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14 NW Kearney, Bend, OR 97701
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January 2,2013
To: Board of County Commissioners
From: Bob Haas, Infonnation Technology Department,t~
Scot Langton, Assessor's Office -L
Nancy Blankenship, Clerk's O~;--
RE: January 9th Work Session: Web-Based Property Related Applications Policy
On January 9th we are scheduled to meet with you at the Board's Work Session to discuss an
administrative policy on providing access to property related infonnation through the County's
Internet web site. The attached draft policy will be presented at the meeting for your
consideration. The meeting will provide an opportunity to gain your input on the draft policy in
order to assure that it is consistent with the approach you would like to take on providing web
based access to government services and infonnation. Fonnal adoption of the policy including
any requested revisions will be scheduled at a later date.
attachment: Draft Web-Based Property Related Applications Policy
cc: Tom Anderson, Acting County Administrator
Mark Pilliod, Legal Counsel
I
Deschutes County Administrative Policy No. GA -11
Effective Date: January XX, 2013
Web-Based Property Related Applications
STATEMENT OF POLICY
It is the policy of Deschutes County that all property related web-based applications accessible
through the County's Internet site confonn to the provisions incorporated into this policy.
APPLICABILITY
This policy applies to all web-based property related applications that are released following the
effective date of this policy. The policy applies to property related applications that provide
infonnation, documents, images, and maps that are sourced from multiple County Departments.
The policy does not apply to applications that provide information or documents from a single
department such as the Assessors Office, the County Clerk's Office, 911, or the Road Department.
The policy does not apply to applications that are available only through the County's Intranet site.
POLICY & PROCEDURE
In General
This policy establishes procedures through which the County achieves an appropriate balance
between the requirements for access to property related infonnation with the privacy needs for
individual citizens. Using the Internet to provide public access to government services and
infonnation has been a huge success for the County. It allows easier access for citizens and
businesses to conduct their business with the County and it saves staffing costs by reducing the
number of customer visits to county facilities and the volume of phone calls and email requests that
need to be responded to.
Procedures for Making Infonnation Available
A. In order to achieve the required balance between providing access to County property related
infonnation and the privacy needs for individual citizens, there will be two versions of
applications. The first version is a "Public Version" that provides Internet access to County
records in a manner so as to strategically limit access to infonnation. The second version is a
"Professional Version" that provides more extensive infonnation but that is accessible through
user accounts issued to individuals following the completion of an application registration
process.
B. The Public Versions of Applications will utilize the following procedures:
1. Links that provide access to the Public Versions of applications will be provided on the
County Internet site;
2. There will be no option to search for individual properties by entering an owner's name.
Searches will only be permitted through options such as by providing a map and taxlot
Policy #GA-II. Web-based Property Related Applications Page I of3
number, a situs or street address, an assessor account or tax account number, or by other
property identifiers;
3. Except as otherwise set forth in this section, information including an owner's name and
mailing address will be provided as part of the information reported by the application;
4. Information such as detailed property tax information, property improvements and other
assessment information such as sales and valuation information, development information
and permits, environmental information, service provider information, transportation
information, survey information and miscellaneous other information will be provided;
5. Access to documents such as property sales deeds and other documents recorded at the
County Clerks Office will not be provided;
6. Access to pictures of building structures and building dimension sketches maintained by
the Assessors Office will not be provided;
7. Records that are exempt from public disclosure or in instances where individuals have
followed state statutes to apply for and have been granted exemption from release of
information will not be provided; and
8. Records maintained and provided by individual cities and by other public agencies
operating within Deschutes County will be reported through the application so long as the
public agency has first given Deschutes County authorization to make the information
accessible. Examples of such data are city building permits and development conditions,
city property liens, as well as other information that could be beneficial to County residents
and businesses.
C. The Professional Versions of Applications will utilize the following procedures:
1. Professional Versions of Applications will provide a full array of information, images,
documents, and maps including those items allowed in the "Public Version" as identified
in Section B above;
2. Searches by owner's names will be allowed;
3. Links that provide access to the Professional Versions of applications will be provided on
the County Internet site;
4. Access to Professional Versions will require individual access accounts that will consist of
a user name and password. The user name will be an email address and passwords will be
selected by the applicant;
5. Individuals who desire an access account will need to complete an application/registration
process. The registration process will be on-line and will require information such as an
email address (user name), a user assigned password, a type of business, and other
pertinent information. Personal information such as a social security number or a credit
card number will not be requested;
6. There will be no formal review of access applications. Automated processes will be
utilized to issue access accounts;
7. There will be no financial charges for the creation of access accounts or for the use of the
applications, although the County reserves the right to impose such charges based upon the
costs of staffing this program;
8. Records that are exempt from public disclosure or in instances where individuals have
followed state statutes to apply for and have been granted exemption from release of
information will not be provided; and
9. Records maintained and provided by individual cities and by other public agencies
operating within Deschutes County will be reported so long as the public agency has first
given Deschutes County authorization to make the information accessible. Examples of
such data are city building permits and development conditions, city property liens, and
other information that could be beneficial to County residents and businesses.
Policy #GA-ll, Web-based Property Related Applications Page 2 of3
D. The County Assessor, the County Clerk, the County Surveyor, and the County Legal Counsel's
Office will monitor state legislation and statutes to assure that this policy remains in
compliance with state public record laws and laws pertaining to the suppression of information
on individual accounts. Where appropriate, the policy will be administratively amended to
assure compliance with state regulations and legislation.
E. This policy will be brought back before the Board of County Commissioners for review every
five years to assure that the policy's procedures are consistent with the current views of the
Commissioners.
Approved by the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners January, XX, 2013.
Tom Anderson, Interim County Administrator
Policy #GA-ll, Web-based Property Related Applications Page 3 of3