W. Va. Code R. § 189-3-18
Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 189-3-18 - Glossary of Terms All terms are defined in the context of this regulation.
18.1. Annotation. -- Text or labels placed on a map and usually tied to a particular graphic element. It is one of the most time-consuming tasks in constructing tax maps.18.2. Attribute. -- A single element of non-graphic information (name of owner, property area, property value, etc.) stored in a database field and associated with a single map property parcel. Attributes may be attached to a point, line, or polygon feature and may be used to query features or create annotation.18.3. Base Map. -- A map portraying basic reference features such as roads, lakes and streams onto which other thematic spatial information such as property or parcel outlines, easements, rights of way or other special features are placed.18.4. Boundaries. 18.4.a. Tax District Boundary. -- Tax district boundaries are defined as the rural tax district boundaries adopted by the WV Legislature in 1978. The boundaries were drawn from 1:24,000-scale USGS topographic maps in 1978 and coincide with county magisterial districts as of July 1,1973. Unlike magisterial districts that are realigned every ten years following the census, the tax district boundaries do not follow equal representation requirements and do not change over time. (W.Va. Code §§ 7-2-7 and 11-3-1a).18.4.b. Assessment Tax Boundary. -- Unlike the official tax district boundaries derived from county magisterial districts in 1978, an "assessment tax boundary" changes over time and can consist of individual tax parcels that lie in more than one tax district or county (W.Va. Code §§ 11-4-14, 11-4-15, and 11-4-16). The peripheral property line of all the parcels within each district delineates the assessment tax boundaries.18.4.c. Corporation Tax Boundary. -- The corporation tax boundary coincides with the incorporated municipality boundaries which are cooperatively produced by local governments and the U.S. Census Bureau.18.4.d. County Boundary. -- The official county boundaries are derived from the 1:24,000-scale U.S. Geological Survey's topographic maps (W.Va. Code § 7-2-6). Disputed county boundary lines are reviewed by the circuit court (W.Va. Code § 7-2-1).18.5. Cadastral. -- Refers to maps and records showing boundaries, ownerships, and attributes of property, usually created for taxation purposes.18.6. Computer Aided Drafting (CAD). -- Computer software for drawing points, lines, polygons, and text, with features organized by layers within the drawing; CAD has the ability to trace-digitize lines and often has powerful three-dimensional display ability. Traditionally it has had a limited ability to attach attributes to features.18.7. Coordinate Geometry (COGO). -- The process of defining the geographic extent of a land parcel with a series of survey distances and bearings.18.8. Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA).-- The process of using a computer to assist in property tax appraisal and equity evaluation. A CAMA system will include one or more relational databases and may also have a GIS component. The CAMA system for West Virginia is called the Integrated Assessment System (IAS).18.9. Deed. -- The historic record of conveyance for property ownership and the primary legal record defining the property and its boundaries. 18.10. Digital Parcel Polygons. -- An electronic file format of the parcel boundaries which is typically geo-referenced, edge-matched, topologically validated, and linkable to the Integrated Assessment System.18.11. Easement or Right-of-Way. -- An easement or right-of-way is an agreement that confers on an individual, company or municipality the right to use a landowner's property in some way. Easements and rights-of-way are usually registered on the certificate of title to the property, and remain with the land and are automatically transferred from one owner to another as the land is sold. Often an easement is referred to as a "right-of-way," and this term is particularly used for energy and municipal-related easements. A road right-of-way includes the roadway (edge of pavement) and the area between the sidewalk and the curb.18.12. Finished Tax Maps. -- Finished surface tax maps show the property and lot lines, set forth dimensions or areas, and other cadastral and cultural features that assessors are required by state law to maintain and publish for the public. These scaled tax maps are created by either manual or automated methods and in accordance with the cartographic design, map content and layout specifications mandated by the Property Valuation Training and Procedures Commission.18.13. Geodetic. -- Relates to surveying and mapping, which take into account the curvature of the earth. This is in contrast to plane surveying, which focuses on small areas and assumes the earth is flat.18.14. Geographic Information Systems (GIS). -- A collection of computer hardware and software tools used to enter, store, manipulate and display geographically referenced information. It integrates a wide variety of raster (image) and vector (point, line, and polygon) data and allows for