The new Online Property Information System, on the City of Detroit's Web site at http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us, is a joint effort of the city of Detroit information technology services department and the finance department's assessors division. Prior to the Online Property Information System, the only way to access suchinformation was to visit the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center and either use one of the available computer terminals or get help from assessments division staff. If a printout was required, the cost was $2 per transaction.

Now citizens and businesses can get the same information from their homes or offices, and there is no cost for accessing or printing the information. "We are pleased to announce this new system on our Web site. The convenienceof getting information and conducting business on the Internet is just asimportant in government as in the private sector," said Diane Martin-Parker,deputy director of ITS.

During development, city officials decided to offer the information at no charge, despite the fact that several other cities and counties charge a fee for this service, including nearby Oakland County. Future improvements to the Online Property System include additional property related information and more elaborate search options, such as listing multiple addresses within a geographic area. A link to the city's electronic mapping Geographic Information System will also be available soon and will allow users of the property system to create and view maps whensearching for property.