Commission approves three-year Sidwell contract for agricultural land and value calculations

Walsh County commissioners approved a three-year contract with Sidwell (Sidwell Company) to maintain GIS layers and perform annual agricultural valuation calculations for the county—s parcels.

Ed (tax director) presented the contract and summary of fees. The agreement includes: an annual GIS maintenance fee (to maintain the agricultural land use layer), annual farm-processing to calculate values for taxable parcels (year 1 set 14% higher than the previous year, with years 2 and 3 at 6% increases), a soils-layer update every three to four years (budgeted for year 3) and a newly introduced technology access fee described by Sidwell as a support-and-development charge. Ed told commissioners the total projected cost was $19,005 over the three-year term, with the first payment due in fall 2025 and the tax cycle beginning for the 2026 tax year.

Ed said the county relied on the software to batch-process valuations by soil and land-use type, dramatically reducing manual workload: "So that's the gist of what they do for us," he told commissioners.

Commissioners voted to approve the contract after discussion about the fee increases and the value of automated processing. Roll call recorded: Commissioner Danny, yes; Commissioner Amy, yes; Commissioner Paul, yes; Commissioner Rudy, yes; Chair voted yes. Ed said the county had budgeted for the new contract and would sign at a later administrative step.

Why it matters: The contract funds a core property-tax valuation tool used to compute agricultural parcel values across thousands of parcels; the additional technology-access fee and higher first-year cost raise a modest budget impact.

Next steps: Commissioner roll call approved the contract; Ed will finalize signatures and ensure the county is set for the 2026 valuation cycle.