PRISM Municipal
BEHIND THE LOGIN

One parcel. The whole record.

Behind the PRISM login, every property in town has a complete working file: the full assessing record, ten years of permits, the planning and code documents that apply to it, and every assessing conversation the office has had about it. It is live today in Damariscotta.

Open a sample recordSee how it works

Why I built this

Noel Madore
Certified Maine Assessor (CMA #926)

In 2019, working as an assessor, I was handed a stack of deeds, a pile of real estate transfer tax forms, and a printed commitment book about 300 pages long. The job was to work every transfer and split into the records. The main tool was a red pen at the top of each deed.

I thought there had to be a better way, especially with my handwriting. So I built an Access database to sit alongside the town's CAMA system and keep the transfers organized.

PRISM grew out of that database. The goal hasn't changed: keep everything about a property in one place, so whoever picks up the file next has the context the last person had.

01 · ASSESSING

The entire assessing record, digitized and on the parcel.

PRISM brings the town's full assessing file into one parcel view. Nothing is summarized away. If it is on the valuation card, it is in PRISM.

Land
Every land table from TRIO, with the schedules, factors, and codes behind each land value.
Buildings
Size, style, year built, and every component that drives the building value.
Grade and condition
The ratings that set depreciation, shown in plain terms.
Photo and sketch
The building picture and the measured sketch, right on the record.
Values and history
Current assessment, exemptions, and past values side by side.
See it on a real cardOpen a sample record →
02 · PLANNING AND CODE

The code officer sees what the assessor sees, and more.

PRISM links the town's planning and code history directly to each property, so nobody starts from a blank file.

Permit history on the parcel
Ten years of issued permits, with type, fees, shoreland and floodplain flags, and Planning Board approvals.
About 1,300 files linked to their properties
From the town's Map & Lot drive, matched automatically by map and lot where the roll agrees and proposed for review where it does not.
03 · SHARING

Share the full picture without sharing a password.

From any parcel, staff can press Share, enter an email address, and send a read-only copy of the record. The recipient opens it with no account.

  • The assessment is always included: owner, values, land, buildings, photos, sales, and the property card, valuation report, and tax bill.
  • Everything else is opt-in: cases, staff notes, contact details, and permit documents are off unless the sender ticks them.
  • Links last 7, 30, or 90 days and can be revoked at any time. Each share is logged on the parcel.
  • Sensitive links ask for a code: if a link includes cases or contact details, the recipient must enter a 6-digit code sent to their email, so a forwarded message does not pass the conversation on.
04 · CASES

Every conversation becomes a case.

PRISM reads the assessing office mailbox. Every message that arrives is logged once, automatically. If it belongs to an existing conversation it joins that case; if not, it opens a new one. PRISM then suggests which property the case concerns, and a person confirms.

Each case has a reference number, a timeline, and follow-up dates.
Attachments are pulled out of the emails and listed on the case: surveys, abatement applications, exemption applications, pictures, and spreadsheets.
Documents can be added by hand for anything that arrives on paper or in person.
About three years of the office's past assessing email is on the record too, so a new assessor can see what the office said to the same taxpayer before.
05 · ANALYSIS

A second set of eyes on every appeal.

On any case, the assessor chooses how deep to look. Each level gathers a set amount of the record, and the AI works only from what that level gathers.

LightWhat the record says about this property, and whether it reconciles
MediumThe question the taxpayer actually asked, read in the context of the whole conversation
Land schedulesWhy the land is rated the way it is, and whether similar parcels are rated the same way
Equity reviewWhether similar properties are assessed alike, compared against every comparable dwelling on the roll
Market salesWhat similar properties sold for, using MLS closed sales adjusted at the town's own rates

The analysis can also look up what the office told the same taxpayer in past cases, and it can draft a reply for the assessor to edit and send.

The assessor decides.

The AI may arrange figures from the record but may not invent one. Every number traces back to its source, and each draft is checked against the record before anyone reads it. Nothing is sent without a person.

06 · PERMITSComing soon

Permits, built from the town's own ordinances.

The PRISM permit module is in final testing and nearly ready for production. Every permit lives on the parcel, next to its full history.

10
permits in one form

A resident describes their project once. The form asks only the questions that matter for that project and works out which permits it needs. A house with plumbing becomes a building permit and a plumbing permit, filed together from one set of answers.

Real-time status
Applicants see where their permit stands, in real time: its current status, whose desk it is on, and what is still needed from them.
Pictures and documents
Applicants can add pictures and documents to their own application at any time.
Site visits online
Site visits are scheduled online. The officer posts open times, and the applicant picks one from their permit page.
Routing from the ordinance itself
Each application goes to the code officer or the Planning Board as the town's land use tables require.
Deadlines tracked automatically
Completeness reviews, decision dates, hearings, and permit expiration.
Issued permits
Generated from the town's own terms and conditions.
Honest answers to the public
The module only tells a resident “the ordinance requires” something when it can cite the section. Anything unconfirmed goes to staff.
The officer stays in control
The officer can overrule any routing decision, with the reason recorded.

Open a real record.

A real Damariscotta property record, with the owner, address, and correspondence changed for privacy.

Open a sample record

See your town's records working together.

PRISM Municipal is run by Noel Madore, Certified Maine Assessor (CMA #926), and is live today as the assessing system for the Town of Damariscotta. If you would like a walkthrough of a real parcel, get in touch.

Request a walkthrough
noel@prismmunicipal.com
See what your residents see, in front of the login →