEVEL or STAGE 1 data must be a single layer of digital vector data containing a seamless depiction of all town property boundaries and other legal interests shown on physical maps, projection must be defined, and the data must conform to "Data Standards for Maine Geographic Information Systems", June 27, 2002, with regard to spatial topology and edgematching.


LEVEL or STAGE 2 data must conform to the minimum specifications of Level 1, all requirements of "Data Standards for Maine Geographic Information Systems", June 27, 2002, and be georeferenced to as many well defined points as possible on an orthorectified photograph or vector base that meets the National Map Accuracy Standards for 1" = 400' or 1:4800 +/-13.33 feet, or better.


LEVEL or STAGE 3 data must conform to the minimum specifications of Level 2 and be digitally recompiled to fit all coincident features, property boundaries, roads, adjacent town lines, on an orthophoto or vector base.


LEVEL or STAGE 4 data, at survey and engineering accuracy, must conform to the minimum specifications of Level 3, with errors in parcels data corrected and parcels closed geometrically, with digital parcels data located relative to cadastral markers, geodetic control points of the National Geodetic Survey, the Maine Department of Transportation or other parties using geodetic grade surveying equipment and methods.

Quantitative Horizontal Positional Accuracy Assessment:

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Value: 13.33
Horizontal Positional Accuracy Explanation:
LEVEL or STAGE 2, 3, and 4-"Standards for Digital Parcel Files" must be georeferenced to as many well defined points as possible on an orthorectified photograph or vector base that meets the National Map Accuracy Standards for 1" = 400' or 1:4800 +/-13.33 feet, or better.
Lineage:

Source Information:

Source Citation:

Citation Information:

Originator: Town of <>
Publication Date: multiple dates
Title: (TAXMAPS) Maine Municipal Tax Map

Source Time Period of Content:

Time Period Information:

Single Date/Time:

Time of Day: Unknown

Source Citation Abbreviation: taxmaps

Process Step:

Process Description:
A project directory and database were created by municipality for workspace and tracking of parcels data and related parcels table submissions. The project database was used to record the status of submissions with respect to the municipal grant: data receipt date, effective date of parcels data, FY of related table, the level of accuracy expected, metadata on the source of the parcels data, the source date, the vendor/municipality submitting the digital parcels, and the results of review.
On submission, projection was verified for each municipal parcels shapefile and if necessary the data was projected to UTM, NAD83, Zone 19, meters. Each shapefile was compared with the Maine GIS base map for digital town boundaries METWP24. Vendor and/or municipality were notified if the parcels data submitted did not closely cover the full extent of a town, and asked to resubmit a complete file. Each shapefile was reviewed for conformance with the attribution, field name and data type requirements of the "Standards for Digital Parcel Files". MAP_BK_LOT must be populated and vendor/municipality were contacted to confirm or correct blank entries. The items GEO_LOT, TOWN, GEOCODE, TAG, and STAGE were added and calculated in each municipal parcels shapefile. Roads, water, islands, railroads, rights of way, or other feature types were tagged and examined for closure. For LEVEL/STAGE 2 and higher parcels data submissions, the highest resolution orthophotography available, ORTHO_HF, ORTHO_1F, ORTHO_2F, DOQQ, was used to spot check spatial accuracy with road intersections and coincident features.

Each related municipal parcels table submitted was reviewed for conformance with the attribution, field name and data type requirements of the "Standards for Digital Parcel Files". The items GEO_LOT and GEOCODE were added to the parcels table and calculated. Each municipal parcels table and parcels shapefile were joined on the item MAP_BK_LOT and symbolized by OWNER for review, then symbolized by MAP_BK_LOT to verify closure with other features. A 1:1 relationship was not expected. The number of parcels without parcels table records was noted. Null values were examined. Vendor and/or municipality were contacted for additional information if the parcels table submitted contained a blank FY field. The MLGI Board is currently confirming privacy and security requirements for related parcels tables information, publication is on hold.

