Aerial pics for tax assessor

N801BH

N801BH

Touchdown! Greaser!
Gone West
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Jackson Hole Wy
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FBH
For the last few years the local tax man has been using aerial pics and a clever batch of software that compares the previous year to the current one to see if anything has changed. Like... pools, hot tubs, decks, extensions to the roofline, other structures etc, etc...

So... my question is how high up are the flying during the photo shoots ? Digital or film cameras ? Time of day to limit shadows around the lots. ?.

Camera resolution must be amazing as the assessor claimed I replaced the 2x6 redwood decking with 2x4's.. The square foot didn't increase but they say the new boards increase the value of my house... Can they REALLY tell a 2" difference in board size from way up in the air?:dunno:

About this time of year a surveyor lays out these 10' wide white crosses on the ground at key landmarks /points around the county. I assume it is to crop the pics and align them so they repeat perfectly each year...

Anyone out there with the downlow on how it all works..:dunno::confused:

Thanks in advance for all the comments..
 
Sounds like it's time to order some mesh camo tents.
 
N801BH said:
The square foot didn't increase but they say the new boards increase the value of my house...
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What a load of crap....
Stuff like this really gets under my skin...
 
My next door neighbor is a photographer. I was flying home and flew over my in laws house since it is in a direct path to the airport. Ny neighbor was there for a party and was expecting me to fly over. I flew at 2500, he sent me a picture and I kid you not you can see my face in the picture. It's a bit scary what the higher end cameras can see.
 
N801BH said:
For the last few years the local tax man has been using aerial pics and a clever batch of software that compares the previous year to the current one to see if anything has changed. Like... pools, hot tubs, decks, extensions to the roofline, other structures etc, etc...

So... my question is how high up are the flying during the photo shoots ? Digital or film cameras ? Time of day to limit shadows around the lots. ?.

Camera resolution must be amazing as the assessor claimed I replaced the 2x6 redwood decking with 2x4's.. The square foot didn't increase but they say the new boards increase the value of my house... Can they REALLY tell a 2" difference in board size from way up in the air?:dunno:

About this time of year a surveyor lays out these 10' wide white crosses on the ground at key landmarks /points around the county. I assume it is to crop the pics and align them so they repeat perfectly each year...

Anyone out there with the downlow on how it all works..:dunno::confused:

Thanks in advance for all the comments..
Click to expand...

The only way to handle this, is call the FSDO and inquiry as to whether the airplane and pilot doing this are properly running their operation..

:goofy::goofy:

Only about 1/2 kidding
 
Write a letter to the chief counsel asking if tax photo flights of illicit garden sheds are ok.
 
It is a repair, not an improvement. Ask him to show comparable sales in the neighborhood that proves with statistical significance that the 2x4's increase property values. He won't be able to. -Skip
 
I know a couple of start up companies that do this type of photography for a living. These are very sophisticated cameras costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The last camera one guy bought was $750k. He has it mounted in a new Cessna 210, all paid for for. The software is connected to the auto pilot so the plane flies a grid around 14,000'. He takes pictures for cities, counties, companies, anyone who will pay the $3,000 per hour, then stitches them together with proprietary software into a searchable data base. The camera have infrared capabilities also. He can fly over a rural area and tell if the septics tanks are failing. Pretty amazing technology, and very profitable.
 
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If these guys are getting a flat rate they are doing it wrong, they should get a cut of the revenue increase same as the red light camera companies.
 
Geico266 said:
I know a couple of start up companies that do this type of photography for a living. These are very sophisticated cameras costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The last camera one guy bought was $750k. He has it mounted in a new Cessna 210, all paid for for. The software is connected to the auto pilot so the plane flies a grid around 14,000'. He takes pictures for cities, counties, companies, anyone who will pay the $3,000 per hour, then stitches them together with proprietary software into a searchable data base. The camera have infrared capabilities also. He can fly over a rural area and tell if the septics tanks are failing. Pretty amazing technology, and very profitable.
Click to expand...

Thanks Larry.... 14,000' was a number I was looking for.....

Also. I was wondering if these mapping companies sell the municipalities raw data, or process it to their requirements....

Thanks for the feedback guys..
 
Tax mapping from airplanes has been going on since at least the early 1980s when I did it.
 
N801BH said:
Well... I am in Wyoming.....:rolleyes:..


We don't even have electricity... yet. :D
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We import the internet from Colorado at our job sites in Wyoming...and we used to generate our own electricity...
 
Geico266 said:
The last camera one guy bought was $750k. He has it mounted in a new Cessna 210, all paid for for. ... $3,000 per hour, ... very profitable.
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Tax dollars hard at work. I wonder if the pilot/entreprenuer is the Mayor's brother-in-law.
 
