A new high-tech aerial photography system that can spot an illegal porch from 5,000 feet is being marketed to tax assessors as a way to grow revenue. Pictometry International Corp. says it offers tax assessors 12 different views of every square foot of building or land in a jurisdiction that buys their system. They call it “sophisticated visual intelligence.” State Sen. Jeff Van Drew has another name for it.
“It’s Big Brother,” said Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic. “We’re not supposed to be spying on people. When it gets to the point where we’re doing aerial spying on people’s lives, I’ve had enough,” Van Drew said. At stake is an untold amount of tax revenue. Cape May County appears to be ground zero on the issue as it was one of the first in the nation to buy into the system, purchasing its first pictures in 2003. While Van Drew ponders writing a law to limit the uses of Pictometry, Cape May County Tax Administrator George R. Brown III is already using it to adjust assessments on farms. He doesn’t consider it a Big Brother tactic. He calls it “a great assessment tool,” one of many to make sure people pay their fair share of taxes.
“What’s on the books should be enforced, and we have new technology to do that. You compare the photos and find physical changes,” Brown said. Farmers who are not farming enough of their land could end up with higher taxes. Brown said the next step is to use pictures of residential areas to catch illegal additions and other violations.
In this economy, local government will be looking for more and more ways to slip into your back pocket. You might want to put one on these umbrellas on your porch…
