Visualize Data and Maps in Powerful, New Ways

FINDER Online is a visual dataset with Smart Points that allow you to interact with State property tax map and parcel information using your web browser. Subscribers can select from nine multi-jurisdiction regional views that allow interaction with all of the tax maps, parcel records and map overlays for the Maryland jurisdictions contained in a region.

Simple and easy-to-use search tools enable you to zoom in to an area of interest on a tax map, or for Baltimore City, on a detailed street map, and display your parcel records of interest. As you zoom in, full resolution color digital-ortho imagery appears and enables enhanced visualization of your zoomed-in area(s) of interest when used in conjunction with the FINDER Online tax maps.

You can save time and maximize your performance by using the FINDER Online Tools, a series of straightforward buttons and tabs that simplify the process of locating your target parcels and navigating the tax maps. Using the FINDER Online Tools, you can easily search for a property via parcel account number, street address, owner name or MAP and PARCEL number, then display and print a tax map, generate a report and/or verify the most current information about your target property on the Internet by linking to the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) Real Property website

See the Big Picture and Present Your Work Professionally

In no time at all, you can be working with Maryland parcel data geographically and seeing patterns you could not see before. FINDER Online Advanced Search can be used to refine your parcel search criteria − for example, using Advanced Search, you can generate an online  map showing the locations of properties in a given area that are residential, less than one-half acre in size, have an assessed value of the improvement greater than $100,000 and were built after 2000. And with a few additional clicks of the mouse, ZIP code boundary files, land use/land cover data, census geography and census demographic data, Priority Funding Area (PFA) designations, legislative and congressional district boundary files, flood plain data, generalized zoning designations, protected land boundaries and/or sewer service area boundaries can be added to the FINDER Online map display.

About FINDER Online Regions

Access to FINDER Online is purchased through an annual subscription. The price for a single-user license is $99 per region or $495 for the entire State. The FINDER Online regions are:

Region 1:   Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick counties

Region 2:   Frederick, Carroll, Montgomery and Howard counties

Region 3:   Montgomery, Howard, Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties

Region 4:   Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties

Region 5:   Carroll and Baltimore counties, Baltimore City, Howard and Anne Arundel counties

Region 6:   Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Harford, Cecil and Kent counties

Region 7:   Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline and Dorchester counties

Region 8:   Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester counties

Region 9:   Anne Arundel, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline

About FINDER Online Tax Maps

Tax maps, also known as assessment maps, property maps or parcel maps, are a graphic representation of real property showing and defining individual property boundaries in relationship to contiguous real property. The primary purpose of these maps is to help State tax assessors locate properties for assessments and taxation purposes. Tax maps are also used by federal, State and local government agencies as well as private sector firms for a variety of analyses and decision making processes.

See an Example of a Tax Map

The Property Mapping Section, part of MDP's Planning Data Services (PDS) division, is responsible for maintaining electronic tax maps for the 23 counties in Maryland. The State's 2800+ tax maps are maintained in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) environment and updated on an annual cycle using new property plats and deed changes obtained from the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT). These maps form the foundation for many of MDP's products and services, including FINDER Online.

The tax maps in FINDER Online are linked in an intelligent way to Parcel and Sale data obtained from SDAT. When these data are combined with the power of Online GIS, a broad spectrum of economic, public policy and commercial analyses become possible.

About FINDER Online Smart Points

A parcel record, also known as property, ownership or assessment record, is a comprehensive set of information about individual real property that incorporates parcel ownership and address information, parcel valuation information and basic information about land and structures associated with a parcel. In Maryland, the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) maintains individual parcel records for each of the 2.2 million parcels in the State that make up the FINDER Online Parcel dataset.

In FINDER Online, a series of green Smart Points represent the locations of all parcels in a region. These Smart Points link to records in the Parcel dataset and, among other information, contain the address, owner name, tax account number and map and parcel numbers necessary for your searches in FINDER Online. In addition to the green Smart Points for all parcels, FINDER Online includes a series of light blue Smart Points linked to detailed housing unit characteristics for properties with residential improvements.

