Mower County offices that deal with land issues are adding 3D imaging to their slate of resources.

The county board voted 4-1 Tuesday with Commissioner Jerry Reinartz dissenting to approve spending a total $192,180 from land records funds from 2016 to 2023 for Pictometry, which provide 3D photos that can show a top down perspective and side of the structures for county workers to use for a variety of functions.

Recorder Jill Cordes said land records dollars has a limited number of possible uses based on state guidelines. Cordes said the funds are mainly targeted for technology to help smaller counties remain caught up with larger counties. The funds can’t used for daily uses like remodeling or salaries, unless it’s for a special project.

“I think it’s a good use of the money,” Cordes said.

However, Reinartz was staunch in his opposition to Pictometry, arguing it’s too much to pay for a service he wasn’t convinced is necessary. He also voiced fear that if the funds from the land records fund ever ran short, county levy dollars would be used to make up the difference.

However, Cordes and Assessor Joy Kanne said they could simply discontinue the service if that were ever the case.

Kanne’s office would likely benefit the most, but the service would be utilized by Environmental Services Director Angie Knish as well, and the Mower County Sheriff’s Office and other offices from time to time.

For Kanne and Cordes, a big part of Pictometry is keeping up with the times. Many other counties have added Pictometry already and the trend seems to be going heavily toward technology, and she voiced fear that the county could fall behind on new technology and have to pay more to get caught up later.

“The wave of the future is this, it’s just like the iPad and every other sort of technology,” Kanne said. “This is the future. If we don’t do it now, we don’t want to be in a position where we’re using GoogleEarth as our best images. We can’t be in that position.”

Various county offices came together and identified Pictometry as a need a few years ago, when they were using GoogleEarth images — some as old as eight years old — as their best images available for their growing geographic image system (GIS) uses.

But Reinartz, a retired assessor, argued the county has gotten by without this technology to date, and he urged that assessments still need to be done on the ground by trained individuals.

Kanne noted the technology would do helpful things, like recognizing new structures and building additions, but wouldn’t be a catch-all.

“Is it going to do our job for us? No,” Kanne said. “Is it an amazing tool in our toolbox? Yes.”

Kanne said technology is gaining momentum in the field, as is Pictometry and digital imaging.

“The future is moving this way in our profession,” she said.

“If we don’t keep up with it, then we are at a disadvantage,” she added.

Still, Reinartz also argued the service would be obsolete the year after a flyover because the maps will be outdated.

“This to me is just too expensive for what it’s going to benefit everybody,” Reinartz said.

Reinartz said he’d like to see other options for ways to utilize the funds; however, county employees said their options are very limited.

The county also uses Orthos, which are aerial photos of the county that are able to accurately measure boundaries and accurately show structures.

Orthos is taken from a straight down view only, while Pictometry is a 3D photo that can show a top down perspective and the sides of the structures.

The county will likely blend its Orthos and Pictometry services. The county is planning to do fly overs every two years. It will start with an Orthos flyover before doing a Pictometry one two years later. It would do Orthos again two years later, so Pictometry flights would be about four years apart.

Counties seeing more growth and property changes often do Pictometry flights every two years.

The land records fund receives money through two fees paid in the Mower County Recorder’s office when documents are recorded. One is for technology improvements such as computers and new software, along with special projects to get the records caught up and/or digitized in the Recorder’s office. The other, the land records fund, can be used for technology improvements in offices that work with land records, including the Recorder’s Office, the Assessor’s Office, the Auditor/Treasurer’s office, and planning and zoning.