Johnston County Tax Administration

1. TRACKING APPEALSFrom Informal to The Board of Equalization & Review or A Method to Appeals Madness Johnston County Tax Administration Pat Goddard Sheila Garner Terre Keel

2. Background • 2003 Revaluation State Record For Informal Hearings • We tried to keep it a secret!!! • Among the fastest growing counties in North Carolina in the last ten years • In the top 100 fastest growing counties in the United States during that same period

3. What Happened? • Other than Panic and Hysteria? • Market Value for Land – All Land • Remarkable Value Appreciation from 1995 to 2003 • Politics • Obvious: We needed better appeals tracking!

4. Appeal Considerations • Repeat of 2003 for 2011? • Absurd paper shuffling and printing? • Goals: Try for a better way • Better citizen interaction • Less preparation time for BOER meetings • Better organization in the tax office • Value loss reports at all levels

5. But How? • New Software – Appeals Tracking • Researched COTS software • Asked other counties (Wake) • Geographic Representations or Mapping

6. We Developed an Appeals Tracking Module (BiTek) We will Discuss… • Software configurations or Setup • Management of Informal Appeals • “Office Review” – Received by mail • “Hearing Requested” – Taxpayer called for appointment • Board of E&R Appeals • The Appeals Map

7. Appeal Statistics 2011 Revaluation Year 9515 Appeals Informal Level • 1199 Withdrew • 4616 No Change • 3560 Decrease • 140 Increase 927 Appeals - Board of E&R (10% Average)

8. Behind the Scene Setup • Establish Market Areas or • “Master Neighborhoods” • Set up Market Areas in • Neighborhood Master • Maintenance screen

9. Using ArcMap, identify neighborhoods contained within each Market Area or “Master Neighborhood” • Assign individual neighborhoods to corresponding Market Area/Master Neighborhood

10. Assign Appraisers to Market Areas • Appraiser can be assigned to an entire Market Area or to individual neighborhoods within a Market Area • Appraiser can be setup to hear Commercial Appeals, Residential Appeals or both

11. Setup Hearing Locations For the convenience of it’s citizens, Johnston County offered informal hearings at five locations. An administrator can setup hearing sites on the “Appointment Location Maintenance” screen.

12. Add Appointment Dates & Times User chooses a hearing location from the drop down box. Add Appointments When user clicks “Add Appointments” on the Appointment Time Maintenance screen, the popup box to the left is displayed allowing user to add new appointment dates and times.

13. Choose an appraiser and choose a hearing site from the location drop down menu (above). When user clicks continue, he is given the opportunity to select dates and times that the appraiser will be available to hear appeals at the given location. Assign Appraisers to Appointment Locations, Dates and Times

14. The Informal Appeals How Were They Managed? The county mailed a Notice of Assessed Value to the owner of each parcel. The notice explained that individuals could appeal the value by either: Returning a completed appeal form to the tax office. A hearing officer would review the appeal and notify the owner, in writing, of the results or Call the tax office and request an appointment with a hearing officer.

15. Notice of Assessed Value The front of the notice informed owner’s of the 2011 market value and provided general information about the reappraisal process. The back of the notice provided specific information about the appeal process and had a detachable appeal form that could be mailed back to the tax office.

16. The Informal Appeals How Were They Managed? Managing the Mail Informal appeal forms received by mail were scanned by a vendor and returned to the tax office electronically as .pdf files. These files were uploaded to the tax software and placed into a workflow queue - “Appeal Forms”. A manager assigns the workflow items to clerical employees who then enter the information into the Appeals Module.

