CHARLESTON - People can save themselves a phone call or a trip to the courthouse to find information on property in Coles County, and that's what two county officials say is the big advantage to a new online records system.

A Web site, www.fikeandfike.com/propertytax/coles, lets someone at a personal computer see much of the information on a piece of property that would be available by contacting a county office, Treasurer George Edwards and Supervisor of Assessment Jean Tipsword said.

"For a long time, it's been my goal to have public access," Tipsword said. "I feel like this is a beginning."

People preparing their income tax returns can access the system as a quick way to find out how much they paid in property taxes to calculate deductions, Edwards said. Tipsword added that real estate brokers, appraisers and attorneys can now get some information they need without having to visit or call the courthouse for it.

The information is still available by contacting county offices directly, the two officials said, but now someone can get to it when the offices aren't open.

After accessing the system, information can be found by typing in an address or the parcel number the county uses for its records. Using the address for the search will show the parcel number because "nobody ever has those," Edwards said, but it's handy for county offices to use to look up records.

Users have to use 2006 for the tax year to get the most up-to-date records because that's the latest year for which the taxing cycle has been completed. Records for 2007 won't be available until at least after tax bills are mailed this summer, or perhaps not until payments are collected, Edwards and Tipsword said.

Information available includes the property taxes on a piece of property and whether they've been paid, sales history for the property and what taxing districts levy taxes on it. The system displays whoever pays the property taxes, not necessarily the property owner if a mortgage holder actually takes care of the taxes, for example.

Tipsword and Edwards said listing the actual property owner in situations like that is something they'll consider trying to add to the system. Other changes are possible as well, including an image of the property and information on a building's square footage, something Tipsword mentioned as what she'd like to see added.

The online system started about two weeks ago, once the county's real estate software provider completed an upgrade that made the service available.

Dave Fopay can be reached at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.