Process Date: 20050808
Process Contact:

Contact Information:

Contact Organization Primary:

Contact Organization: (MEGIS) Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems

Contact Position: GIS Coordinator
Contact Address:

Address Type: mailing address
Address: State House Station 145
City: Augusta
State or Province: ME
Postal Code: 04333-0145
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone: (207) 624-7700
Contact Facsimile Telephone: (207) 287-3842
Hours of Service: Monday through Friday 0800 - 1700 EST

Process Step:

Process Description:
To add municipal parcels data to the Maine GIS infrastructure, a PARCELS feature dataset was created to hold a statewide PARCELS polygon feature class. Each municipal parcels shapefile was added to the statewide PARCELS polygon feature class and a PARCELSL line feature class was created by constructing and planarizing line features from those PARCELS polygon features.
The PARCELSL line feature class carries: the TOWN name associated with each line; feature metadata (FM) information derived from any information or metadata submitted with the municipal parcels data; and two fields FMINDATE and FMOUTDATE. FMINDATE has been calculated to the "system date", the day new data is added or posted to the Maine GIS infrastructure SDE.DEFAULT feature class. FMOUTDATE is available to hold the date of any data moved from the SDE.DEFAULT to an archive when/if a parcels data update/version is posted. The inclusion of FMINDATE and FMOUTDATE reflects learning* and research on managing and archiving land records. *May 2004, ESRI White Paper "Land Records Data Archiving"

The STATE_ID field was added to the PARCELS feature class and calculated. "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" call for a numeric data type for this field; however, to maintain the leading zeroes of a town GEOCODE a text field was required.

The STATE_ID on each parcel record consists of the concatenation of the town GEOCODE and the MEGIS.SDE_ DEFAULT OBJECTID. The field is intended to be a unique, statewide identifier for each parcel. The intention of assigning a STATE_ID to each parcel is to provide a means of tracking changes to that parcel over time. To do this it is recommended that the STATE_ID represent the parcels recorded in the first submission, to the Maine GIS infrastructure, of digital parcels data from a municipality. The STATE_ID assigned each parcel should be carried, as is, to each subsequent depiction of a parcel and to each division of a parcel, distinct from any other new identifier, flag, suffix, version number, or MAP_BK_LOT assigned. Combined with the FMINDATE and FMOUTDATE of the companion parcels lines, the STATE_ID provides a means to reconstruct changes to a parcel area over time.* * Careful attention to update and edit method will be required to maintain the integrity and usefulness of this identifier.

Topology rules were added to the PARCELS feature dataset for validation of spatial topology in both feature classes. Topology rules for the MEGIS.PARCELS feature data set are:
PARCELS polygons MUST NOT OVERLAP each other;
PARCELS polygons MUST NOT HAVE GAPS between them;
PARCELS polygon BOUNDARY MUST BE COVERED BY a line in PARCELSL;
PARCELSL lines MUST NOT SELF-OVERLAP;
PARCELSL lines MUST NOT HAVE DANGLES.

Topology errors affect the parcels fabric and can negatively impact the assignment and maintenance of STATE_IDs. Every effort was made to correct errors with respect to the STATE_ID field. Overlaps within municipal boundaries were corrected where a topology error created a bogus STATE_ID, i.e. where the overlap consisted of actual sliver polygons, or where redundant identical polygons contained identical MAP_BK_LOT numbers or where one polygon represented a feature without a MAP_BK_LOT number. All errors that represent parcel boundaries not covered by a line, self-overlap of line features, or dangles were corrected.

EXCEPTIONS to topology rules have been made where the STATE_ID field was not negatively impacted. OVERLAPS and GAPS that did not impact the assignment of a STATE_ID were marked as exceptions and not corrected. For example, at municipal boundaries where, if taxmap depictions of town boundaries do not agree, parcel polygons from one town OVERLAP or GAP with an adjacent town. OVERLAPS and GAPS also occur within town boundaries, for example, where submissions include edited polygons that were not closed properly to adjacent polygons, or where ROADS and other non-taxable parcels, were not in the submission.

