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CTx – March 2013

Performance Measurements What is this in a tax office? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? How are you doing “really”?. CTx – March 2013. What is the most important function you perform? Collecting the current grand list? Collecting your prior years outstanding? Keeping the taxpayers happy?.

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CTx – March 2013

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  1. PerformanceMeasurementsWhat is this in a tax office?Is it a good thing or a bad thing?How are you doing “really”? CTx – March 2013

  2. What is the most important function you perform?Collecting the current grand list?Collecting your prior years outstanding?Keeping the taxpayers happy?

  3. We all should like performance measurement! And the tax office is one office that we can easily show how well we are doing! The tax/revenue office is not about collecting payments It is about managing collections.

  4. How does the performance in a tax office get measured? • Outstanding balance as of June 30th? • Collection rate of current year taxes? • Amount suspended each year? • Amount of back taxes and interest collected? • Number of liens put on the land records?

  5. Are you communicating results to others and who are you reporting to? Many finance people come from different walks of life. What may be important to you, may not be on your finance directors/treasurers radar screen. It is up to us to brag about our performance nobody else will.

  6. What reports do you give them? • Actual collections to collectable balance and/or actual collections to budget? • Yearly comparison as of certain dates? • Number of liens put on the land records?

  7. Initial Collectable and Net Collectable Amounts Due. What factors affect these amounts? • How “clean” is the initial list. • Is the BOS or Council taking into consideration the elderly relief and fire fighter discounts? State and Town. • Is the Town using a solid GL# to calculate the mill rate?

  8. Collection Rate How do you calculate your collection rate for the current year grand list? Current Year Collections Net Collectable Balance* (this would be with no suspense balances taken out) How do you calculate your collection rate for prior years? Prior Year Collections Net Collectable Balance* * - Net Collectable balance is after Assessor adjustments

  9. Example Total taxes collected = $5,463,200 Total net collectable = $8,001,203 5,463,200 = 68.28% collected 8,001,203 Is this a good collection rate? Did you have a goal you were trying to meet?

  10. Is this the year end rate? Also, you need to compare it to something. What can we compare this to? The collection rate from last year at the same time? And to the year before that and the year before that.

  11. % collected as of December 31st • 2012 = 68.28% • 2011= 67.47% • 2010 = 66.96% Depending on the tax software you use – you may be able to have the computer print out the % of collection throughout the year by checking a box. Ask your software vendor.

  12. Collection Rate by Year

  13. How can we find out how other municipalities have done at Y/E? Go to: • CT Office of Policy and Management • Municipal Fiscal Indicators • http://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?a=2984&q=383170&opmNav_GID=1807 • This is the Office of Policy and Management compiling the numbers using the same formula for each Town.

  14. What is the percentage of collection by tax type? • You can also break it down further by determining what the % of collection is on RE, MV and PP individually by using the same rules we have reviewed. • If you numbers are higher or lower than last year – you will be able to determine if you can attribute that to one tax type or an overall increase or decrease in the entire list.

  15. What else can we compare our numbers to? • To Towns with similar populations?

  16. Delinquent Taxes • Be Sensitive to Changes within the Fiscal Year

  17. If you haven’t met your goals – what can you do to increase the numbers? • Locate people who you have lost track of: • Use the DMV Direct Database -Whitepages.com • Amvanet • ZabaSearch.com • Did they sell a house in town? Look at the conveyance form for an updated address. Who was their attorney, call them. • Any relatives in Town? • Concord website for Businesses – send the bill listed as the companies agent if there is no updated address info.

  18. Manage your DMV Put-Ons and Take-Offs. Make sure you check your DMV exception report to make sure what you think you reported took at DMV. You must send DMV an e-mail letting them know that you have put a put-on or take-off on Tumbleweed. The address to send your e-mail to is: DMV.TAXCOLLECTOR@CT.GOV

  19. Work with other departments • Building inspector – do you have an ordinance that allows the building dept to hold up issuing a permit until taxes are paid? • Health District – Let them know when someone who needs a health permit renewed is delinquent. • Payroll Dept – garnish wages of Town employees that owe taxes.

  20. Accounts Payable Dept – Give them a list of companies that are delinquent on there taxes and request that any future payments be given to the tax office up to the amount of taxes outstanding. Zoning Dept – if someone who owes taxes is going to the zoning dept for approval – if they get it, they may be going for a building permit next. If you spot delinquents on zoning meetings it helps to contact the company or individual to let them know that they will have to pay their taxes prior to getting building permits.

  21. Send delinquent statements more regularly Put on the outside of the envelope “delinquent bill inside” (this may be a political decision)

  22. Budget Performance • Quantitatively Measure the Leverage of Your Budget vs. Revenue Collections = Revenue per Dollar Spent Annual Budget Measure Revenue vs. Staff Collections = Revenue per Staff Member # Staff

  23. Budget Justification • Trend of Tax Office Budget to Town Budget • Compare Tax Office Budget Changes to Trend Line • Display Components of Tax Office Budget • Get Involved in the Revenue Side of the Budget

  24. Suspense Accounts What is the purpose of suspending accts? So the BOF doesn’t count on getting that money in when there is little to no chance of collecting it. To give a more accurate outstanding balance so financial decisions can be made.

  25. Justifying Write-Offs How do you determine what accounts to suspense? • Full year? How many years back? Do you add to this the accts that you know are not collectable from more current year(s)? • Pick and Choose? • deceased with no estate – discharged taxes due from a bankruptcy – accounts that we have lost track of the taxpayers (invalid address accts)

  26. SUSPENSE HISTORY • Why would we want or need to know this? So you will be better able to project for the future what portion of the grand list more than likely will be uncollectable. What has the trend been in the past?

  27. Conclusion • “Managers must constantly evaluate their firms’ strategies to assess how their decisions have been performing, to modify these strategies as conditions change, and to devise new strategies to boost performance in the future.”* • * - Financial Literacy for Managers – Richard A. Lambert

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