Metadata for Montana Parcels Map Service (Web Mercator) Metadata for Montana Parcels Map Service (Web Mercator)

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Identification Information:

Citation:

Originator: Montana State Library
Originator: Montana Department of Revenue
Originator: Flathead County
Originator: Missoula County
Originator: Ravalli County
Originator: Silver Bow County
Originator: Yellowstone County
Publication date: 09/18/2025
Title: Montana Parcels Map Service (Web Mercator)
Online linkage: https://gisservicemt.gov/ArcGIS/rest/services/MSDI_Framework/Parcels/MapServer

Abstract:

The Montana Cadastral Framework shows the taxable parcels and tax-exempt parcels for most of Montana. The parcels contain selected information such as owner names, property and owner addresses, assessed value, agricultural use, and tax district information that were copied from the Montana Department of Revenue's ORION tax appraisal database. The data are maintained by the MT Department of Revenue, except for Ravalli, Silver Bow, Missoula, Flathead and Yellowstone counties that are maintained by the individual counties. The Revenue and county data are integrated by Montana State Library staff. Each parcel contains an attribute called ParcelID (geocode) that is the parcel identifier. Large areas of public land in Flathead County are missing from the data.

The parcel boundaries were aligned to fit with the Bureau of Land Management Geographic Coordinate Database (GCDB) of public land survey coordinates. Parcels whose legal descriptions consisted of aliquot parts of the public land survey system were created from the GCDB coordinates by selecting and, when necessary, subdividing public land survey entities. Other parcels were digitized from paper maps and the data from each map were transformed to fit with the appropriate GCDB boundaries.

Purpose:

Land ownership information that is tied to the MT Department of Revenue's ORION database and available for a variety of mapping and query purposes.

Time period of content:

Calendar date: 09/18/2025
Currentness reference: publication date

Status:

Progress: In work
Maintenance and update frequency: Continually

Access constraints: None

Use constraints:

State law (Montana Code Annotated 2-6-1017) prohibits anyone from using a list of persons prepared by a public agency as a distribution list without first securing the permission of those on the list. A person violating the provisions of subsection (1)(b) is guilty of a misdemeanor. These data do not constitute a legal survey. Inaccuracies exist with both the parcel boundaries and the attribute data; when seeking the definitive description of real property, consult the deed recorded at the local county courthouse. The Montana State Library provides this product/service for informational purposes only. The Library did not produce it for, nor is it suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Consumers of this information should review or consult the primary data and information sources to ascertain the viability of the information for their purposes. The Library provides these data in good faith but does not represent or warrant its accuracy, adequacy, or completeness. In no event shall the Library be liable for any incorrect results or analysis; any direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages to any party; or any lost profits arising out of or in connection with the use or the inability to use the data or the services provided. The Library makes these data and services available as a convenience to the public, and for no other purpose. The Library reserves the right to change or revise published data and/or services at any time.

Point of contact:

Montana State Library
P.O. Box 201800
Helena, Montana 59620
Telephone: 406-444-5354
TDD/TTY telephone: Montana Relay 711
Fax: 406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov
Contact instructions: e-mail contact is preferred

Data set credit:

The data were made possible by a public/private partnership including the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, several state agencies, local governments, The Montana Power Company, Montana/Dakota Utilities, and Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad. Most data are being maintained by staff of the Montana Department of Revenue (DOR).

Data Quality Information:

Attribute accuracy report:

Attributes were complete when returned to ISD from vendor (see data creation process in process steps). We can not verify that these attributes will remain complete when the data is in maintenance.

Logical consistency report: Databases checked for standardization

Completeness report:

There are known unresolved parcels in some townships. As township level metadata becomes available these known omissions will be documented. Until then the data should be considered 99 percent complete.

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Report:

Please refer to the GCDB reference in the abstract. The data can't be more accurate than the GCDB township from which it was developed. Positional accuracy of GCDB townships vary based on the number and quality of surveys and control points. To find the positional accuracy of a GCDB township, one can download the file from their website and examine the .pgc file.