Process Date: 20060413
Process Contact:

Contact Information:

Contact Organization Primary:

Contact Organization: (MEGIS) Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems

Contact Position: GIS Coordinator
Contact Address:

Address Type: mailing address
Address: State House Station 145
City: Augusta
State or Province: ME
Postal Code: 04333-0145
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone: (207) 624-7700
Contact Facsimile Telephone: (207) 287-3842
Hours of Service: Monday through Friday 0800 - 1700 EST

Process Step:

Process Description:
PARCELS data for an additional 27 towns were added to the MEGIS data catalog and the Maine GIS infrastructure. A poll of data users thru the listservers indicated that the line feature class was not useful. Creating this layer has been time consuming so It was decided not to publish the PARCELSL line feature class any longer. The PARCELSL layer was removed from existing downloads of PARCELS and new additions were not supplied with it.
Metadata was updated to reflect these changes and published both to the MEGIS data catalog and the Maine GIS infrastructure.

Source Used Citation Abbreviation: taxmaps
Process Date: 11/11/2008
Process Contact:

Contact Information:

Contact Organization Primary:

Contact Organization: Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems

Contact Position: GIS Manager
Contact Address:

Address Type: mailing address
Address: State House Station 145
City: Augusta
State or Province: ME
Postal Code: 04333-0145
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone: 207 624-7700
Contact Facsimile Telephone: 207 287-4563
Hours of Service: Monday through Friday 0800 - 1700 EST

Process Step:

Process Description:
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection contributed parcel data for 8 towns. This data was loaded into the state SDE database but will not be availalbel for download on the MEGIS web based data catalog. The item FMSCORG was added to the SDE version of PARCELS to differentiate between the DEP and the Geolibrary sources of parcel data.
Process Date: 04/30/2009
Process Contact:

Contact Information:

Contact Organization Primary:

Contact Organization: Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems

Contact Position: GIS Coordinator
Contact Address:

Address Type: mailing address
Address: State House Station 145
City: Augusta
State or Province: ME
Postal Code: 04333-0145
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone: 207 624-7700
Contact Facsimile Telephone: 207 287-4563
Hours of Service: Monday through Friday 0800 - 1700 EST

Direct Spatial Reference Method: Vector
Point and Vector Object Information:

SDTS Terms Description:

SDTS Point and Vector Object Type: Complete chain
Point and Vector Object Count: 322182

SDTS Terms Description:

SDTS Point and Vector Object Type: Area chain
Point and Vector Object Count: 101903

Horizontal Coordinate System Definition:

Planar:

Grid Coordinate System:

Grid Coordinate System Name: Universal Transverse Mercator 1983
Universal Transverse Mercator:

UTM Zone Number: 19
Transverse Mercator:

Scale Factor at Central Meridian: 0.9996
Longitude of Central Meridian: -69
Latitude of Projection Origin: 0
False Easting: 500000
False Northing: 0

Planar Coordinate Information:

Planar Coordinate Encoding Method: Coordinate Pair
Coordinate Representation:

Abscissa Resolution: 0
Ordinate Resolution: 0

Geodetic Model:

Horizontal Datum Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major Axis: 6378137
Denominator of Flattening Ratio: 298.257

Detailed Description:

Entity Type:

Entity Type Label: PARCELS
Entity Type Definition: polygon feature class
Entity Type Definition Source: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI)

Attribute:

Attribute Label: FMSCORG
Attribute Definition: Feature level metadada item describing the source of the data. This item does not appear in the data published on the data catalog.
Attribute Definition Source: MEGIS
Attribute Domain Values:

Enumerated Domain:

Enumerated Domain Value: geolib
Enumerated Domain Value Definition: Data provided by the Maine Geolibrary
Enumerated Domain Value Definition Source: MEGIS
Enumerated Domain Value: medep
Enumerated Domain Value Definition: Data provided by the Dept. Of Environmental Protection
Enumerated Domain Value Definition Source: MEGIS

Attribute Measurement Frequency: as needed

Attribute:

Attribute Label: GEOCODE
Attribute Definition: 5 character code corresponding to the "Standard Geographic Code for Maine Counties and Minor Civil Divisions", 1971
Attribute Definition Source: For a current digital copy of "Standard Geocodes for Maine Minor Civil Divisions" in .dbf or comma delimited text format see http://megis.maine.gov/catalog "Tables".

