Land Records Specialist

Description

This position is responsible for the overall implementation of the IN-REM Procedure for the collection of Chapter 75 of Wisconsin Statutes. This position will be responsible for marketing, mapping, sending parcel information to the auction company and make information publicly available of public sale. This position also will work with the Real Property Lister in the preparation of municipal assessment rolls, printing of tax bills and ownership changes RETR (Real Estate Transfer Returns) for the County maintenance of Bayfield County Land Records Modernization efforts. This position responsible with ownership changes for tax billing purposes. In addition, this position maintains the County Owned Land Inventory and assembles the annual GASB-34 Auditor Report for County-Owned Land and maintains the dog license inventory and prepares annual state-required dog license reports.

Examples of Duties

• IN-REM responsibilities include keeping track of (and/or) finding all taxpayers that are five years delinquent, preparation of legal notices and mailings as required by Wisconsin Statutes; Work closely with Corporation Counsel and the Treasurer’s Office; preparation of Court documents for tax foreclosure.
• Maintain file of County owned land sold or purchases made by the County.
• Maintain e-mail list of interested property buyers though Mailchimp or other means to notify owners up upcoming sale.
• Position prepares all data for submission to the Auction Company in order to sell foreclosed parcels
• Market parcels so they can be sold for the highest price
• Document and work with contractors for site cleanup
• Have utilities marked and mapped of properties
• Work with the County Surveyor to split or combine parcels
• Draft written communication to property owners, surveyors, attorneys, and others relating to problems with real property, such issues with easements, encroachments and or purchase of property to make conforming lots.
• Fly parcel site with UAS to gather images for sales and mapping
• Gather current sales and transfer information from Register of Deeds office or online version and facilitate changes in the NOVUS database
• Assist in issuing parcel numbers due to annexations, subdivision plats, condominiums, certified surveys, land division or any other land transfer.
• Update and maintenance of countywide digital database of all property information including new owner names, addresses, parcel numbers, legal descriptions, document information, assessment data, special district information, site addresses, survey information and personal property data.
• Acquire or use aerial data with UAS and map utilities of a parcel that is going to auction.
• Responsible for the collection and distribution of assessment and tax data and reports.  Communication with other departments, local officials, assessors, public and private agencies, and the State of Wisconsin is required.
• Serve as a liaison, for the county and state, to all municipal clerks, treasurers, and assessors.
• Keep current and assure compliance with legislative changes pertinent to property assessment and taxation.
• Provide quality control for deeds, Certified Surveys, plats of survey, condominiums and other forms of documentation originating from the Register of Deeds Office or other county departments as appropriate.
• Graphically represent all land divisions with ArcGIS Pro or ArcMap, certified surveys, plats, condos, vacations, annexations, and road changes on manual maps.
• Provide county-wide database information, including new ownership names, addresses, parcel numbers, legal descriptions, surveys, plats, condos and acreage to other departments, public and private businesses and agencies and the public in person, by telephone and via fax or internet.   Data will be provided verbally, with printed reports, digital database exchange format or by using the county’s enterprise geographic information system.
• Perform office administrative functions such as preparing customer receipts, invoices, and management of invoice payment.  Work with Department Head or other office staff in budget preparation and purchase order management within the county’s accounting system.
• Actively participate in the Wisconsin Real Property Listers Association and Wisconsin Land Information Association.
• Assists the Land Records Administrator with accounts payable vouchers and the submission of bi-weekly time sheets for the Land Records Department.
• Portions of the duties of this position may be accomplished remotely when meeting the requirements of the county telecommuting policy and as authorized by the Department Head.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from four (4) year accredited college in land survey, GIS, geography, computer science, environmental studies, or related field or
• Associate degree from two (2) year accredited vocational, college or technical school with GISP accreditation or GIS Certificate. Degree in GIS, Land Surveying, civil engineer technician or related field.
• Minimum of two (2) years’ experience working with ArcGIS in the functions of parcel mapping and/or editing GIS databases.
• Must have experience proof reading and writing a legal description.
• Must have experience with database entry and attention to detail.
• Prefer a minimum of one (1) year of related work experience in abstracting, parcel owner history research.
• Prefer a 107 UAS licensed pilot.
• Valid Driver License

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Strong knowledge of (Chapter 75 of Wisconsin Statutes) Land Sold for Taxes
• Knowledge of Assessment timelines.
• Hands-on knowledge of ArcGIS Pro.
• Knowledge of Title and Abstract Procedure
• Works with the Real property lister in inputting assessment data and calculate all mill rates, taxes, special charges, and assessments, omitted taxes and municipal ratios.
• Print and distribute all assessment notices and tax bills.
• Prepare the assessment and tax rolls for all municipalities and create and distribute digital assessment, tax, and work rolls for the WI Dept. of Revenue.
• Knowledge of parcel mapping in a software package such as ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro.
• Knowledge of surveying principles and practices as it relates to tax parcel maintenance and legal descriptions.
• Strong understanding of shapefiles, geodatabases, hosted feature services, and Google Earth KMZ/KML files
• Experience using ArcGIS Online including Survey123, Dashboards, Story Maps, Hub, Field Maps, and Collector
• Experience working with different coordinate systems, map projections, and datums
• Familiarity with standard cartographic methods, theories, and principles.
• Ability to independently manage multiple assignments, determine and set job task priorities, and work with limited direct supervision.
• Experience using Arcade expressions, Python, Model Builder, or another common GIS scripting language, as job duties will include creating scripts to streamline frequently performed tasks.
• Knowledge of basic cartographic and geographic information system methods.
• Expert knowledge of mathematics, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, ratios and area calculations.
• Ability to read, interpret and write real estate legal descriptions (rectangular survey) based on the Public Land Survey System
• Knowledge of methodologies and procedures for input and adjustment of complex legal descriptions into an existing tax parcel base.
• Ability to communicate effectively in oral and written format.
• Knowledge of office methods and practices including budgeting and general administration.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with co-workers, public and private agencies and the general public.
• Thorough understanding of the assessment and taxation process, from the municipal level to the state level.
• Strong parcel research capabilities to understand the history of a tract of land.
• Knowledge of personal computer operations, including Windows operating system, Microsoft Office (Teams, Word, Excel, Access, Outlook), Chrome, Land Records database such as NOVUS; document imaging software and ArcGIS software.