sophisticated overlay and proximity analysis.18.15. Geographic Parcel Identification Number (GPIN). -- A unique number used to define a parcel centroid by its location on the surface of the earth.18.16. Georeference. -- The registration of a map, map layer or map feature to a real world coordinate system such as the West Virginia State Plane Coordinate System. This process is usually completed by referencing known coordinate locations on the ground to points on the map in the digital image or vector line map layer.18.17. Global Positioning Systems (GPS). -- A network of satellites that transmit signals allowing accurate location on the face of the Earth. The better the GPS receiver, the longer the time it occupies a position, and the more intensively data are processed and the more precisely the location is determined.18.18. Image File. -- A digital image, sometimes referred to as a raster file or raster image, consists of gridded columns and rows of cells called pixels. Types of gridded data include digital aerial photographs and satellite images. This data type contrasts with vector data, which is coordinate-based and describes points, lines, and areas. Example file formats: JPEG, TIFF, and MrSid.18.19. Index Map. -- A map of smaller scale on which are depicted the location and boundaries of the individual finished tax maps sheets in relation to major features (major highways, populated places, etc.) within the jurisdiction.18.20. Inset. -- A portion of a map that is enlarged in scale and shown on the same map.18.21. Insert. -- A portion of a map that is enlarged in scale and plotted on a new sheet.18.22. Integrated Assessment System (IAS). -- The CAMA system for West Virginia. It is an Oracle relational database maintained by the State Department of Revenue which centrally stores the statewide property tax appraisal and equity evaluation information.18.23. Legal Description. -- The abstract or shortened version of a more lengthy (as in a "metes and bounds" description) and often complex description within a conveyance document such as a deed. A legal description succinctly describes the property owner's parcel on the land book (tax roll). Examples of legal descriptions in a condensed fashion on the land book would be "Lot 10 Smith Addition" or "1.51 Acres Smith Mountain." Both examples would be more particularly shown on tax maps with parcel identifiers.18.24. Lot. -- A closed polygon feature representing a distinct portion or plot of land taxed under unique ownership.18.25. Metadata. -- Specific information about the mapping data including sources, scale, accuracy, currentness etc. usually collected in a separate document or record(s) attached to and supporting a digital data set or data set package.18.26. Metes and Bounds Descriptions, -- A legal description of a parcel of land which is a statement of a beginning point (an object on the ground or a known point of public record), directions (bearings), and lengths (distances) of the exterior boundaries of a parcel of land. It is the traverse used by surveyors in making a field survey of a parcel of land and is the only practical method of describing irregular parcels where no official map is officially recorded. Example: Beginning at a point in the southeast comer of the intersection of U.S. Route 119 and country road 20, thence along the south right-of-way line of country road 20 N. 70° 35' E. 208.71 feet to a point in the south right-of-way line of country road 20, thence S. 19° 25' E. 208.71 feet to a point, thence S. 70° 35' W. to a point in the east right-of-way line of U.S. Route 119, thence N. 19° 25' W. 208.71 to the beginning.18.27. Monument. -- A permanent physical structure marking the location of a survey point or boundary line. Common types of monuments are inscribed metal tablets set in concrete post, solid rock or parts of buildings; distinctive tone posts; and metal rods driven in the ground.18.28. National Map Accuracy Standards (NMAS). -- The level of allowable error of maps, as applied by National Map Accuracy Standards, is determined by comparing the positions of well-defined points whose locations or elevations are shown on the map with corresponding positions as determined by surveys of a higher accuracy.18.29. Orthophotographs. -- Aerial photos in which distortions such as terrain variations (hills and valleys) have been removed.18.30. Parcel. -- A contiguous area of land described in a single description in a deed. If more than one tract is described in a deed each separately described tract can be a parcel. Each separately described parcel should have a unique parcel identifier.18.31. Parcel Identification System. -- A parcel identification system provides a method for referencing land parcels, or data associated with parcels, using a number or code instead of a complete legal description. In West Virginia, two systems of location identifiers are utilized: map-based identifiers and geographic coordinate identifiers. A map-based system incorporates the map name (county, district, and map numbers) into the parcel identifier while the geographic coordinate system consists of x and y coordinates that correspond to the parcel centroid.18.32. Parcel