The map contains layers for
corporate boundaries, streams, road centerlines, road names, railroads,
buildings, house numbers, real estate parcels, conservation easements, national
forest boundaries, voter precincts, and points of interest. Layers are designed
to come on and off at various scales. For example buildings are only visible
when zoomed in very close. Layers may be turned on or off in the layer list on
the right hand side of the page (see the  Toggle
between legend and layer list tool button description to turn on the layer
list) but the scaling may not be changed. Remember to click on the Refresh Map
button after making any changes.
The left side of the page contains
the tool button list. The tool buttons allow the user to do various things such
as zooming, panning, and searching. By placing the mouse cursor over the tool
button and hovering over the button for a second the name for the button will
appear on the screen. For a more complete description of each button see Tool
Button Descriptions below.
The map displays all mapped parcels
within Montgomery County and the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
Certain parcels, such as but not limited to mineral-rights-only properties or
leasehold properties that are not mapped cannot be viewed using this site. (The
tax map number for not mapped properties begins with three nines – 999.) .
Basic Database Information
Information shown is from the Montgomery County real estate database. Generally, the data
shown reflects deeded ownership approximately three months prior to today’s
date. In other words the database is updated approximately three months after a
deed is recorded in the Clerk’s Office. (The parcel layer must be set to
active before the database can be searched. See Searching/Querying below
for an explanation of how to set the parcel layer to active.) The database
displays the following fields:
| Field name |
Description |
PARCEL_ID | Contains the six-digit
identification number that appears in a box called Parcel Code near the top of
the tax ticket |
| TAX_MAP_NO | Tax map number for the parcel. |
| OWNER_NAM | The owner's name that appears on the
property record |
| SITE_ADD | This is the property address
not owners mailing address. Only one address is shown per parcel. |
| MAIL_ADD | Mailing address street number and street name |
| MAIL_CITY | Mailing address city name |
| MAIL_STATE | Mailing address state name |
| MAIL_ZIP | Mailing address zip code |
| ACRES | Deeded acreage |
| LEGAL1 | First
line of the legal description. This may be the subdivision name or an area or
feature of the county a parcel lies near. The legal description is usually
taken from the property deed. |
| LEGAL2 | Second line of the legal description. |
| SUBDIV_NAM | Subdivision name |
| SUBDIV_NUM | Abbreviation for the subdivision name |
| SUBDIV_LOT | Subdivision lot number |
| SUBDIV_BLK | Subdivision section, phase, or block number |
| PLATBK_PG | Plat book and page number where the property survey is recorded |
| DEEDBOOK | Deed book number |
| DEEDPAGE | Deed book page number |
| TAXDIST | Tax district |
| LAND_VALUE | Value of the land only. |
| BLDG_VALUE | Value of buildings and improvements only. |
| TOTAL_VALUE | Total value – land and buildings |
| LANDUSE_VA | Special assessed value for properties in the LandUse program |
| ZONING | The major zoning for the parcel |
| NEIGHBORHD | Neighborhood codes for the assessment neighborhoods |
| SALE_DATE | Last sales date associated with the parcel. |
| SALE_PRICE | Last sales price associated with the parcel. |
| STORIES | Number of building stories for the primary residential building |
| YEARBLT | Approximate year the primary residential building was built |
| ROOMS | Total number of rooms in the primary residential building |
| BEDROOMS | Number of bedrooms in the primary residential building |
| FULLBATHS | Number of full bathrooms in the primary residential building |
| HALFBATHS | Number of half baths in the primary residential building |
| MGFA | Square footage of the
primary residential building main ground floor living area |
| SFLA | Total square footage
of the primary residential building |
| COMMYRBLT | Approximate year the primary
commercial building was built |
| BUS_NAME | Business name associated with the
primary commercial building. |
Tool Button Descriptions
The tool
buttons appear on the left side of the screen. To activate a tool use your
mouse to single left click on the button and then move the cursor to the area
of the map that you want to perform the operation on and click on it.
| Tool |
Description |
|
Toggles
between legend and layer list | Toggles between the legend and layer list
that appears on the right side of the screen. The legend shows the symbology
used on the map. The layer list allows you to turn layers on and off and to
choose the active layer. Remember to click on Refresh Map after making any
changes. |
 |
Zoom in | Zooms in to the area of the map that the user clicks on or drags a box
around. |
 |
Zoom out | Zooms out from the area of the map that the user clicks on or drags a box
around. |
 | Zoom to
full extent | Zooms to the full extent of the map. |
 | Zoom to
active layer | Zooms to the full extent of the active layer. |
 | Back to
last extent | Zooms to the last extent. Inactive until the user has changed
extents. |
 | Pan
| Pans the display in the direction the user drags the mouse pointer. Click on
the screen and while holding mouse button down drag the screen around. |
 | Identify
| Displays the database associated with the parcel clicked on by the user. The
parcel layer must be active for this to work. Use this tool to discover the
owner's name, assessments, and etc. for properties when you don’t know the
parcel ID or owner's name. |
 | Search
| Searches for features based on stored queries. Use this tool to search for a
parcel when you know the parcel ID. The parcel layer must be active for this to
work. |
 | Find
| Finds map features with an attribute value matching a user-specified value.
