Residents
Type an address, see every permit, planning case, zoning rule and parcel tied to it. Free, unlimited search, alerts and notifications.
Pillar 1
Data Accessibility
One public view of every permit, planning case, zoning rule, parcel, inspection and GIS record — unified by address, read-only, with a free public tier and one starting point for staff across every department.
The problem today
Public data trapped in silos
Public data lives in three to six siloed expert systems, and staff become the search engine. Here is what that feels like.
As a resident
I want to know what is happening at an address near me. I end up calling the counter because the information is spread across systems I do not understand.
As a professional
I check a parcel before a deal closes. Permits, planning cases and zoning live in different places, and I piece them together by hand.
As a staff member
A record I need is held by another department in another system. I find which system, get into it, and copy and paste record IDs — or I email a colleague and wait.
What AgencyCounter does
The public view
Vendor portals serve applicants and cover permits only; GIS viewers are spatial only; open-data platforms publish tables. None unify by address for a non-expert.
Unified by address and parcel
Permits, planning cases, zoning, parcels, inspections and GIS in one public view — not scattered across three to six expert systems. A resident types an address and sees everything tied to it.
Multi-format, read-only ingest
AgencyCounter ingests via API (for example Accela Construct API), CSV and flat-file exports, database outputs and other structured formats. It is read-only. Source systems are untouched.
Free public tier
Unlimited searches, alerts and notifications for residents and professionals. No cap, no charge. The public view shows public records only.
Proof points: live in 4 weeks; no infrastructure; source systems untouched.
Part of Pillar 1 — internal accessibility
One starting point for every department
Staff in planning, building, code enforcement, GIS, economic development, the front counter and the manager's office all start in the same place. In most cases the information they need is already in AgencyCounter.
Internal and public users sign in through AgencyCounter's own authentication system. What each user can see and do is governed by a comprehensive role-based access control (RBAC) system built into the architecture. Adding, changing or removing internal users and roles is done by AgencyCounter through support, within the 4-hour support response window.
Changes to not-public criteria after launch are requested through AgencyCounter support and handled under our change management protocols, with each change documented as agreed with the jurisdiction.
One starting point across departments
Staff in planning, building, code enforcement, GIS, economic development, the front counter and the manager's office all start in the same place. In most cases the information they need is already in AgencyCounter.
All records for staff, public records for the public
Internal users see all records, including those marked not public; the public sees public records only. Not public is applied by AgencyCounter using criteria agreed with each jurisdiction — for example by status, address or record type.
Link-out to the source system
Open the full record in any system that can open a record from its ID in a URL — public or behind the jurisdiction's firewall or VPN. No copying and pasting record IDs. Staff reach systems behind the firewall or VPN as they normally do.
Extended search, reports, measured time saved
Extended search across more fields and combinations, in a simple, user-friendly way. Reports for internal users only. Scorecards record the time saved, and the value of that time, from the searches staff carry out in AgencyCounter.
What others don't
Compared by category, not by name
No competitor or vendor is named. The comparison is against categories of product.
| Capability | AgencyCounter | Permitting-vendor portal | GIS viewer | Open-data platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unified permits, planning, zoning, parcels, inspections and GIS by address | Yes | Permits only | Spatial only | Tables only |
| Multi-format ingest (API, CSV, database output, other formats) | Yes | Single system | GIS formats | Flat files |
| Designed for a non-expert public, not for specialists | Yes | Applicant-focused | Analyst-focused | Data-user-focused |
Who it helps
Everyone who uses your data
Professionals
Contractors, architects, engineers, realtors, title and lenders check a parcel in one view instead of piecing systems together by hand.
Staff across departments
Find any record fast — including those marked not public — run an extended search or a report, and link straight to the record in its source system.
Leadership
One public view across every department, with scorecards that measure the time staff save and the value of that time.
Questions agencies ask
Straight answers
Our vendor already has a portal.+
Permitting-vendor portals serve applicants and cover permits only. They do not unify planning, zoning, parcels, inspections and GIS by address for a non-expert. Ask your current vendor to complete our comparison table in writing.
Our data is a mess.+
That is the normal starting point. Normalisation is the core of onboarding, not a precondition for it. AgencyCounter ingests what you already produce and unifies it by address and parcel.
We have no IT capacity for this.+
There is no infrastructure to stand up. AgencyCounter is hosted and turnkey. Export your data in whatever format you already produce — API, CSV, database output, other structured formats — and we do the rest.
Is it secure?+
AgencyCounter is read-only; source systems are untouched. The public view shows public records only, and records marked not public — by criteria agreed with you, such as status, address or record type — are visible to internal users only. Internal users sign in through our authentication system with role-based access control. Data is encrypted, authentication is hardened, and security documentation is available now. SOC 2 Type II is planned. Support has a 4-hour response window.
See AgencyCounter in action.
A 20-minute live walkthrough of how residents, professionals and your staff find permits, zoning and property information in one public view. Nothing to prepare, and no access to your systems needed.