Lineage:

Source information:

Originator: MT Department of Revenue
Title: MT Department of Revenue Orion (CAMA) data
Type of source media: None

Process step:

This is the process used in most counties. Some counties had existing data and different processes were followed. Contact Missoula, Yellowstone, Butte-Silver Bow, Gallatin, Ravalli, Lake or Cascade for information on the processes used by those counties. A small percentage of Montana's are subdivided, leaving a large percentage of land in aliquot parts. Because aliquot parts are a mathematical subdivision of larger parcels into smaller equally-sized smaller parcels it is possible to possible to create ownership parcels in an automated manner, if the supporting data exists. Two pieces of information are required create aliquot part parcels: 1) legal land descriptions defining the aliquot parts to plot and 2) framework of coordinates defining the public land survey. Both pieces of information exist, for most of the State of Montana, in a digital format. These existing databases are the Montana Department of Revenue Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal System (CAMA) database and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Geographic Coordinate Data Base (GCDB). CAMA is a database of all taxable (and some tax-exempt) lands in the State of Montana. It has four 30-character text fields for legal land descriptions of property. The GCDB holds locational information (x/y coordinates) of all section, quarter section, and quarter-quarter section corners, by township. Integrating the above two databases to produce digital land ownership parcels requires custom written software. This suite of programs, called the Montana Automated Parcel Program (MAPP), is the backbone of the Project. Vendors on contract with the cadastral project filled in unmapped areas, or 'holes', which remain in a township after running MAPP. These 'holes' are filled after field research at county courthouses which yields information about deeds, certificates of survey, and paper maps. Vendors also use a file generated by MAPP listing all parcels from the CAMA database not mapped during the automated process. General Process: -- Download GCDB -- Download DOR CAMA file -- Process aliquot parts using MAPP software -- Proof maps -- Identify missing parcels -- Send missing parcels to vendor -- Vendor researches missing parcels -- Vendor converts missing parcels -- qa/qc -- database checked for consistency -- identify unresolved parcels -- if under 5% all parcels to convert vendor work done -- DOR researched unresolved parcels -- DOR or GIS Bureau converts remaining unresolved parcels

Process date: not complete

Process contact:

Montana State Library
Montana State Library
Telephone: 406-444-5354
Fax: 406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov

Spatial Data Organization Information:

Point and vector object information:

SDTS object type: GT-polygon composed of chains

SDTS object count: 937257

Spatial Reference Information:

Horizontal coordinate system definition:

Map projection:

Map projection name: WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere
Map projection parameters:

Planar distance units: meter

Geodetic model:

Horizontal datum name: D WGS 1984
Ellipsoid name: WGS 1984
Semi-major axis: 6378137.0
Denominator of flattening ratio: 298.257223563

Entity and Attribute Information:

Entity type label: OwnerParcel

Entity type definition:

Taxable land parcel as defined by MT. Dept. of Revenue and the Counties

Attribute label: NonQualAcres

Attribute definition:: Land under one ownership that falls into the acreage range of 2-160 acres for which no agricultural application has been approved. A grade of N is required

Attribute label: Range

Attribute definition: Township range (E or W) that the property is located in

Attribute label: AssessmentCode

Attribute definition: Code assigned to property linking it to an assessment notice

Attribute label: TaxYear

Attribute definition: Tax year for which information is relevant

Attribute label: Shape

Attribute definition: Feature geometry.
Attribute domain: Coordinates defining the features.

Attribute label: GISAcres

Attribute definition: Software Calculated Acreage

Attribute label: PropertyID

Attribute definition: ORION database unique property ID number

Attribute label: OBJECTID

Attribute definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute domain:: Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute label: Shape_Length

Attribute definition: Length of feature in internal units.
Attribute domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute label: OwnerName

Attribute definition: This is the name of the parcel owner

Attribute label: TotalValue

Attribute definition: Total land reappraisal value

Attribute label: TotalLandValue

Attribute definition: Total land reappraisal value

Attribute label: IrrigatedAcres

Attribute definition:: Acres of the parcel that are irrigated the majority of the time

Attribute label: CareOfTaxpayer

Attribute definition:: The Care-of taxpayer's Name is the name of the person to whom correspondence from the system will normally be sent, if different from the owner name

Attribute label: OwnerZipCode

Attribute definition:: The Zip Code of the taxpayer's mailing address. If the owner's mailing address is outside of the United States, will be "00000"

Attribute label: OwnerState

Attribute definition:: The two-character abbreviation of the state of the taxpayer's mailing address