Attribute:

Attribute Label: GEO_LOT
Attribute Definition:
A relate field in both PARCELS and PARCELSTABLE that is a concatenation of the town GEOCODE and the parcel MAP_BK_LOT identifier, intended to provide a town specific identifier for each MAP_BK_LOT number.
Attribute:

Attribute Label: MAP_BK_LOT
Attribute Definition:
A municipal designation field which carries the map, block and lot assigned to each parcel by the municipal assessor. For each town, this field is the link to related municipal databases. It may not be possible to make this link represent a 1:1 relationship between the assessor's database and the digital parcels map for every parcel or property record. This standard requires only an initial effort to make the linkage as complete as possible. For statewide digital parcels data,the GEO_LOT field, a concatenation of the town GEOCODE with the MAP_BK_LOT number, serves as a link to the statewide related parcels table. (character field)
Attribute Definition Source: See MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" for precise descriptions of required feature attribute fields http://megis.maine.gov/standards/

Attribute:

Attribute Label: PARENT
Attribute Definition:
The MAP_BK_LOT listing in the assessor's database where information about a parcel may be found. Some Maine towns organize their tax assessing database so that only one bill is sent to each property owner. If the property owner holds several lots only one listing in the assessor's database will be made to serve for all of them. In these cases one MAP_BLK_LOT designation will be assigned to the combined listing. For the remaining lots, the PARENT field contains a pointer to the appropriate MAP_BK_LOT listing. For more information, see Appendix B of the "Standards for Digital Parcel Files". (character field)
Attribute Definition Source: See MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" for precise descriptions of required feature attribute fields http://megis.maine.gov/standards/

Attribute:

Attribute Label: PROP_LOC
Attribute Definition: physical address of the property, if applicable
Attribute Definition Source: See MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" for precise descriptions of required feature attribute fields http://megis.maine.gov/standards/

Attribute:

Attribute Label: STAGE
Attribute Definition:
The horizontal positional accuracy of PARCELS varies across the statewide layer. The attribute STAGE reflects the level of accuracy met according to requirements of grants made under MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files", LEVELS 1-4.
Attribute Definition Source: See MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" for precise descriptions http://megis.maine.gov/standards/
Attribute Domain Values:

Enumerated Domain:

Enumerated Domain Value: 1
Enumerated Domain Value Definition:
STAGE 1 data must be a single layer of digital vector data containing a seamless depiction of all town property boundaries and other legal interests shown on physical maps, must conform to "Data Standards for Maine Geographic Information Systems", June 27, 2002, with regard to spatial topology and edgematching, must have projection defined.
Enumerated Domain Value: 2
Enumerated Domain Value Definition:
STAGE 2 data must conform to the minimum specifications of "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" Level 1, all requirements of "Data Standards for Maine Geographic Information Systems", June 27, 2002, and be georeferenced to as many well defined points as possible on an orthorectified photograph or vector base that meets the National Map Accuracy Standards for 1" = 400' or 1:4800 +/-13.33 feet, or better.
Enumerated Domain Value: 3
Enumerated Domain Value Definition:
STAGE 3 data must conform to the minimum specifications of "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" Level 2 and be digitally recompiled to fit all coincident features, property boundaries, roads, adjacent town lines, on an orthophoto or vector base.
Enumerated Domain Value: 4
Enumerated Domain Value Definition:
STAGE 4 data, at survey and engineering accuracy, must conform to the minimum specifications of "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" Level 3, with errors in parcels data corrected and parcels closed geometrically, with digital parcels data located relative to cadastral markers, geodetic control points of the National Geodetic Survey, the Maine Department of Transportation or other parties using geodetic grade surveying equipment and methods.
Attribute:

Attribute Label: STATE_ID
Attribute Definition:
a unique, statewide identifier generated for each parcel as it is first entered into the Maine GIS infrastructure which is a concatenation of the town GEOCODE and the MEGIS. SDE_DEFAULT OBJECTID. The intention of assigning a STATE_ID to each parcel, is to provide a means of tracking changes to that parcel over time. To do this it is recommended that the STATE_ID represent the parcels recorded in the first submission, to the Maine GIS infrastructure, of digital parcels data from a municipality. The STATE_ID assigned each parcel should be carried, as is, to each subsequent depiction of a parcel and to each division of a parcel, distinct from any other new identifier, flag, suffix, version number, or MAP_BK_LOT assigned.
Attribute Definition Source: See MLGI "Standards for Digital Parcel Files" for precise descriptions of required feature attribute fields http://megis.maine.gov/standards/