17. Managing the Mail – Entering Appeals into the System Clerical user’s workflow queue

18. Managing the Mail – Routing the Appeals System creates an “Office Review Appeals” workflow item System auto assigns workflow item based on market area and appraiser setup

19. Managing the Mail – Working “Office Review Appeals” The Appraiser’s Workflow Queue • Displays a summary of the appeal • Provides links to: • Attachments (Appeal form, appraisal, photos, etc) • Appraisal Record - opens in edit mode • Appeals Module - data entry of decision and notes

20. Managing the Mail Completing “Office Review Appeals” After updating the appraisal record, the appraiser enters his appraiser number, chooses a decision code, and enters notes. The system calculates the percent change. When the record is saved, the appeal status automatically changes to “complete” and the appeal is flagged for correspondence. The appraiser moves to his next workflow item.

21. Managing the Phones • Networked a phone “bank” with six lines • Operators were provided a script • Information was entered directly into the Appeals Module • Appeal “Key” – Parcel Number • System returns available appointments based on type of appeal (commercial/residential), and location of property (market area) • Hearing appointment is added to appraiser’s schedule • Average length of phone call – three minutes

22. Managing the Phones Scheduling the Appeals 3. 2. 1. 4. User chooses Hearing Requested System determines how much time to allow based on type of appeal (commercial/residential) & number in case User clicks on calendar for available appraisers User chooses appraiser from dropdown list System returns list of available appointments 5.

23. “Informal Appeal Hearings” • Five hearing locations spread throughout the county • One clerical person at each location • Print schedules, appeal summary sheets, and Property Record cards for hearing officers • Check in appellants • Scan appeal forms and supporting documentation • Enter “walk-in” appeals into system • Laptops for each hearing officer / appraiser • Tax software – Appraisal and Appeals Modules • MapClick – GIS

24. “Informal Appeal Hearings” cont. Property Record Card Appraiser’s Daily Schedule

25. The Informal Appeals Mail vs. Phone Office Review (Mail) 2730 Hearing Requested (Phone) 6470 Walk-In 335

26. Software Features That Made Things a Little Less Difficult

27. Edit Parcel Feature

28. Owner and Appellant “The Same” Feature

29. Query Builder Query results can be downloaded into Excel for easy manipulation of the data. Query Builder Screen Results displayed in Excel

30. Workflow Queues • Provided the ability to: • Track “How Many” • Sort - By name, neighborhood, case, date • Evenly distribute workload • Print property record cards for all items in a queue

31. Johnston County BOARD OF Equalization and Review • Created by the Board of Commissioners March 12, 2001 • 7 members representing Commissioners from each district • Diverse backgrounds-farmers, real estate, bankers, & attorney • Accommodated waiting area within meetings in 2011

32. Appeals to the Board of E&R New and Improved • Appointment letters electronically generated • Appeal packet electronically generated from existing data • History of appeal • Visualization of the appeal and surroundings • Quick and easy access to other appeal documentation • Decision letters electronically generated • Starting point for Board E&R minutes

33. Board of E&R Docket Sheet

34. Appeal Summary Sheets

35. Board of E&R’s Decision Box

36. The Appeals Map • Query Builder used to extract data from CAMA file • and Appeals Module • Downloaded into a text files • Data imported into Access for easy manipulation • Exported as DBF files • DBF files used in ArcMap to create shape files • Updated weekly

37. The Appeals Map A Visual Display of the Data Parcels Appealed in 2011 and/or 2012

38. The Appeals Map 2009 & 2010 Qualified Sales and Forced Sales • 2011 Appeals (Blue) • Qualified Sales (Green) • Forced Sales (Red)

39. The Appeals Map The Ability to View the Decisions “Blue” parcels were appealed in 2011 Green = Tax Office decision Dark Blue = Board’s decision

40. The Appeals Map Provided a quick look at… Land Features - value, unit price, zoning, condition factor Building Elements - value, design factor, quality code, year built, EOB, FOB Land Value Building Quality

41. The Appeals Map Main Benefit: Fair and Equitable Decisions – Consistency

42. Questions The Johnston County Tax Office PO Box 368 Smithfield, NC 27577 919-989-5130 Pat Goddard Sheila Garner Terre Keel