NATIONAL CADASTER

ALTHOUGH THE FISCAL CADASTER SURVEY IS PROGRESSING SATISFACTORILY AND TAX REVENUE TARGETS ARE BEING MET, THE PROJECT PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL CADASTER SYSTEM WILL NOT BE MET WITHIN THE REMAINING 8 MONTHS OF THE PROJECT. SHORTCOMINGS HAVE BEEN 1) THE LACK OF COORDINATION AMONG THE VARIOUS ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT; 2) THE INEFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMPUTER CENTER"S SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND PROGRAMING STAFF; AND 3) THE FAILURE OF THE ORIGINAL PROJECT DESIGN TO DEVELOP SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT MORE EFFECTIVE AUDIT AND TAX COLLECTION FUNCTIONS. ALTHOUGH THE FISCAL CADASTER DEPARTMENT IS OPERATING AT 112 PEOPLE BELOW THEIR AUTHORIZED CEILING, IT IS PERFORMING AS PLANNED AND IS THE STRONGEST LINK IN THE NATIONAL CADASTER OPERATION. 194 PEOPLE WERE TRAINED IN VALUATION PROCESSES. THE DEPARTMENT PREPARED MASS VALUATION PROCEDURE MANUALS INCLUDING A)A COST MANUAL, B)INSTRUCTIONS FOR LAND CHARACTER CLASSIFICATION, C)UNIT LAND VALUE INVESTIGATION PROCEDURES, D)CALCULATION PROCESSES, AND E)ARCHIVE CONTROL AND REPORTING PROCEDURES. 40% OF THE LAND HAS BEEN APPRAISED. APPRAISAL OF PROPERTY IS DELAYED BECAUSE THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE, WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PRODUCING THE NECESSARY MAPS, IS WORKING TOO SLOWLY. WESTRICK AND ASSOCIATES FAILED IN ITS CONTRACT TO DESIGN A DATA SYSTEM WHICH WOULD PERMIT EFFICIENT USE OF CADASTRAL DATA BY THE TAX OFFICE. A NEW COMPUTER WAS BEING INSTALLED AT THE TIME THE ANALYST WAS TRYING TO DESCRIBE THE EXISTING SYSTEM. AS A RESULT, THE PROGRAMMER PROVIDED LATER WAS UNABLE TO DO HIS JOB. DUE TO LACK OF EXPERIENCE AND POOR MORALE OF COMPUTER PERSONNEL, IT WILL TAKE TWO YEARS TO DEVELOP EFFICIENT PROGRAMS AND EFFORT-FREE CURRENT RECORDS ESSENTIAL TO THE CADASTRAL OPERATION AND BETTER TAX ADMINISTRATION. ADDITIONAL ADVISORY ASSISTANCE WILL BE REQUIRED TO A)FULLY CONVERT THE FISCAL CADASTER DEPARTMENT INTO A MASS APPRAISAL SYSTEM CAPABLE OF RAPIDLY COMPLETING THE INITIAL CADASTER SURVEY; B)CHANGE THE INITIAL CADASTRAL OPERATION INTO A MAINTENANCE OPERATION; C)IMPROVE THE COMPUTER OPERATION; AND D)DEVELOP A VIABLE TAX AUDIT SYSTEM.