Gaining Efficiency from Technology

 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. Budget Cuts and more Budget Cuts

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 Technology and Tourist Development Tax

Taxpayers Use Automation to trigger events Letters & s – 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 Increasing Audit Efficiency

Stretching what you have 1.Search – It takes minutes to find short-term rentals in your County. Simple compare your findings with the addresses that you have registered. 2.Efficient tracking of delinquency accounts –Allow trigger points in an account to notify you when the account needs your attention. 3.‘Neighborhood watch program’ – Counties have decreased ability to go into the field and track people down, use the community. 4.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. 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 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

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 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

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 Filing and Payments Made Easy

Ability for the taxpayer to self-register – No how-to calls to your staff

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

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

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 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

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

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. 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 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 Filing and Payments Made Easy

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

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