Identifier. -- In West Virginia, the primary method for identifying unique parcels is by concatenating the county number, district number, map number, parcel number and suffix number, (for example 01-01-0001 0001.0001) which serves to reduce legal descriptions to a uniform and more manageable size and is as defensible as the original descriptions. Parcel identifiers make possible an efficient, coordinated property record system (such as the Integrated Assessment System) for office and field use.18.33. Parcel Centroid. -- The geographic center of a parcel used to uniquely identify a parcels map location. Many GIS software applications can automatically calculate a parcel centroid using the mathematical average of the minimum and maximum latitude (northing) and longitude (easting) of the vertices defining a parcel.18.34. Photogrammetry. -- The art and science of making measurements from aerial photographs; using stereo images, photogrammetrists can accurately trace elevation contours, roads, streams, and building footprints.18.35. Plat (Recorded Map) Descriptions. -- A picture of one or more parcels of land showing bearings and distances and ties to established points. Describing a parcel with a reference to a plat is more satisfactory for practical use than a narrative description. A narrative description must be plotted before it can be placed or incorporated into an existing map system. A recorded plat can be changed to the appropriate scale photographically or be traced easily allowing little chance for error and can be placed with ease in an existing map system. Parcels within recorded subdivision plats also allows for brief legal descriptions to be used on the land book (i.e. Lot 10 Smith Addition). One must view the map however for the particulars of the parcel (configuration, dimensions, area).18.36. Polygon. -- A representation of an areal feature, such as a parcel or a county.18.37. Projection. -- A mathematical formula that converts spherical coordinates of latitude and longitude to planar coordinates on a map. Map projections distort one or more of these spatial properties: distance, area, shape, direction.18.38. Property. -- A feature representing real property with a record in an assessor's database.18.39. Map Sheet Reference System. -- The map tiling scheme utilized by counties to reference finished tax map sheets. Typically county areas are subdivided into tax districts which in turn are subdivided into rectangular tiles. A number of arbitrary tiling schemes exist in West Virginia and are categorized as True Grid, Modified Grid, Random Grid, and Subset Grid. These different types of map sheet reference systems are identified by the various characteristics: map orientation, uniform tile size, and whether 1" = 400' and 1" = 100' scale index grids correlate with one another.18.40. Scan. -- The process of converting a hard copy document into a digital image file useable in a computer system. A scanned image can be registered to a geographic location on the ground through an additional process (georeferencing) for use in a GIS.18.41. Split. -- The division of a single parcel into multiple parcels. This can involve dividing two parcels into three, and so on.18.42. State Plane Coordinate Systems. -- A series of grid coordinate systems prepared by the National Geodetic Survey for the entire United States, with a separate system for each state. West Virginia's system is divided into a "North Zone" and a "South Zone" (W.Va. Code § 30-13A-17). The grid coordinates for each zone are based on, and mathematically adjusted to, a map projection. 18.42.a. North Zone. -- The following counties constitute the North Zone: Barbour, Berkeley, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pleasants, Preston, Ritchie, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Wetzel, Wirt and Wood.18.42.b. South Zone. -- The following counties constitute the South Zone: Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoim, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mason, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Roane, Summers, Upshur, Wayne, Webster and Wyoming.18.43. Topographic Maps. -- U.S. Geological Survey topographic quadrangle maps, showing elevations with contours. These are also called "topo maps" or "quad maps."18.44. Topology. -- Topology describes how geometric figures are related to each other. Topologically-structured GIS data have a considerable advantage over conventional CAD systems in that the parcels, for example, can be linked to external assessment databases, allowing the efficient and accurate analysis of parcel, ownership, and assessment information, as well analyze relationships of selected parcels to other cadastral and geographic features. In a geographic information system, parcel polygons shall have validated topology; that is, all parcel lines shall form closed polygons with no overlapping or sliver polygons, and the line work shall have no dangles, overshoots, or undershoots.18.45. Vector Files. -- Digital files of spatial data consisting of points, lines or polygons. Examples: ESRI Shapefiles or AutoCad DXF files. Click here to view Image
W. Va. Code R. § 189-3-18