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Teton County assessor asks commissioners to consider contracting Terra GIS to restore Greenwood-era mapping tools
Summary
Assessor Melissa Schenkel told commissioners the county's migration from Greenwood Mapping to Esri left gaps in assessor-specific tools (PIDN generator, assessor toolbox). She asked the board to consider a Terra GIS contract; commissioners asked for procurement review and to place the matter on a future agenda.
Teton County Assessor Melissa Schenkel asked the board on Oct. 6, 2025, to consider a contract with Terra GIS (the company that purchased Greenwood Mapping) to restore functionality the assessor’s office said is not reproducible in the county’s current Esri platform.
Schenkel told commissioners that Greenwood Mapping’s platform included assessor-specific tools — notably a PIDN (parcel identification number) generator and an assessor’s toolbox used to establish evaluation-area boundaries and track sale locations — that she believes cannot be fully recreated in the Esri product. “The PIDN generator, and the assessor's toolbox cannot be recreated, in the Esri product,” Schenkel said in explaining why she requested consideration of Terra GIS and an associated engineering/data-production team for parcel updates.
She described operational impacts: plat maps recorded earlier in the year still were not visible in the county GIS and staff were tracking PIDNs manually in spreadsheets. Schenkel said Terra GIS partners with an engineering firm (Heinz Surveying, referenced in the discussion) that would handle data production and mapping; she argued this combination would restore workflow and daily data updating for the public.
Commissioners asked procurement and cost questions. One commissioner summarized the proposal as putting a price tag at about $68,000 per year plus a one‑time fee and hourly charges for enhancements; Schenkel confirmed budgetary pressures and noted the county has other GIS-related expenditures this year (the Department of Revenue RealWear upgrade and related conversion costs). Commissioners asked staff and the clerk to evaluate procurement approaches, including sole-source justification, and suggested returning the item as an action item on a forthcoming agenda so elected officers and the public can review details.
No contract was approved Oct. 6. Commissioners directed staff to pursue a procurement path, provide a succinct summary of what is requested and return with a proposed scope and procurement justification for public consideration.
