The King County GIS Center is open and transparent with its plans, processes, and performance. Every two years, roughly in line with King County’s biennial budget process, we produce a King County GIS Operations and Maintenance Plan.

The most recent published version of the plan describes the state of the King County Geographic Information System (KCGIS) as of December 2014. It represents the culmination of a collaborative effort by personnel throughout the County to describe the planned 2015-2016 biennial GIS work programs for participating agencies. GIS is critical to the business of King County, as demonstrated in its use for property appraisal, permit review, emergency services, human services, election services, wastewater facilities planning, natural resources and parks management, waste management, public health, road maintenance, transit services, airport management, crime analysis, budget development, policy making, legislative support, and growth management. This document provides the details of how GIS supports those and many other business functions.

We also publish a biennial report which has different focus. The most recent publication, the 2015-2016 King County GIS Center Biennial Report, provides a comprehensive overview of King County GIS Center activities. It describes the restructuring of King County’s GIS governance committees which occurred during the 2015-2016 biennium, and the GIS priority initiatives completed in 2015-2016 as well as those planned for 2017-2018. The King County GIS Spatial Data Warehouse and enterprise data coordination are covered. And the report highlights the rebuild and modernization of the KCGIS Center’s flagship web mapping application, iMap. Other topics in the 2015-2016 report include regional data coordination efforts and a collaborative regional GIS study planned for 2018.

The Biennial Report also provides a look back at the types of projects completed by matrixed KCGIS Center staff who work for many King County departments and divisions, including Parks, Solid Waste, Wastewater Treatment, Water and Land Resources, Permitting and Environmental Review, Airport, Roads, and Regional Planning. The report’s narrative concludes with a review of some of the 250 projects that were completed by KCGIS Center Client Services during the biennium for 70 different customers, both within King County government and externally.

The full King County GIS Center 2015-2016 Biennial Report can be accessed and downloaded here: www.kingcounty.gov/services/gis/about/AnnualReport.aspx.

For comparison, the 2015-2016 King County GIS Operations and Maintenance Plan can be accessed and downloaded here: www.kingcounty.gov/services/gis/about/O_M.aspx.