All Posts By

Justin Falconer

Land Use: To farm, or not to Farm – that is the question!

Understanding soil quality, so that you can best plan the locations of future developments, is key to optimally growing your taxable base. MuniSight has the technology to help you better understand where to build, and where to preserve the best farmland!

The map below highlights optimal farming conditions, based on using Digitized Farmland Polygons, the Canadian Land Inventory (CLI) information, and assessment classifications, with the darker green signifying the better areas for farming.

Using queries, we can identify parcels based on certain land rating criteria that match the guidelines, or targets, that the municipality has set.  The advantage of using a GIS software to query this information is that you are able to make changes to the criteria and immediately see the resulting information.   Below show the results of three different criteria.  In these examples the client wanted to identify parcels with a certain percentage of “good” farmland.  The soil productivity calculation was based on the assessment information.

 In this example it was decided that Criteria 1 best identified the farmland that should remain agriculture.  Our client then compared this information with current development in the area and were able to put forth a recommendation to council for land use changes that best suited the ratepayers and the land.  The parcels highlighted in orange were recommended to change from Agriculture to Limited Development (i.e. Residential).

If you are interested in learning how we can help you with your future land use, please contact our Support Team!

Death and Taxes – MuniSight has you covered!

It has often been said that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. With this fact in mind, MuniSight has built a cemetery module that can be paired with integration to your Tax Systems!

One of the first and most well-known integrations in MuniSight ES is with our client’s tax systems, but did you know we also have a Cemetery Module?  This module allows selected users to maintain burial information, including reservations and occupancy right in ES.

We can bring in existing plot locations or, depending on the current format of the information, help with the digitizing of the plots.  Once the plots have been created, burial attributes can be added and customized to suit your needs. Also, pictures (i.e. Headstones) can be linked to the plot.

Our Cemetery search currently allows users to search by Burial Name, Burial Year & Cemetery Legal, allowing users to quickly access information.

Are you already using Bellamy or Diamond’s Cemetery module?  No problem, integration has already been created to bring the information into MuniSight ES.  Just give us a call and we will set it up for you.

Contact our all-star support team to learn more!

Impress your rate-payers with a Public Site!

Sometimes it is OK to show off your Municipality! MuniSight ES’s Public Portal allows you to give public access to your rate-payers, and anyone else who may be interested in learning about your Municipality!

In this age of information people expect to access information quickly, easily and at any time of day.  Public MuniSight ES Sites allow our client partners to provide selected information securely to public users.  All information included is at the discretion of the individual client.  Most choose to include information such as Assessment, Zoning, Development Permits, Air Photos, etc.  Allowing the public to access this data via ES not only frees up front desk staff, but allows people to access the information outside of business hours.

The demand for this information is high.  Many of our clients are seeing public usage of their sites at over 50%.  Ratepayers, Realtors, Lawyers, Developers are all eager to have access to this information available to them.

Announcing MuniSight!

SHERWOOD PARK, AB, May 4, 2017 / – Accurate Assessment Group Ltd. (“AAG”) announces the formation of MuniSight Ltd. (“MuniSight”), and appoints Quinten Griffiths as President.

MuniSight develops software, and delivers services, to help government Institutions manage their jurisdictions. Its flagship GIS integration software has helped the company gain recognition as a leader in their field, especially in their home Province of Alberta. MuniSight has been operating as a division of AAG for the past 15 years.

The President of AAG, Greg Berger, founded MuniSight to help municipalities manage operations with the use of spatial information. Since the Company’s inception, MuniSight has grown to service over 50 government institutions including Municipal Districts and Counties, as well as Towns and Cities.

“We view this transition as a key piece of our continued journey to deliver positive outcomes to our client partners”, said Greg Berger. “The transition to MuniSight, and the addition of Quinten Griffiths, will bring significant resources and expertise to our organization which will help us deliver sustainable value to our client partners.”

Griffiths received his Chemical Engineering designation from Queen’s University in Kingston, an MBA designation from INSEAD in France, and is registered as a Professional Engineer in Alberta. Prior to MuniSight, Quinten founded and operated a lower mid-market private equity firm, and also worked with Royal Dutch Shell as an engineer where he acted as a technical lead for day-to-day refinery operations and supported the start-up of a major refining unit.

“This is the right time to transition MuniSight into a stand-alone company, and I am very excited to be joining the team,” said Griffiths. “Over the past 15 years, MuniSight has consistently delivered significant value to government institutions across the province. As an Albertan, I look forward to bringing our solution to various levels of governments in Alberta and North America, while continuing to build a strong technology company right here in Sherwood Park.”

Under Griffiths, MuniSight will continue to deliver software and services to help government institutions achieve their goal of delivering more value to their rate payers and constituents.

For further information: For media inquires: Accurate Assessment Group Ltd., Joan Scott, +1-780-464-4655, joan@aag-gis.com