BSI Aids Texas State Data Center in Parcel Based Approach to 2010 U.S. Census

Press Information
For Immediate Release -- November 17, 2009
Andrew Koutsoukos
Phone: 415-381-1750
Email: andrew@boundarysolutions.com
Boundary Solutions, Inc.

BSI Aids Texas State Data Center in Parcel Based Approach to 2010 U.S. Census

Mill Valley, CA: The Texas State Data Center (TxSDC) selected BSI's bid to acquire digital parcel map databases for international-border and urban Texas counties to support TxSDC’s participation in the U.S. Census Bureau 2010 Housing Unit Count Review Program (CRP). The purpose of the CRP is to identify potentially missed housing units before the April 1, 2010 Census to ensure a more accurate Census. This partnership between Census and the TxSDC will enable local knowledge to be incorporated into the 2010 Census Master Address File (MAF).

Within three weeks of award, BSI expanded, updated, enhanced, and delivered parcel map content to the TxSDC so that, to the greatest extent possible, each record included:

Full situs including situs city and ZIP
Lat/Long point in each parcel polygon
Use [Texas designation] codes
Year built dates
Assessed improvement values
Floor area values.

Beyond use by Census, this normalized data model of every urban county in Texas except Dallas (did not participate) will enable state-wide parcel-level studies of a range of problems previously not possible. Not only does near every parcel in every county have an assigned use code, they too can be normalized. Though most participating counties provided their tax roll data with the assigned Texas State (use) Codes out-of-the-state-comptroller’s-box, some had modified theirs slightly or came up with their own protocols. To make absolutely sure that all codes mean the same thing, a “crosswalk” file was attained from each county to “map” local land use codes according to the state standard, making this Texas Parcel Layer robust enough to challenge even the toughest sub-block analysis problem.

#####

BSI is the custodian of the National Parcel Map Data Portal (NPDP™). As of July 2009, a total of 76 million parcel boundary polygons from 680 jurisdictions are normalized and ready for download. Regardless of source format, all content is subjected to over 30 software driven modifications and metric recordings to assure universal internal consistency highly convenient geoserver loading. NPDP content is available as downloads from the NPDP FTP Site or on a transaction basis using ISC ParcelAtlas, r7 GeoRoom or ESRI ArcWebServices geoserver platforms. The USPTO awarded Boundary Solutions Inc. Patents 7,092,957 & 7,499,946, and 7,516,156 entitled “Computerized National Online Parcel-level Map Data Portal.” Claims include multi-state search to locate an address by displaying its corresponding digital parcel map boundary and the processing of change layer updates for the NPDP. The original provisional patent application was filed January 18, 2002. Boundary Solutions, BSI, Boundary Solutions logo, National ParcelMap Data Portal, NPDP, and Rooftop Accuracy are trademarks of BSI. All other trademarks and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.