Attribute:

Attribute Label: TAG
Attribute Definition: item used to distinguish those records in PARCELS that refer to a parcel with a MAP_BK_LOT identifier

Attribute:

Attribute Label: TOWN
Attribute Definition: town or reservation name as listed in "Standard Geographic Code for Maine Minor Civil Divisions"
Attribute Definition Source: For a current digital copy of "Standard Geocodes for Maine Minor Civil Divisions" in .dbf or comma delimited text format see http://megis.maine.gov/catalog "Tables" link.

Overview Description:

Entity and Attribute Overview:
Items for PARCELS polygons have been standardized in the statewide GIS data layer to include: STATE_ID, MAP_BK_LOT, PARENT, PROP_LOC, GEO_LOT, GEOCODE, TOWN, TAG and STAGE.
The MLGI Board is currently confirming privacy and security requirements for related parcels tables information. As of 04/13/2006 publication includes only municipal parcels data.

The item FMSCORG has been added to the PARCELS layer in SDE. It differentiates between recently added DEP parcel data and the MLGI parcel data.

Entity and Attribute Detail Citation:
The ArcView shapefile and ArcGIS geodatabase formats, commonly used for Maine GIS data, carry default identifiers and attributes that are software generated and/or important for internal recordkeeping. These are listed here to avoid repetition for every layer, and may not be repeated in the attribute descriptions and definitions of each layer. Common software generated identifiers and attributes in Maine GIS data include: FID (feature identifier), Shape (feature geometry), OBJECTID and SHAPE_lengt. In addition, most GIS formats will carry fields for PERIMETER, AREA and/or LENGTH according to feature geometry. These fields are typically available by default, with the units based on coordinate system or projection units of GIS data. Most GIS software packages also provide a means to calculate these values. It is important to test any columns containing PERIMETER, AREA or LENGTH values before using them for analysis purposes. These important values can be carried from format to format and become out-dated. Verify that the values are correct. Also, in your GIS software, please view the properties of data layers for the map units used to calculate these fields, and for the units set for display purposes.

Distributor:

Contact Information:

Contact Organization Primary:

Contact Organization: (MEGIS) Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems

Contact Position: GIS Coordinator
Contact Address:

Address Type: mailing address
Address: State House Station 145
City: Augusta
State or Province: ME
Postal Code: 04333-0145
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone: (207) 624-7700
Contact Facsimile Telephone: (207) 287-3842
Hours of Service: Monday through Friday 0800 - 1700 EST

Distribution Liability:
Users must assume responsibility to determine the usability of this data for their purposes. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems, no warranty expressed or implied is made by MEGIS regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. Neither the Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems, nor any of its contributors, is liable for misuse of the data, for damage, for transmission of viruses, or for computer contamination through the distribution of these data sets.
Standard Order Process:

Digital Form:

Digital Transfer Information:

Format Name: ESRI Shapefile
Format Version Number: ARC Version 9.x
Format Specification: ArcView Shapefile Format
Format Information Content:
MEGIS has made all vector layers, in the Maine GIS Internet Data Catalog, available in ESRI's ArcView shapefile format. A shapefile is a simple non-topological format that stores the geometry and attribute information for a set of geographic features as a set of vector (point, line, polygon) coordinates. Shapefiles draw quickly and directly in ArcView, ArcGIS, ArcExplorer. Shapefiles are a compatible data type for many other types of GIS software. Three files are fundamental to each shapefile: .shp stores the feature geometry (shape and location information); .shx stores the index of the feature geometry; .dbf a dBASE (TM) file stores the attribute information for the features. Other index files may be created to help speed analysis and query: these file formats are .sbn .sbx .ain .aix .fbn and .fbx. In addition you may find projection .prj, and metadata .xml, files associated with shapefiles.
File Decompression Technique:
Data available from this website is in .zip compressed format. WinZip is a Windows based, PKZip-compatible compression utility. You will need a program like this to extract the data. A link to a trial copy WinZip software is available at http://megis.maine.gov/links/.
Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions:
These data are available to Internet browsers for download from the Maine GIS Internet Data Catalog. Data available from this website is in .zip compressed format. WinZip is a Windows based, PKZip-compatible compression utility. You will need a program like this to extract the data. A link to a trial copy WinZip software is available at http://megis.maine.gov/links/. If you are not already a GIS user, free software for viewing these files is available from Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). See http://megis.maine.gov/links/ for a link to ArcExplorer 9.x .
Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions: Where file size and Internet access permit, data requests can be made available via File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Digital Form:

