Bingham County is responsible for the management of several public operations, including property appraisal, property taxing and mapping, recording of deeds, law enforcement, voter registration, administration of public elections, definition and enforcement of zoning ordinances, and maintenance of county roads, bridges, signs and culverts. Over the past ten years, Gateway Mapping Inc. (GMI) has helped Bingham County build their GIS from the ground up, and the number of GIS users has grown significantly. With nine employees actively making edits each day (and many more viewing the data), it was apparent that a true enterprise system was needed to properly manage the county’s GIS workflow, maintain an organized process, and ensure data quality. In addition, the county desired to implement a web map in order to allow county employees and county citizens to have direct access to the county’s GIS data.

Gateway Mapping worked with County staff to design the workflow in detail, including users, software, processes and automated scripts that would need to be involved. Gateway Mapping recommended that the County implement Esri’s ArcGIS Server to take advantage of the software’s web mapping capabilities as well as the enterprise databases provided by ArcSDE. GMI staff worked onsite with Bingham County staff from start to finish of the implementation process. Once ArcSDE was up and running, Gateway Mapping assisted County staff in the creation of web applications (both internal and public-facing) using ArcGIS Server. Public web applications include an interactive map for viewing parcels, a map for finding voting precincts and locations, and a map for surveyors to access scanned corner perpetuation documents. Internal web applications include maps specifically customized for Assessors, Appraisers, Clerks, Public Works, and other departments.

Since the implementation of ArcSDE/ArcGIS Server, the county’s GIS operations have been running very smoothly. Every employee in the courthouse has access to GIS information without having to install any software, and the public has ready access to GIS maps via the County’s website. The non-GIS users in the County are happy because they can find data in real-time no matter where they are in the courthouse, and the GIS users are happy because system maintenance is centralized, easy, and less time-intensive.