The county will soon be able to look at itself very differently.

A new geographical information system, or GIS, the county has been working on for months recently completed a big step.

Among other things, the system replaces old paper tax maps with a computerized version.

A company hired by the county recently finished translating the paper maps into electronic ones. Then, they superimposed the maps on aerial photographs of the same plots, making a much more accurate and easy-to-read map, Tax Assessor Reynolds Atkins said.

“These things are so far advanced, it’s unreal,” Atkins said. “We’re not just using some archaic method of evaluating property.”

The new GIS will replace the old “blue line” paper maps in evaluating property, Atkins said. It’s more accurate and more detailed, allowing him to see buildings he couldn’t before.

The system has other uses, too, Atkins said. From locating an emergency to finding fire hydrants, the electronic GIS will make things easier, he said.

“I like to think of GIS as smart maps,” Adams County GIS project manager Peter Dale said.

“It combines computers, databases, maps, planning and development. It’s designed to help local government make decisions.”

An added benefit the system provides is a tool for businesses looking at the area.

“One of the things we’re going to do is have a Web site where you’ll be able to pull up all of this remotely,” Dale said. “A business prospect from Florida could pull it up on the Web.”

Another use of the system is in law enforcement.

It provides a 911 addressing system, pointing out where an emergency is happening and the best way to get there, Dale said.

“Before, it was kind of a glorified caller ID at dispatch,” he said.

“Now, you can see the streets and look at the best routes.”

Smart Data Strategies, or SDS, translated the paper maps to electronic, about 19,000 parcels of land, said spokesman Billy Burle.

“It’s going to make things a lot easier,” Burles aid.

“If you have 400 tax maps, then you’ve got a separate database of who owns them. You have to match the two, and it takes a long time. (The GIS) means a more accurate assessment. They can do things they couldn’t do before in a paper world.”

The county’s GIS project will hopefully be finished sometime in the next few months, Atkins said.