Freeborn County, Minn. Makes Land Records Available Online Through Beacon™ From The Schneider Corporation

Freeborn County, Minn. Makes Land Records Available Online Through Beacon™ From The Schneider Corporation

INDIANAPOLIS -(December 14, 2010) – Residents of Freeborn County, Minn., now have an easy and free way to access local government land records and geographic information systems (GIS) without visiting county offices. Freeborn County, together with the city of Albert Lee, have made land records available online through Beacon™, an award-winning public access tool developed by The Schneider Corporation, a provider of creative solutions for land, infrastructure and facilities projects that help increase revenue, lower costs and mitigate risk.

Schneider is the recognized technology leader in land records management. Beacon™ is used by more than 185 local governments and includes information on 6.2 million parcels with a total assessed value of $820 billion. It saves individual user communities more than 25 staff hours per day on average, the equivalent of three full-time employees normally spent servicing residents’ requests for the information now available on a self-service basis via the Beacon™ portal.

In addition to land records, the Beacon™ site eventually will include links to recorded documents, and will integrate oblique imagery from Pictometry International Corp. Unlike satellite or aerial images, Pictometry captures and processes images of each targeted geographic area from 12 to 20 different views. As a result, buildings, properties and areas are identifiable and recognizable in a 3-D life-like appearance.

"The collaboration between the city of Albert Lee and Freeborn County to provide online access for residents is a win-win for everyone,” said John Kluever, county administrator for Freeborn County. “Residents need an easy way to access land records without having to drive to the county building, and Beacon’s robust self-help features make us more productive.”

Beacon™ gives users 24/7 access to a variety of local government data including GIS, appraisal and tax information, and the data is updated daily. Beacon™ also streamlines how the public interfaces with the community by consolidating searches of multiple sites into just one query that can be conducted from any computer. The result is a more efficient way to obtain up-to-date information on properties, as well as providing search, reporting and printer-friendly features. Beacon’s features include:

• Data summary/results reporting
• Statewide property record reporting
• Land improvement data
• County assessor assessment valuation
• Tax history
• Aerial photos mapping
• Report printing and email links

To access Freeborn County information on Beacon™, users can go tohttp://www.co.freeborn.mn.us then click on “online mapping.”

About The Schneider Corporation
The Schneider Corporation provides creative solutions for land, infrastructure and facilities projects that help increase revenue, lower costs and mitigate risk. Schneider is a leader in providing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) solutions to hundreds of municipal, county, state, federal and private entities. In a 2009 National Customer Satisfaction survey Schneider was rated "exceptional" or "one of the best" by virtually all respondents for reputation, customer service, product and service quality, and project execution. Our additional expertise in engineering, surveying and architecture enables us to offer an integrated approach to complex projects. A woman-owned business for decades, Schneider is recognized nationally for its award-winning work. For more information about Schneider, please visit www.schneidercorp.com. For more information about Schneider GIS solutions, please visit gis.schneidercorp.com.