Green Tax Collecting

On April 1st, San Bernardino County claimed to be the first county in the State to offer electronic delivery of property tax bills.  San Luis Obispo County had quietly launched their paperless property tax initiative two years ago and just announced its full roll out to taxpayers this week.  Although there’s some dispute who was first, these neighboring counties are setting the example.  Transitioning Ventura County to a paperless property tax system is an important priority in my plans for the Treasurer-Tax Collector office.

The savings to the environment of sending out fewer paper bills is obvious. The savings to the taxpayer can be around $2.00 per tax bill that doesn’t need to printed, stuffed in a envelope and mailed. Paperless systems also provide better service to taxpayers. Multiple tax bills can be managed and combined, email and text reminders can be established. Collection rates can be improved through the use of email to remind taxpayers.

The conversion to a paperless system involves generating tax bills using the current online tax database infrastructure.  The process would take at least a year to implement properly.   I would begin assessing financial feasibility and planning the transition immediately upon taking office.  Paperless tax collection is a great example of the ways I will apply technology to the Treasurer-Tax Collector office.

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