FAQs • Iredell County, NC • CivicEngage

How are tax maps made?: Tax maps are computer drawn by our technicians based on interpretation of property boundaries contained within various recorded legal documents, such as deeds, surveys, and plat maps. These documents generally contain a legal description, which describe the property boundaries. This legal description usually contains courses known as metes and bounds, or bearings and distances, such as north 45 degrees 25 minutes 30 seconds east, 135.77 feet. These are plotted out to produce an outline of the parcels which are made to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to create the tax map.

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GIS Mapping

1. What are tax maps?: Tax maps are public record maps that show the location, size, ownership, and other information of individually owned real estate subject to property taxes. They may also be called parcel maps, or cadastral maps.

2. What are the tax maps used for?: Tax maps are intended to be a visual inventory of all real property within the jurisdiction, for the primary purpose of administering property tax assessment. They are a valuable tool for surveyors, title searchers, realtors, appraisers, lawyers, developers, various other business people, county government offices, other government agencies, taxpayers, etc. If you want to know who owns a property and where it is located, tax maps are often the first place to check.

3. How are tax maps made?: Tax maps are computer drawn by our technicians based on interpretation of property boundaries contained within various recorded legal documents, such as deeds, surveys, and plat maps. These documents generally contain a legal description, which describe the property boundaries. This legal description usually contains courses known as metes and bounds, or bearings and distances, such as north 45 degrees 25 minutes 30 seconds east, 135.77 feet. These are plotted out to produce an outline of the parcels which are made to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to create the tax map.

4. How can I obtain a tax map?: You can visit our GIS Mapping office located in the Iredell County Tax Administration Office at:
135 E Water Street
Statesville, NC 28677

Or you can also view them online. Iredell ConnectGIS

5. Where can I get a copy of my subdivision map?: Copies of every recorded subdivision within the county can be obtained at the Iredell County Register of Deeds office at:
201 E Water Street
Statesville, NC 28677
Phone: 704-872-7468

You can also access these online. For unrecorded subdivision or plats you may visit the Iredell County Mapping Department to get a copy of the tax map of the subdivision and/or lots. County Register of Deeds Land Records Page

6. How often are the maps updated?: Our mapping staff update and make changes to our computerized maps on a daily basis. These changes usually take place within 2 weeks of a newly recorded document. Our public GIS Mapping website is updated during the 1st and 3rd week of each month. While our tax maps reflect current ownership, the ownership of real property for tax listing and billing is as of January 1.

7. My neighbor and I disagree about the location of our common property line. Can I use the tax map to prove that I’m right?: No! Tax maps are not legal evidence of size, shape, location, ownership, or boundary of real property or right of ways, etc. Only a licensed surveyor can determine your boundary. If after your surveyor determines the boundary and your neighbor still refuses to acknowledge it, you may consult your attorney. If both parties and their respective surveyors and lawyers do not agree, then ultimately the boundary may be determined in civil court.

8. What GIS data is available?: We have various GIS Mapping base map layers freely available for download on the Data Downloads page of the Iredell County website. These layers are updated monthly and include parcels, streets and addresses, zoning, city limits, and the county line. Other data is available by request via DVD. County aerial imagery is available from the North Carolina OneMap website.
North Carolina OneMap Website

9. What formats are GIS data available?: GIS datasets are in ESRI shapefile format, or ESRI geodatabase version 10.1 per request.

10. What is the datum and projection of Iredell County, NC GIS data?: Most all of our GIS data utilizes North American Datum 1983 (NAD83), North Carolina State Plane FIPS 3200 US Feet.

11. How much does the maps and data cost?: See our fee schedule on the Iredell County website. Payments can be made using cash or check made out to “Iredell County Mapping.” Credit cards are not accepted. Fee Schedule Page

12. How do I know if a particular road is maintained by the State of North Carolina?: A list of all state-maintained roads within the county is kept at the district North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) office located at:
124 Prison Camp Road
Statesville, NC 28625
Phone: 704-876-3947

You can also visit the NCDOT State Road Lookup online. NCDOT State Road Lookup Website

13. Can I split my land?: Depending on which jurisdiction the land is located in, you would first need to contact the local Planning Department for the jurisdiction to find out what regulations would apply to your property (i.e. minimum lot size, road frontage, etc.) If determined that the property can be divided, contacting a surveyor would then be the next step in the process. Your local Planning Department can assist you with what steps would need to follow.

14. I have a question not listed here. How do I contact the GIS Mapping office?: Please give us a call at 704) 878-3137 to speak to our staff, or stop by of our office at: 135 E Water Street Statesville, NC 28677