Geico266 said:
I know a couple of start up companies that do this type of photography for a living. These are very sophisticated cameras costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The last camera one guy bought was $750k. He has it mounted in a new Cessna 210, all paid for for. The software is connected to the auto pilot so the plane flies a grid around 14,000'. He takes pictures for cities, counties, companies, anyone who will pay the $3,000 per hour, then stitches them together with proprietary software into a searchable data base. The camera have infrared capabilities also. He can fly over a rural area and tell if the septics tanks are failing. Pretty amazing technology, and very profitable.
Click to expand...

I wish the idiot(s) that use the 172 that I rent would have a mounted system of their own. They continued to take the screw off of the window bracket that holds the window open while taxiing, etc. for their photo missions. So instead, the window won't stay open unless I prop my elbow against the window. Friggin' idiots.
 
nddons said:
I wish the idiot(s) that use the 172 that I rent would have a mounted system of their own. They continued to take the screw off of the window bracket that holds the window open while taxiing, etc. for their photo missions. So instead, the window won't stay open unless I prop my elbow against the window. Friggin' idiots.
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The companies which do this have a high dollar (way into the six figures) camera and a large hole in the bottom. A 172 is not large enough to carry the camera.
 
Everskyward said:
Is Missouri ahead or behind Wyoming? :D
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Interesting. I was involved in the re-assessment process back in the early 80's also. Except on the drafting end. I was still in school, working at an A/E firm in SW MO that won the contract on 4 counties. I'd get an aerial photo that covered 4 sections, a clear sheet of mylar, a stack of deeds and start plotting properties. All work was ink on mylar with mechanical lettering, no freehand.

It was fun...for about 6 or 8 months, then it got tedious.

I'd probably have three times my present net worth if I had the foresight to file a quit claim deed on all the gaps I found between titles. The most frequent error was the legal on one side of the creek going to to the centerline of the creek, but the the other side going to the "land line" and leaving a significant gap between because the creek didn't align with the land line.
 
timwinters said:
Interesting. I was involved in the re-assessment process back in the early 80's also. Except on the drafting end. I was still in school, working at an A/E firm in SW MO that won the contract on 4 counties. I'd get an aerial photo that covered 4 sections, a clear sheet of mylar, a stack of deeds and start plotting properties. All work was ink on mylar with mechanical lettering, no freehand.

It was fun...for about 6 or 8 months, then it got tedious.

I'd probably have three times my present net worth if I had the foresight to file a quit claim deed on all the gaps I found between titles. The most frequent error was the legal on one side of the creek going to to the centerline of the creek, but the the other side going to the "land line" and leaving a significant gap between because the creek didn't align with the land line.
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During the time we were doing the tax mapping in Missouri I was the camera operator, not the pilot. We flew parallel lines, but since this was before GPS we had to look down through a viewfinder and follow a map in an attempt to keep the pilot "on line". The pilot was doing it all visually too. That was not very easy over some portions of Missouri.

We did other things besides tax mapping but I remember it being a huge contract.
 
I used to live in a county where they did aerial flyovers for tax assessment purposes. Well, "code enforcement" purposes anyway. Not super hi res stuff that could differentiate lumber sizes but it could detect structures and swimming pools. My neighbor had a buddy that worked in Public Works and he knew the flyover window dates.

I helped him unload and place a very large blue vinyl tarp on the ground in his backyard, in a rectangular shape with the corners folded over to give a rounded appearance.

Sure enough, a couple months later a county inspector showed up to inquire about the swimming pool.
 
N801BH said:
Camera resolution must be amazing as the assessor claimed I replaced the 2x6 redwood decking with 2x4's.. The square foot didn't increase but they say the new boards increase the value of my house... Can they REALLY tell a 2" difference in board size from way up in the air?:dunno:
Click to expand...

Sort of. It's probably not hard to get a rough count of the number of decking boards (if the sun is just right and you have a decent gap between the boards) and then guess that since you now have quite a bit more that you went from 2x6 to 2x4.

Now, if they can tell what kind of JOISTS you have, then I'd wonder!
 
If 2x4 decking is more valuable than 2x6 decking material, my Home Depot has been ripping me off!!!:mad2::D
If the size of the decking was what the assessor used to justify raising my assessment, I might be decking the assessor! :nono:
What a weak argument! Did you cut your grass too? Maybe cut down a dead tree or plant a shrub?:dunno:

Matthew said:
Sort of. It's probably not hard to get a rough count of the number of decking boards (if the sun is just right and you have a decent gap between the boards) and then guess that since you now have quite a bit more that you went from 2x6 to 2x4.

