Frequently Asked Questions concerning the Catawba County GIS Real Estate Map and Real Estate Report web pages.
Click the "..." next to the question to expand the answer. Contact information for the GIS dept. is at the bottom of the page.
I can not find an address? ...
This is the number one problem people have and there are two major reasons. The format address you entered does not match
the format of our 911 addresses or the address is not in Catawba County.
In regards to the format problem try these suggestions:
Take a look at the Examples and Notes provided below the input boxes.
Look at the "County Addressing Conventions" document for abbreviations we use
and how to format NC and US highway names. Use the "Address Help" link for more
hints.
Do not try to spell out the whole street name. Enter part of name and let the computer
try to find a matching street.
Using the "Street Name" search with any portion of the name will give you the most matches.
Look at the "Street Name" pdf documents to verify the street is in this county. Links
to those documents are on the GIS Home page.
If you have found the street but the building number does not match a building number
displayed then the address you have does not match our 911 address. Using an Owner search may
help you determine the correct property. If you have found the street and the building number
is outside of the range we show there is a good chance the address is outside of the county.
In regards to addresses outside the county Hickory, Maiden, Denver, Lincolnton ,Vale,
and Lawndale addresses all go into surrounding counties. Links to those counties GIS web sites
can be found on the "GIS Home" page under the "GIS Links" tab.
I can not see the Lat/Long information?...
The Real Estate Map Server
displays NC State Plane coordinates and Lat/Long coordinates in the status bar at the bottom of the browser.
DEC is Lat/Long in decimal degrees, DMS is Lat/Long in degrees, minutes, seconds.
If you are not seeing the Status Bar information do this;
From the browsers View menu make sure there is a check by the Status Bar option.
For Internet Explorer 7, from the Tools Menu, click Internet Options, Security tab,
click the Custom level button, scroll down to the Scripting settings, Enable "Allow status bar updates via script".
Click the OK buttons to exit. The browser may have to be restarted for the settings to take effect.
For Firefox, from the Tools Menu, click Options, Content tab, click the Advanced button, check "Change Status bar text".
Click the OK buttons to exit. The browser may have to be restarted for the settings to take effect.
How often is the data updated?...
The data
on the maps and reports come from a variety of sources. Most of the data on
the Parcel Report, and the parcel lines are updated twice a week. Other map and report information
is updated weekly or every few weeks. If you need further information contact
us.
There is a dotted red line through a property. What does that mean?...
Often the line is a old parcel line that is no longer current,
or an easment of some type. If you need further clarification contact the Tax Office and ask to speak to
someone in the Tax Mapping dept.
There are four italicized numbers in the middle of a property. What is that?...
Those are the last four digits of the parcel id number.
How do I get rid of the yellow highlight on a parcel?...
Click the 
button above the map.
What do the flood zone labels AE and AEFW mean?...
The AE zone is the area of special flood hazard
subject to a 1% chance of flooding in any year (commonly referred to as the 100 year flood) where a flood elevation has been determined.
The AEFW zone is the floodway portion of the 100 year floodplain where development is limited due to the volume and velocity of floodwaters.
There is incorrect information on the map. How can that be fixed?...
Use the GIS email link on this page to send us the parcel id of
the property, a description of what is incorrect, and your contact information. We are able to correct most map problems in a short
period of time.
A parcel address is incorrect. How can I get that corrected?...
Use the GIS contact information on this page to contact us.
The E911 Coordinator in this office is responsible for correcting parcel addressing problems.
The owner name says "This parcel is currently being processed". What does that mean?...
The owner information for this parcel is currently not available from the Tax
department. This most commonly happens when a new parcel has been mapped and the new owner information has not been entered into the Tax database. If
you find this situation persisting over a few weeks please contact us.
I recently purchased a property and the old owner is still showing up on the Parcel Report.
When will that be corrected?...
Ownership changes come from deeds filed
in the Register of Deeds Office, to the Tax Office, and then it is available to be displayed on the Parcel Reports.
Often it takes two or more weeks for ownership changes to show up on the Parcel Reports after a deed is filed. Contact us if
you are not seeing ownership changes show up.
The owner name or address is incorrect. How can I get that corrected?...
Contact
the Tax Office to get
the owner information corrected. After it is corrected the updated information will show up
on the Parcel Report in a few days.
How does the Measure Tool work?...
The Measure tool works by clicking points. The
first click will display a red dot. After the second click a red line will be drawn between the points
and a Measure Results window will open. As you click on more points a new line will be drawn and the
Measure Results window will be updated. After three or more clicks a red dash line will be drawn between the last
point and the first point and the area will be caculated. A double click will finish the current measurement session.
The Measure Results window is considered a pop up and you may have to allow your browser to accept pop ups from this site.
The Measure Results window will close by itself after 30 seconds. This tool only works with Internet Explorer.
Drawing intersecting lines will give you bogus area results. Double clicking on your first point may cause a blue
box on your display.
After the map of a property is displayed when I try to do any thing else, (zoom, pan, turn on a layer), the map reverts
to the county map. What is wrong?...
There
is a setting in your browser that is not allowing map information to be
temporarily stored on your computer and causing this behavior. To fix the problem
in Internet Explorer go to the browsers Tools Menu, Internet Options, Privacy
tab, Advanced button, and check the box "Always allow session cookies".
When I click the Print Map or Print Map and Report link nothing happens. How can that be fixed?...
There
is a setting in your browser that is causing this behavior. I have most commonly
heard about it with Internet Explorer 7. I have not found the exact setting
that needs to be changed. Until I find an exact answer I suggest you try another
browser such as "Fire Fox" or try a browser on a different computer.
When I print the map the output uses two sheets of paper. How can that be fixed?...
Before you open the map site decrease the heigth of the browser page.
The map is dynamically sized to fit you browser page as the mapping site starts. By decreasing the height of the browser
page the map will be shorter and the map and associated information will fit on one printed page.
What are the zoning restrictions on a property?...
You will need to contact the responsible Zoning Agency.
There is a link to the Zoning Agency phone numbers on the Parcel Report.
This page did not answer my question or to submit a question....
Contact us by email or call 828-465-8391.
© 2012, Catawba County Government, North Carolina. All rights reserved.