<p class="MsoNormal">Hi All – </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I received a number of great responses to my question on
funding. I thought I would summarize what I learned here. (Though this may not
be news to anyone else….)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">GIS funding comes from a variety of sources – General Fund
(some with fees assessed to other departments), Recorded document fees (of
$5-$15/document), cost sharing with local entities, E-911 funds, Landfill
(Klickitat county only, as far as I know), pay-for-service, and sales. City of
Salem GIS is funded entirely “in-house”, and makes their data available at the
cost of retrieving it. The State also has multiple funding sources.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Wasco GIS is funded (for this year) at 34% Recorded Documents, 27% General Fund, 24% Partner Fees, and 13% Sales.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Sales included subscription based web-sites and data, stock
and/or custom maps, at-cost retrieval, and custom work (at anywhere from $35 -
$60/hour). Data sales ranged from $45 -
$750 depending on the layers (except my parcels, which are an embarrassingly
high $1500. I need to get that fixed). Stock maps ranged from free to $50,
Custom maps from a free automated system at Metro to $140 (or hourly).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most everyone has some sort of interactive website, and most
have a version that is free. Most have some freely downloadable maps. Jackson,
Linn, and Metro have at least some of their available data (shapefiles) out there for free.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">The only thing that seems be common in the funding streams
is that General Fund’s won’t or can’t cover all of a GIS, and at least some sales are
required to keep us operating. Free-to-the-public web mapping seems to be becoming
common, so at least some information is easily accessible.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Once again, thank you for all your input. We’ll see how I do
in front of the County Commissioners….</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Tycho</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p>Tycho Granville<br>GIS Coordinator<br>Wasco County<br><a href="tel:541.506.2658" value="+15415062658" target="_blank">541.506.2658</a><br>
<a href="mailto:tychog@co.wasco.or.us" target="_blank">tychog@co.wasco.or.us</a><br>
<div><br></div><div>Original Question - </div><div><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><i>Hi All –</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
<i><br></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><i>My County (Wasco) sells its data and maps, and has since the beginning. This has been how we have funded the GIS over the years (along with some other governmental partners, recorded document fees, and some General Fund money)</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><i><br></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
<i>The current trend seems to be toward making data available for free. So, my Commissioners have asked me to find out how other GIS’s are funded, and how they are able to provide data to the public at no cost.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
<i><br></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><i>So, how about it? Does your agency just pick up the whole tab for your GIS? Do you have some secret funding stream? Something else?</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><i><br></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
<i>Thanks in advance,</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><i><br></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
<i>Tycho</i></p></div>