Gaining Efficiency from Technology

2. Gaining Efficiency from Technology

3. Budget Cuts and more Budget Cuts • Budgets are being slashed but workloads are not changing. • Government can not afford not to invest in new Technology. • Technology is no longer a nice thing to have it is a requirement to keep up with growing demands.

4. Technology and Tourist Development Tax • Areas that can see an immediate productivity boost: • Audit • Taxpayers • Employees • Filing and Payment • Less need for employee involvement with public taxpayer • Communication between departments • Elimination of duplicate entry in multiple offices

5. Increasing Audit Efficiency • Taxpayers • Use Automation to trigger events • Letters & Emails – Delinquency, Registration, etc. • Rise Agreement • Use the tools you have to track down additional revenue • Run comparison reports to identify Taxpayers that have registered with DOR but forgot to register with the County

6. Increasing Audit Efficiency • Stretching what you have • Search – It takes minutes to find short-term rentals in your County. Simple compare your findings with the addresses that you have registered. • Efficient tracking of delinquency accounts –Allow trigger points in an account to notify you when the account needs your attention. • ‘Neighborhood watch program’ – Counties have decreased ability to go into the field and track people down, use the community. • Field Work – By letting the system take some of the workload off of the Audit team there will be more availability for field time to track down offenders.

7. Increasing Audit Efficiency • Employees • In an electronic workplace all system tasks have a trail. No more “I think I waived this fee because…” • Great training tool to identify weaknesses that need attention

8. Increasing Audit Efficiency • Employees • In an electronic workplace all system tasks have a trail. No more “I think I waived this fee because…” • Great training tool to identify weaknesses that need attention • Each user has a secure username and password • Once authenticated all actions are tracked and stored in an audit file

9. Increasing Audit Efficiency • Audit Benefits • Online Filing opens doors to new practices and new collections • All of the taxpayer and payment information is stored in a database allowing a wide variety of quick searches and reporting • More accurate and up to date account and property information allows for better comparison and tracking of properties in compliance/non-compliance • More time for researching and tracking down those owners not in compliance • System can be used as a preemptive measure as well as an enforcement tool

10. Increasing Audit Efficiency • Audit Benefits (cont.) • Locating “suspect” properties by electronically comparing data • Easy and quick searches on all property/owner fields • RISE reports • Other County databases (PAO, building codes) • Notice Generation • Exceptions • New construction • Non-homesteaded properties

11. Filing and Payments Made Easy • What will the efficiencies look like? • Give taxpayers secure 24/7 access to real time account information • Provide taxpayers with an easy to follow user interface for filing tax returns and making payments • Reduce the amount of paper required to process a return • Eliminate taxpayer calculation errors by auto-calculating each tax return • Reduce data entry errors • Speed up the collection cycle by providing immediate access to funds • Increase the speed and efficiency of the entire process of Tourist Development Tax collection

12. Filing and Payments Made Easy Ability for the taxpayer to self-register – No how-to calls to your staff

13. Filing and Payments Made Easy 24/7 Access to account information

14. Filing and Payments Made Easy Eliminate calculation errors by auto-calculating each tax return

15. Filing and Payments Made Easy • Adoption of Online Filing and Payments • Quick acceptance with little promotion • DOR collection • Easy interface • Acceptance increases with various promotions: • notices • training • online tutorials • online documentation

16. Filing and Payments Made Easy • Allows taxpayers to make payments 24/7 reducing the risk of late payments • Eliminates the possibility of lost or stolen checks • Ensures timely and accurate posting of tax payments • Encourages taxpayers to submit return early by allowing them to select a future settlement date • Helps to ensure security and confidentiality for all transactions

17. Filing and Payments Made Easy • eChecks • ACH • Credit Cards Many merchants are available to assist you in processing electronic payments. FACC

18. Filing and Payments Made Easy Charging Convenience Fees • Electronic payment processing usually involves processing fees. These can be assessed per transaction or per batch. • You can pass these fees onto the taxpayer by labeling it as a “Convenience Fee”. • It is important to note that this fee must be consistent with all payment types if Visa is accepted. • No merchant accepting Visa, whether a mom-and-pop store or a government body, may establish a surcharge for any Visa (credit) transaction.

19. Filing and Payments Made Easy • Tax Return information is securely transmitted electronically replacing the paper coupon. • Acceptance of electronic payments (echeck, ACH, Credit, Debit, etc.) ensuring timely and secure filing of taxes

20. Filing and Payments Made Easy • Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) • Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology protects your Web site and makes it easy for customers to trust you. • An SSL Certificate ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private. • The SSL Certificate encrypts sensitive information during online transactions. • Every SSL Certificate is issued by a Certificate Authority that verifies the identity of the certificate owner

21. Benefits • Better use of Employee time • The ease of online filing increases the likelihood of taxpayer compliance • Less time spent processing returns • Increased automation results in an improved audit trail • Less time spent tracking down who, what, when • Taxpayers are encouraged to keep their account information up to date • Allows for better tracking of compliant/non-compliant taxpayers • Better data to share with RISE • Digital information can be searched and compared much easier than paper

22. Counties that are currently using the Technologies discussed • Florida Counties using our Excise system which is equipped with Online Filing capabilities. • Bay County • Orange County • Manatee County • Santa Rosa County • Walton County • Okaloosa County • Lee County