Dark blue Sale Smart Points represent the most recent 12 months of sales and transfers of parcels. The dataset records associated with these points are refreshed by MDP every month.

What Comes with FINDER Online?

Each FINDER Online region includes the following Map and Data layers:

Maryland Tax Maps: electronic versions of the boundary location maps maintained by MDP. These maps are updated on an annual basis for Maryland's 2800+ parcels. In addition to viewing or printing tax maps with other GIS map layers from within FINDER Online, Subscribers can download B&W .tif format tax maps that include borders and legends - these files are the electronic equivalent of MDP’s color Paper Tax Maps.

Parcel Smart Points: parcels are represented by a series of green Smart Points linked to the locations of parcels on the tap maps for counties and on detailed street maps for Baltimore City.

Sale Smart Points: sales are represented by a series of blue Smart Points linked to a 12-month arms-length Sale dataset. A new 12-month file can be downloaded from our Subscriber Website each month.

CAMA Dataset: the Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) dataset, geographically linked to the green Parcel Smart Points described above, contains light blue Smart Points that link to detailed housing unit characteristics for properties with residential improvements.

Aerial Imagery: National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) 2007 .jpg format 1 meter full resolution color digital-ortho imagery.

Tax Map Grid: available for counties only (not for Baltimore City), the grid is an overlay that serves as a visual reference to tax maps covering a county.

County Boundary: a representation of the county or city border.

ADC^® Map Grid: an overlay that is a visual reference to county or city ADC map page numbers – assists you in zooming into an area when the ADC map page number is known (not available for Allegany, Garrett or Somerset counties). This layer is not the ADC map, just a grid that shows the extent of the pages in a given county or Baltimore City ADC map book.

Latest Maryland State Highway Administration Road Maps: the map set is comprised of a variety of current road maps that include all Interstate, State and public roads in a jurisdiction.

ZIP Code Boundaries: these boundaries are a representation of the latest ZIP code areas.

Land Use/Land Cover Data: latest land use/land cover classifications (currently 2002) for a county or Baltimore City. The data are classified using the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Anderson classification scheme.

Census Tract and Block Group Boundaries and Data: 1990 and 2000 census tract and block group boundaries and selected census small area attribute data.

Priority Funding Area (PFA) Designations: current boundaries for Priority Funding Areas (PFAs) defined and developed based on Maryland 1997 Smart Growth legislation. PFAs include areas designated by each jurisdiction consistent with the criteria set forth in the legislation.

2002 Legislative and Congressional District Boundaries: 2002 congressional and legislative district boundaries developed based on 2000 Census data.

Flood Plain Data: 100- and 500-year locations of 100- and 500-year floodplains based on the official FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM).

Generalized Zoning Designations: these designations are a general representation of each jurisdiction zoning category at a State scale. This map layer does not include jurisdiction detailed zoning types - instead this layer includes generalized zoning categories such as high-density, residential, commercial or industrial. Each jurisdiction is responsible for its own zoning. For more specific information on individual zoning districts, contact the Local Planning Office in your jurisdiction of interest.

Protected Lands Boundaries: these boundaries are a representation of lands preserved by various programs such as Federally-owned lands, lands owned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, county park lands, privately owned conservation lands, Maryland Environmental Trust easements and Maryland Department of Agriculture easements.

Sewer Service Boundaries: these boundaries are a representation of county sewer service areas.

Obtain Tax Maps in Electronic Format

FINDER Online also allows you to download and/or print full-size, or complete, tax maps. These tax maps are the electronic B&W  .tif version (no color detail) of the paper tax maps seen  in MDP’s MdProperty View and FINDER DVD products, in popular tax map directories available commercially and available for order from MDP under the Paper Tax Maps tab above.