What does it take to make this web site work and how does it work?

The Yakima County Assessor is responsible for maintaining the official "cadastre" which is a public map showing the value, extent and ownership of land used as a basis for taxation. The Assessor maintains the cadastre by adding or removing parcels and performing boundary line adjustments using a computer based mapping system. There are over 101,000 parcels in Yakima County requiring maintenance of the property lines as well as the property and assessment information that accompanies each one.

Here one of the cadastral technicians prepares to enter new parcels from a short plat.

The computer based mapping system takes the information from the short plat, such as the distances and bearings of the property lines, and creates the new parcels. The technicians must close each parcel and ensure it fits with the neighboring parcels. Other information, such as the parcel number, are added to the digital map.