Tioga County’s Leap to Accurate and Efficient Parcel Management

Tioga County, located in north-central Pennsylvania, is known for its lush forests and landscape of hills and valleys. The Tioga County Assessment Office manages tax maps to support property assessments, benefiting people and industries ranging from hunters to real estate developers and oil and gas companies. Central to this effort was maintaining a set of hard-copy tax maps to support assessment operations, which were crucial for industries that rely on accurate property boundary data for daily operations. 

However, the county faced a critical challenge: It maintained an obsolete and inaccurate parcel layer in its geographic information system (GIS). This slowed workflows, frustrated users, and reduced the accuracy of property-related decisions. It also made it difficult to integrate new data with existing systems.

To address this, county staff worked with Esri partner Sidwell to implement ArcGIS Parcel Fabric and ArcGIS Pro. These tools enabled Tioga County to modernize its parcel management system—delivering greater accuracy, streamlined operations, and a more reliable foundation for property assessments and public services.

In the years leading up to the project, GIS coordinator Scott Zubek and chief assessor Josh Zeyn faced mounting challenges due to inaccuracies in the county’s tax maps. Their office received frequent calls from real estate developers, hunters, and other researchers reporting parcel discrepancies. The Marcellus Shale boom—a surge in natural gas exploration and drilling across Pennsylvania—further intensified demand, as oil and gas companies increased property boundary research. 

Data-quality issues with the parcel data also made it highly problematic to display the tax maps on a public-facing GIS web application. At the same time, the assessor’s office was preparing to implement a new computer-assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) system that required complete and accurate parcel data.

The county also needed a solution that would align with the state’s Clean and Green program and support a countywide reassessment. This included calculating acreage by soil type based on accurate parcel boundaries and conducting slope rating analysis using lidar-derived 3D models.

Ultimately, Tioga County sought a modern GIS solution that could collect and deliver accurate, up-to-date parcel data; reduce call volume at the office; and allow staff to focus on higher-priority tasks. Improving operational efficiency and enhancing the customer experience were top priorities.

To address its parcel data challenges, Tioga County and Sidwell jointly assessed the county’s existing system to identify the best solution. Through this assessment, Sidwell confirmed several reported issues, including parcels incorrectly associated with houses or lots—errors that had led to delinquent sales. 

Recognizing the need for improvement, the county moved forward with Sidwell’s recommendation to implement Esri’s ArcGIS Parcel Fabric. Using original source documents—including recorded survey data with geodetic coordinates—the project team delivered data in the latest version of ArcGIS Parcel Fabric. This allowed the county to visualize accurate parcel data and seamlessly integrate it with the county’s CAMA system.

Throughout the project, Sidwell incorporated over 60,000 documents, including recorded surveys, plats, historical maps, legal documents, and over 2,500 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) control points. These materials were essential for accurately mapping parcels and establishing a consistent framework across the county. 

The newly constructed countywide parcel layer was delivered as an ArcGIS Parcel Fabric dataset compatible with Tioga County’s enterprise GIS environment. To ensure long-term success, Sidwell provided comprehensive end-user training for the assessor’s office.

The implementation of ArcGIS Parcel Fabric led to significant improvement in Tioga County’s parcel data quality and accuracy. Issues with parcels misaligned to houses and lots were resolved, preventing future errors in property sales. With more accurate public-facing data, the county saw a noticeable reduction in phone inquiries, allowing staff to focus on critical tasks.

Day-to-day parcel maintenance also became more streamlined, increasing the overall operational efficiency. The improved data accuracy reduced staff workload and increased public confidence.  

To quantify the impact, the county conducted parcel acreage validation—a common quality control process that compares GIS-calculated acreage to deeded acreage. Even in the initial assessment, the results were striking: The percentage of parcels where the mapped acreage matched the deeded acreage (within 0.5 acres) rose from 58 percent to 80 percent. Currently, 90 percent of parcels are within two acres of the deeded acreage in the CAMA system.

Accurate parcel boundaries also enhanced the county’s reassessment of soil and land-use types, enabling more precise acreage calculations. The county launched a slope mapping project to identify parcels with a slope of 25 percent or higher as unbuildable—an analysis made possible by accurate parcel data. 

Additionally, reassessment field staff were visiting the correct properties with greater confidence, improving the efficiency of property visits. 

Zeyn presented these findings in a letter to the county commissioners, who agreed that the project successfully delivered tangible operational benefits that justified the investment.

By partnering with Sidwell, Tioga County was able to identify and address the needs of its residents and businesses, make its assessor’s office more efficient, and improve customer satisfaction. The real-world consequences of inaccurate parcel data can be significant, so ensuring that the data is accurate, timely, and easily accessed by the public is essential.

Esri partner Sidwell, a geospatial services and solutions provider, completed a project for Tioga County, Pennsylvania, reconstructing a new countywide layer of 26,000 parcels from original source land records. Since then, the county has seen significant improvements in data accuracy and operational efficiency.