Digital Transfer Information:

Format Name: ESRI Shapefile
Format Version Number: ARC Version 9.x
Format Specification: ArcView Shapefile Format
Format Information Content:
MEGIS has made all layers, in the Internet Data Catalog, available in ESRI's ArcView shapefile format. A shapefile is a simple non-topological format that stores the geometry and attribute information for a set of geographic features as a set of vector (point, line, polygon) coordinates. Shapefiles draw quickly and directly in ArcView, ArcGIS, and ArcExplorer; an existing ARC/INFO coverage can be converted to a shapefile by export; other spatial data formats can be converted to shapefiles. Three files are created for each shapefile: .shp stores the feature geometry (shape and location information); .shx stores the index of the feature geometry; .dbf a dBASE (TM) file stores the attribute information for the features. Other index files may be created to help speed analysis and query: these file formats are .sbn .sbx .ain .aix .fbn and .fbx. In addition you may find projection .prj, and metadata .xml, files associated with shapefiles. CAUTION: When you edit an existing theme or shapefile you are creating a new version of a source; give your version a new name or a version identifier to reflect your edits. Be prepared to fully document your sources and to both quantify and qualify the edits you make in order to facilitate coordination with other data sources. PLEASE NOTE: conversion to shapefile format changes some characters ( # - .) to underscores; item names over 10 characters are truncated. An effort will be made over time to consider these limitations in item names, and to eliminate the use of these characters in Maine GIS data development. It should not be assumed that a conversion from shapefile back to coverage will produce the same data. The results of such a conversion are greatly improved by the use of PRECISION setting DOUBLE, DOUBLE and careful management of tolerances. Shapefiles tolerate overlapping features, coverages maintain these with correct attribution only if a REGIONS subclass is specified and retained.
Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions:
These data are available to Internet browsers for download from the Maine GIS Internet Data Catalog. All data available from this website is in .zip compressed format. WinZip is a Windows based, PKZip-compatible compression utility. You will need a program like this to extract the data. A link to a trial copy WinZip software is available at http://megis.maine.gov/software.asp. If you are not already a GIS user, a link to free software for import and viewing of these files, Import71 and ArcExplorer from Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), is available at http://megis.maine.gov/software.asp.
Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions: Where file size and Internet access permit, data requests can be made available via File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Fees: Data may be downloaded from Maine GIS Internet Data Catalog at no charge.
Turnaround: Data is available for immediate download from the Maine GIS Internet Data Catalog.

Standard Order Process:

Standard Order Process:

Digital Form:

Digital Transfer Information:

Format Name: ARCE
Format Version Number: ARC Version 8.3
Format Specification: ARC/INFO Export Format
Format Information Content:
An Arc/Info export file is an interchange format used to transfer spatial data, INFO data files, and other ESRI ARC/INFO files between various machine types. Export files have the suffix .e00 and contain, in fixed-length ASCII format, all spatial information available for each feature. The command IMPORT is available in A/I to convert the export file to original format, i.e. coverage, grid, or other spatial data file. Import will add a spatial data file and a related INFO file to a machine directory. ESRI's ArcView is packaged with an import utility called IMPORT71 for the same export file conversion. The utility is also available through the FREE software link on the Maine GIS Data Catlaog under "CDProducts" at http://megis.maine.gov/catalog/ or from ESRI at http://www.esri.com/. CARE MUST BE TAKEN after import, not to separate the spatial information from its related INFO file. Since export files are in ASCII format make sure any file transfer method like FTP is executed under ASCII mode. Binary transfer will not work correctly.
Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions: Anyone with an Internet browser can view and download these data from http://megis.maine.gov/catalog/. Please follow instructions on the website for the Internet Data Catalog.

Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions: Where file size and Internet access permit, data requests can be made available via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) from the ftp address ftp://ftp.state.me.us/.

Digital Form:

Digital Transfer Information:

Format Name: ESRI Shapefile
Format Version Number: ARC Version 8.3
Format Specification: ArcView Shapefile Format
Format Information Content:
MEGIS will soon make all data in the internet Data Catalog available in ESRI's ArcView shapefile format. This additional format will first be available for E911 data under the TOWNS tab. A shapefile is a simple non-topological format that stores the geometry and attribute information for a set of geographic features as a set of vector (point, line, polygon) coordinates. Shapefiles draw quickly and directly in ArcView; you can create your own data using the shapefile format; an existing ARC/INFO coverage can be converted to a shapefile; other spatial data formats can be converted to shapefiles. Three files are created for each shapefile: .shp stores the feature geometry (shape and location information); .shx stores the index of the feature geometry; .dbf a dBASE (TM) file stores the attribute information for the features. Other index files may be created to help speed analysis and query: these file formats are .sbn .sbx .ain .aix .fbn and .fbx. In addition you may find projection .prj, and metadata .xml, files associated with shapefiles. CAUTION: When you edit an existing theme or shapefile you are creating a new dataset or at least a new version of a dataset; give the dataset a new name or a version identifier to reflect your edits. Be prepared to fully document your sources and to both quantify and qualify the edits you make in order to facilitate coordination with other data sources. PLEASE NOTE: conversion to shapefile format changes some characters ( # - .) to underscores; item names over 10 characters are truncated. An effort will be made over time to consider these limitations in item names, and to eliminate the use of these characters in Maine GIS data development. It should not be assumed that a conversion from shapefile back to coverage would produce the same data file as found in the original coverage format. The results of such a conversion are greatly improved by the use of PRECISION setting DOUBLE, DOUBLE and careful management of tolerances.
Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions: Anyone with an internet browser can view and download these data from the http address http://megis.maine.gov/catalog/. Please follow instructions on the website for the internet Data Catalog.

Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions: Where file size and internet access permit, data requests can be filled via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) from the ftp address ftp://ftp.state.me.us/.

Fees: Data may be downloaded from Maine GIS Data Catalog at no charge.
Turnaround: Data is available for immediate download from the Maine GIS Data Catalog.

Standard Order Process:

Non-digital Form: map
Fees:
MEGIS does some custom mapping, with available Maine GIS data, as time allows. If you have a custom mapping question please call the technical support line at (207) 287-6144 and ask about an estimate for your mapping needs.
Turnaround: 15 working days

Distributor:

Contact Information:

Contact Organization Primary:

Contact Organization: (MEGIS) Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems

Contact Position: GIS Coordinator
Contact Address:

Address Type: mailing address
Address: State House Station 145
City: Augusta
State or Province: ME
Postal Code: 04333-0145
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone: (207) 624-7700
Contact Facsimile Telephone: (207) 287-3842
Hours of Service: Monday through Friday 0800 - 1700 EST

Distribution Liability: Users must assume responsibility to determine the usability of this data for their purposes.
Standard Order Process:

Digital Form:

Digital Transfer Information:

Format Name: ARCSDE
Format Version Number: ArcSDE 9.x
Format Information Content: Oracle 9i

Digital Transfer Option:

Online Option:

Access Instructions: Please contact the Maine Office of GIS (MEGIS) for access instructions.

Fees: Access is available through Maine's wide area network; WAN users may contact the Maine Office of Information Technology, Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems (MEGIS) for a login.

Metadata Date: 11/12/2008
Metadata Review Date: 9/25/2009
Metadata Future Review Date:
Metadata Contact:

Contact Information:

Contact Organization Primary:

Contact Organization: Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems

Contact Position: GIS Coordinator
Contact Address:

Address Type: mailing address
Address: State House Station 145
City: Augusta
State or Province: ME
Postal Code: 04333-0145
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone: 207 624-7700
Contact Facsimile Telephone: 207 287-4563
Hours of Service: Monday through Friday 0800 - 1700 EST

Metadata Standard Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata Standard Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998