Every home and business will be photographed as part of the plan

Residents and business owners in Parma should not be alarmed at the sight of people taking pictures of their properties this summer.

Over the next several weeks, as part of the Town of Parma's property reassessment plan, about 5,200 homes and commercial buildings will be digitally photographed. The picture taking will start in about two weeks.

According to Parma Town Supervisor Rick Lemcke, this process will help town officials evaluate fair value placed on homes and businesses. The townwide reassessment has not been conducted in about four years, Lemcke said.

"It gives us an unfair advantage if we wait," he said. "The more we wait, the less we would save in correctly determining school taxes."

Parma has hired the Cole-Layer-Trumble Co. to take the photographs. Lemcke said the photographers will take shots from the road and should be identified clearly as members of the reassessment team.

Lemcke said the photographs will be filed in the town assessor's office and will be available to residents on a need-basis. This new process eases the transitions between assessments, he explained, adding that upgrading technology throughout the years is more cost effective than prolonging advances.

"We plan on doing this as much as needed to provide 100 percent assessment," Lemcke said.

For information on the reassessment, call the Town of Parma assessor at 392-9455.