Use this tool to search for a parcel when you know the owner's name or property
address. The parcel layer must be active for this to work and text strings must
be entered in all capital letters because searches are case sensitive. |
 | Measure
| Measures distances on the map in feet. Measurement is shown in the upper left
corner. |
 | Buffer
| reates a buffer zone around a feature or features |
 | Select
by rectangle | Selects a group of features in contact with a rectangle the
user draws on the map |
 | Select
by line/polygon | Selects the group of features contained by or in contact
with a graphic the user draws on the map. |
 | Clear
selection | Clears the current selection. |
 | Print
| Creates a print page that displays the current view, scale bar, directional,
legend, and inset map. |
Searching/Querying – How to Find My Property
Properties may be located in several ways. The most direct way to search for a property is
by using the parcel ID. Users may also search by owner's name, street name, or
by zooming and/or panning around the map until the property being searched for
is found.
It is important to remember to
set the parcel layer to active before doing any searches. To make the
parcel layer active first make sure that the layer list appears on the right
side of the page. If it does not use the Toggle between legend and layer
list tool button to turn on the layer list. Set the parcel layer to active
by clicking on the active button next to REAL ESTATE PARCELS in the layer list.
Search by PARCEL ID – On the tax ticket
mailed to all property owners is a five-digit number called the parcel code.
This number is also referred to as the parcel ID. On the tool button list on
the left side of the page single click the Search
button. At the bottom of the page next to "Real Estate Parcels" make sure that
"Find Parcel by Parcel ID" appears. If it does not click on the down arrow and
choose "Find Parcel by Parcel ID" from the list or type it in. In the box next
to "Value" type in the parcel ID (leading zeros must be added to make this a
six-digit number). Then click Execute. The data associated with that parcel
appears at the bottom of the map. To zoom to the parcel on the map single click
the underlined number in the Rec column of the database at the far left.
Alternatively, a parcel may be located by using
the Find tool.
As mentioned previously, make sure the parcel layer is set to
active. The Find tool searches all fields in the database for text
strings that the user enters. On the tool button list on the left side of the
page single click the Find button, at the bottom of the page where it
says "Enter String to Find in Real Estate Parcels" type the last name of the
property owner followed by a space and then the first initial of the first
name. Then click Execute. All records that have any field that matches the
search criteria appear at the bottom of the page. Scroll through the list to
find the record you want. To zoom to the parcel on the map single click the
underlined number in the Rec column of the database at the far left.
When searching for owners' names the more precise the
text string is the fewer records will be returned. For example typing in the
name DOE JOHN would return fewer records than a search on the name DOE. Names
are entered in the database by the last name followed by a space then the first
name.
The Find tool can also be used to search for
street address, legal description, or sale price. For example a search on BRUSH
MTN EST will find all lots in the Brush Mountain Estates Subdivision that have
the matching text string given in their legal description. The key to success
is making the string that you enter unique enough to limit the number of
records that will be returned and to make sure that string is entered exactly
as it appears in the database – always use upper case letters and add spaces,
commas, etc.
The
Buffer and Select by tools may be used if the
user wants to see the database information for multiple adjoining parcels.
Choose one of the tools and follow the prompts at the bottom of the page. The
Identify
tool displays the database associated with the parcel clicked on by the user.
The parcel layer must be active for this to work. Use this tool to discover the
owner's name, assessments, etc. for properties when you don’t know the parcel
ID or owner's name.
Printing
There are two ways to print. By using the printer tool button on the left side of the
screen a copy of the map that is currently visible can be made. Click the print
tool button. At the bottom of the screen give your map a name then click the
Create Print Page button. The print page screen displays what will be printed.
If the page looks OK from the File pull down menu choose print and then click
the Print button when done setting up your printer. If the print page does not
look the way you would like it to close the print page window and adjust you
view of the map.
By using the print command from the
file pull down window in your Internet Browser a copy of the map and whatever
database information is visible at the bottom of the screen can be made. From
the File pull down menu choose Print, click on the options tab and make sure
that "As laid out on screen" is the active choice, then click on the print
button.
A Note to Apple/Macintosh Users
You will have more success using this site through Netscape 4.0 or higher than through
Internet Explorer. While the site will work using Internet Explorer, the load time is
slower and the site is prone to locking up.
Printing: If you would like to print the map of your property, you have two options. In
both cases, because the map orientation is horizontal, you will need to go to PAGE
SETUP (under FILE on your menu bar) and set the paper orientation to Landscape. In
order to print the map without the sidebars, highlight the Map Frame (a blue outline
should appear surrounding the frame). Under FILE on the computer's menu bar at the top
of the screen, click on PRINT FRAME. You can print a copy of the database information
in the Information Frame by following the same procedure. If, however, you would like
to include a legend on the map, click on the PRINT icon, located at the bottom left of
the tool buttons. A dialogue box will appear in the information frame below the map.
Enter the name of your map and click the button that says "Create Print Page." The
print page will open in a new window and will include the map, a small overview map,
and a legend. Once the page has been created, click on PRINT under the FILE menu.
A final note: If you use your browser's back button, you may end up with a page with an
address which ends MapFrame.htm. Replace the end of the address by erasing MapFrame.htm
and typing in viewer.htm. This will return you to the map viewer page. The MapFrame.htm
page should display your map and legend, but will not include the tool buttons.
Questions or Comments
For questions regarding the use of the web site or the maps please contact montmap@naxs.com. For questions regarding
the database (i.e. ownership, acreage, etc.) please contact the Office of the
Commissioner of the Revenue at (540) 382-5710.
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