The town of Boothbay just completed a large project converting all tax maps to full digital form. The town is now proud to present these tax maps for public use, according to Town Manager James Chaousis.

The tax maps will be maintained in the same places as they have been historically. Copies of the maps are online and at the assessor's office at the Boothbay Town Office.

“People will notice that there is a lot more detail in these maps,” Chaousis said. “Spatially, all parcels are to scale and represented with the most detailed surveys available. Acreage, road frontage and addresses are also represented in the new maps. I hope that everyone will find these easier to read and visually more appealing.”

In January 2013, the town joined the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (MDACF) in a state-wide upgrade of orthoimagery.

The increased resolution of satellite imagery allows the town to more accurately portray shoreland boundaries, roads and parcel relationships, which makes portraying tax maps with new digital software more accurate.

The new digital platform also allows the town to modify and update the tax maps and parcel inventory yearly at a reduced cost.

The newest, and most user-friendly feature, that comes as an accessory to this project, is the Google Earth interface. Users that have downloaded Google Earth (a free, Internet-based, satellite imagery program) can download this file to superimpose over the face of the Earth.

The town feels that this will enable real estates agents, surveyors, contractors and do-it-yourselfers to view property boundaries. When using the Google Earth features, users can click on parcels to display basic property details about the parcel.

The town asks that if irregularities are found, residents report them to the assessor for adjustment. Instructions to download the Town of Boothbay Google Earth file are on the website.

“There are small bugs and irregularities with any new program like this and we need your help to identify them,” Chaousis said.

The town contracted with John E O'Donnell & Associates, town assessors, in April 2013 to overhaul the paper tax maps and agreed to vastly improve the product.

Mike O'Donnell is the local presence in the Boothbay Office and led the mapping project. He has been the onsite assessor for three years in Boothbay and has drastically improved assessing services, according to Chaousis.