Now, if they can tell what kind of JOISTS you have, then I'd wonder!
Click to expand...
 
N747JB said:
If 2x4 decking is more valuable than 2x6 decking material, my Home Depot has been ripping me off!!!:mad2::D
If the size of the decking was what the assessor used to justify raising my assessment, I might be decking the assessor! :nono:
What a weak argument! Did you cut your grass too? Maybe cut down a dead tree or plant a shrub?:dunno:
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Hey - I don't make this stuff up!

It's possible they didn't really care about the decking dimensions, other than they could tell it was new and then used that as a basis to bill you more.

My new deck required a building permit so no need for the assessor to fly over my house, they have it all on paper already. If they taxed on how well I took care of my yard, I'd be getting a refund.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Seriously. At some point violence is justified.
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According to conservative doctrine, all problems within our society will self correct if we just give the free market a chance. Sit back and relax.
 
Clip4 said:
According to conservative doctrine, all problems within our society will self correct if we just give the free market a chance. Sit back and relax.
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What is free market about the people with the guns and jails setting tax rules?
 
N801BH said:
Thanks Larry.... 14,000' was a number I was looking for.....

Also. I was wondering if these mapping companies sell the municipalities raw data, or process it to their requirements....

Thanks for the feedback guys..
Click to expand...

They will do what ever the customer wants. Usually, smaller cities don't have the resources to convert the raw data so he does it. Larger cities just want the data.

His last job was taking pictures of sand piles in 3d so he could estimate the volume of sand in the piles.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I used to live in a county where they did aerial flyovers for tax assessment purposes. Well, "code enforcement" purposes anyway. Not super hi res stuff that could differentiate lumber sizes but it could detect structures and swimming pools. My neighbor had a buddy that worked in Public Works and he knew the flyover window dates.

I helped him unload and place a very large blue vinyl tarp on the ground in his backyard, in a rectangular shape with the corners folded over to give a rounded appearance.

Sure enough, a couple months later a county inspector showed up to inquire about the swimming pool.
Click to expand...

Nice. Stickin' it to the man
 
My appeal to my county board of equalization a few years ago included the type of swimming pool in my back yard, they had it listed as gunite and it's actually vinyl, so I saved a whopping $10.00 per year! :mad2:
 
Clip4 said:
I don't know, but if we let the free market work, it will be ok.
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The free market is working and the US has the most onerous tax laws on expats of any country. Record number of people relinquishing their citizenship.
 
Skip Miller said:
It is a repair, not an improvement. Ask him to show comparable sales in the neighborhood that proves with statistical significance that the 2x4's increase property values. He won't be able to. -Skip
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It's not even a repair, it's maintenance! How much of a credit did they give you on past taxes as the old decking decayed?

Geico266 said:
...He can fly over a rural area and tell if the septics tanks are failing.
Click to expand...

I fly mostly open cockpit, so I can tell you the same thing. ;)
 
Do you have any neighbors that might not like airplane drivers too much that may have turned you in?

I'm thinking that this type of stuff will get much worse and much more common as drones become more ubiquitous.


N801BH said:
For the last few years the local tax man has been using aerial pics and a clever batch of software that compares the previous year to the current one to see if anything has changed. Like... pools, hot tubs, decks, extensions to the roofline, other structures etc, etc...

So... my question is how high up are the flying during the photo shoots ? Digital or film cameras ? Time of day to limit shadows around the lots. ?.

Camera resolution must be amazing as the assessor claimed I replaced the 2x6 redwood decking with 2x4's.. The square foot didn't increase but they say the new boards increase the value of my house... Can they REALLY tell a 2" difference in board size from way up in the air?:dunno:

About this time of year a surveyor lays out these 10' wide white crosses on the ground at key landmarks /points around the county. I assume it is to crop the pics and align them so they repeat perfectly each year...

Anyone out there with the downlow on how it all works..:dunno::confused:

Thanks in advance for all the comments..
Click to expand...
 
JOhnH said:
Do you have any neighbors that might not like airplane drivers too much that may have turned you in?

.
Click to expand...

Perhaps.... Altho I am not in violation of anything IMHO...

Some neighbors did get cranky when I stored the wreckage of the RV-7 in my yard for3 weeks till the next of kins family buried their parents.. It was well hidden behind my 8 foot tall berm though..

And a couple of years ago a fellow pilot on his way to OSH crashed his DO-27 Dornier and I helped him recover it from the forest and it sat in my yard for a few months till he finally picked it up with a semi and transported it to some farmers barn in Neb.... Last I heard, the farmer cut it up and sold it for scrap...:mad2::mad2:
 

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