History
Logan County began developing its GIS in 2000. At that time, a GIS fund was established with revenues from a fee charged by the County Recorder. This GIS fund is to be used solely for equipment, materials, and necessary expenses incurred in implementing and maintaining a GIS in Logan County.
The first project of the Logan County GIS was to assist the Natural Resources Conservation Service with the soil overlay digitization project. This was funded over several years and is now completed.
The Supervisor of Assessments was notified of a new method of determining farmland assessments based on soil types. This is known as Bulletin 810. In order for Logan County to be compliant, aerial photography and digital parcel maps were needed.
In 2004, Logan County had aerial photography taken of the entire county. This was primarily done with a grant from Illinois Department of Transportation. These aerial photographs were ortho-rectified to ensure that they were accurately depicting the dimensions on the ground. (Think of laying a flat map on a curved globe.)
By this time, Logan County realized that a committee needed to be established to keep track of the increasing complexity of GIS related issues. In November of 2005, the GIS Committee was established by the Logan County Board. This committee is comprised of Logan County office holders and municipal representatives, as well as representatives from Regional Planning, Emergency Management, NRCS, and Economic Development. The GIS committee provides recommendations to the Finance Committee for GIS expenditures.
In May of 2006, a contract was signed to begin the parcel mapping process. All of the land records from Logan County were analyzed to create a digital parcel map. This is a highly accurate plat book, where each parcel is linked to the appropriate database showing more available data.
Several other layers have been developed for public use, such as a roadway centerlines and a general county map. These basic framework layers will provide the basis for GIS in Logan County. From this, many other layers can be developed and overlaid on the framework layers. These base framework layers will be periodically updated through the GIS fund and will be available to the public.
In 2009, Logan County launched an internet mapping application to make the GIS data available for viewing by the general public. This computer application was developed by Tri-County Regional Planning Commission located in Peoria, Illinois. Users are able to view the base framework layers of Logan County’s GIS from their personal computers. Because GIS is constantly changing, more layers will be made available via the internet mapping application as they are developed.