Attribute label: OwnerCity

Attribute definition: name of the city or town of the taxpayer's mailing address

Attribute label: OwnerAddress2

Attribute definition: Second line of the taxpayer's mailing address

Attribute label: AddressLine2

Attribute definition: Parcel Street Address, second line

Attribute label: FarmsiteAcres

Attribute definition:: Acres of the parcel considered to be 1 acre of land beneath improvements on agricultural land, usually the area around the dwelling

Attribute label: PropType

Attribute definition: Property type

Attribute label: LevyDistrict

Attribute definition: County Levy District Number

Attribute label: PropAccess

Attribute definition:: List of codes for type of road or other access to the property

Attribute label: Section

Attribute definition: section number that the property is located in

Attribute label: TotalBuildingValue

Attribute definition: Total reappraisal value of buildings and improvements

Attribute label: WildHayAcres

Attribute definition:: Acres of the parcel where either native grass or alfalfa is cut a majority of years for hay

Attribute label: OwnerAddress3

Attribute definition:: Third line of the taxpayer's mailing address. This is frequently the city and province for international addresses

Attribute label: ForestAcres

Attribute definition:: Acres of the parcel in forest land exceeding 15 contiguous acres that is capable of producing timber that can be harvested in commercial quantity

Attribute label: FallowAcres

Attribute definition:: Acres of the parcel where the accepted practice is to crop one year followed by a year of summer fallow

Attribute label: ContinuousCropAcres

Attribute definition:: Continuously Cropped - Acres of the parcel where the accepted practice is cropping at least 3 out of 4 years

Attribute label: CertificateOfSurvey

Attribute definition: Certificate of Survey Number

Attribute label: LegalDescriptionShort

Attribute definition:: The legal description of the parcel as found in the deed describing the parcel, especially if no Subdivision or Section, Township, Range is entered.

Attribute label: Township

Attribute definition: Township (N or S) that the property is located in

Attribute label: COUNTYCD

Attribute definition: county code

Attribute label: PARCELID

Attribute definition: Feature Parcel identifier number (geocode)

Attribute label: Shape_Area

Attribute definition: Area of feature in internal units squared.
Attribute domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute label: TotalAcres

Attribute definition:: Total acres of the parcel. In some areas this is filled out only for parcels that have agricultural acreage listed

Attribute label: OwnerAddress1

Attribute definition:: The house or building number, street name, and apartment or unit number, if applicable, of the taxpayer's mailing address

Attribute label: AddressLine1

Attribute definition: Parcel Street Address, first line

Attribute label: Subdivision

Attribute definition: Addition or Subdivision in which the parcel is located

Attribute label: CityStateZip

Attribute definition: City, State and Zip Code of Parcel Address

Attribute label: GrazingAcres

Attribute definition:: Acres of the parcel in native range or domestic range which are used to support livestock

Entity and attribute overview:

base attributes of taxable land parcels created during conversion. You may encounter other attributes but that means they have been added by the maintainer and were not part of the original data.

Distribution Information:

Distributor:

Montana State Library
P.O. Box 201800
Helena, MT 59620
Telephone: 406-444-5354
TDD/TTY telephone: Montana Relay 711
Fax: 406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov

Resource description: Live Data and Maps

Distribution liability:

This data is a cooperative effort between the Montana State Libary and the Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) other state agencies, local, governments, USDI BLM and private enterprise. The MSL provides mapped cadastral data, Web development, deployment, and enhancements. The DOR provides maintenance as well as CAMA data relating to the mapped cadastral data. Neither the MSL nor any associated partner, nor their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, including the fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. In layman's terms: the data not constitute a legal survey; inaccuracies exist with both the mapped data and the CAMA data; when seeking the definitive description of real property, consult the deed recorded at the local county courthouse. State law ( Montana Code Annotated 2-6-109 (1)(a) ) explicitly prohibits State agencies from selling or distributing a list of persons to be used as a mailing list without first securing the permission of those on the list. State law ( MCA 2-6-109 (1)(b) ) also explicitly prohibits anyone from using a list of persons prepared by a state agency as a mailing list without first securing the permission of those on the list. "A person violating the provisions of subsection (1)(b) is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Metadata Reference Information:

Metadata date: 09/18/2025

Metadata contact:

Montana State Library
PO Box 201800
Helena, MT 59620-1800
Telephone: 406-444-5354
TDD/TTY telephone: Montana Relay 711
Fax: 406-444-0266
E-Mail: geoinfo@mt.gov