The Property Tax Mapping Department is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date set of tax maps that meet the specifications set by the Alabama Department of Revenue. Tax maps are an integral part in the development and maintenance of an equitable assessment system. The maps are a must in parcel identification, and are regularly updated to show changes in parcel boundaries and other physical characteristics. To view our tax maps online, click here. For contacting our Mapping Department, click here.

The staff in the Mapping Department are available to explain the information we have used to map a particular parcel boundary, however listed below are subjects that we cannot help with:

• We do not survey property.
• We do not provide legal advice on property rights or any other subject.
• We do not type up deeds or other legal documents.
• We do not have the ability to settle disputes between property owners as to whether an encroachment has occurred with regard to fences, sheds or any other use or structure.
• We do not have building plot plans in our office. We do not keep records on building setback requirements.
• We do not have topographic surveys in our office. 
• We do not keep FEMA Flood Plain maps in our office.

TAX MAPS ARE TO BE USED FOR TAX PURPOSES ONLY – NOT TO BE USED FOR CONVEYANCE.

History of Tax Mapping in Alabama

A tax map, as defined in “Assessment Terminology,” a manual published by the International Association of Assessing Officers, is, “A map drawn to scale and delineated for lot lines, property lines, or both, with dimensions of areas, identifying numbers, letters, or names for all lots or parcels.”

Until 1971, Tax Assessors did not map parcels on ownership maps (Jefferson and Mobile Counties had a system of property ownership mapping in place). Plat Books were used to identify owners in each quarter section. This was according to the Code of Alabama, Volume 21, Title 40, section 40-7-38. Each page of the Plat Book was a complete section. Each quarter section identified the owner or owners who were assessing property in that particular quarter. Some Tax Assessors obtained their parcel information from the Plat Book. In most counties, only the property ownership, parcel numbers of the property owned, and the years that the property owner had been assessing their property was readily available. The Plat books covered only five to six years at a time. These books were often very large and heavy.

In 1971, the lawsuit of Weissinger vs Boswell found Act 502 to be unconstitutional in that it violated the Due Process and Equal Protection provided in the Fourteenth Amendment. In declaring Act 502 unconstitutional, the District Court said the State must equalize appraisals and assessments statewide.

In January of 1972, the Legislature passed Act 160 to deal with statewide reappraisal. Title 40, section 40-7-64, gave authority to the Department of Revenue to set the procedures, standards and forms that each county in the state must follow, in the reappraisal of all property. The Property Tax Division of the Department of Revenue was charged with writing the procedures for reappraisal and for the mapping of all parcels in Alabama. The “Alabama State Specification for Aerial Photography, Planimetric Manuscripts and Property Ownership Maps” was adopted in July of 1973. This set the standard by which all parcels are to be mapped statewide. From 1973 until 1980, private mapping companies were hired by each county to map and maintain the ownership maps. Starting in October of 1980, each county hired mappers to maintain their maps.

Currently, the Alabama Department of Revenue offers mapping courses as a part of the Ad Valorem Certification Program.