What's the valuation on my house? Do I have any property taxes due right now?

Those questions are asked hundreds of times every year in Brookings County, and now there's a quick and easy way to find the answer.

This month, the Brookings County Equalization Office along with the Brookings County Commissioners have opened a public service Web site located at beacon .schneidercorp.com for community use.

The new site is the result of "a large number of requests from citizens for public access to the property valuation system," said Joyce Dragseth, director of equalization for Brookings County

The Brookings County Beacon portal features both a public site and a subscription site the sites include important property taxation and assessment information, with more detailed information and more search capabilities available through the subscription site. (The paid site will most likely be used chiefly by lenders, real estate agents, developers, contractors and investors.) The Beacon portal also provides users the ability to view an interactive map of the County's GIS data and aerial photography as well as convenient tools to collect specific parcel information .

"This new public access website is a great addition to our services we provide for our taxpayers . It will help to educate them as well as keep them informed of their current values and taxes," said Chris Lilla, Brookings County appraiser. Subscriptions cover fees

The subscription payments that are accumulated from the fee portion of the Beacon Web site provide the county the ability to pay the monthly fees associated with this Web site. County officials are encouraging users to provide their comments. This can be accomplished by visiting the Beacon Web site and clicking on the "I" icon (also known as the feedback button) in the upper right hand corner of the page. Users will then be provided with a form that they can use to send the county a message positive or negative about this new service .

Dragseth said, "The current subscription-based Web site is a lifesaver in our office. Without this tool, we would need one or two more people in our office to assist with counter and phone requests. Our stats indicate that we are already receiving an average of 70 hits per day, with each hit requesting nine to 10 property searches."

Dragseth said the new public service Web site will also save staff time in the office but added that the main reason to open county records is to allow the public electronic access to the information. Because all Web site set-up , development, hosting and maintenance tasks are handled by Schneider, there was no need for Brookings County to purchase additional equipment . Beacon has been designed with a componentbased architecture which allows for rapid deployment. Information 24/7

Equalization clerk Rae Lynn Maher notes that "this Web site offers you information on properties in Brookings County 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Information is available at your desktop when you want and need it most.

"Those who wish to subscribe to the paid service should simply contact the equalization office. On completion of payment and a short information form, you will be up and running within 24 hours"

The Schneider Corporation is currently hosting similar sites for more than 100 organizations across the Midwest, including Brown, Meade, Harding and Moody counties in South Dakota.

For information about Beacon, visit www.geogearon line.com/beacon, or to see Beacon in action visit http:// beacon.schneidercorp.com.