Sept 07 Quarterly Report

As the new Pulaski County Collector, the last six months have been busy reviewing policies and procedures as well as implementing plans to improve the service, trustworthiness and efficiency of the Collector’s office. Many of the changes I have made will greatly improve the daily operations and address the concerns of past state audits. I understand that sometimes changes are difficult, unpopular and can create additional costs to initialize; however, I believe you, the taxpayer, will benefit from the changes because they were implemented to provide accurate and timely information for the collection and distribution of your tax dollars, establish checks and balances to safeguard the taxes collected, and provide excellent customer service.

The following changes and innovations have been implemented in the Collector’s office:

1. Put procedures in place to create checks and balances for daily reports and monthly reconciliations. Reports are now in Excel format and provide us with another tool to protect the collected tax dollars and eliminate theft. The new procedures include making daily bank deposits. Installed a Merchant’s License program that was integrated into the existing software of the Collector’s office. Because it is an automatic revenue entry this minimize mistakes that could occur when using the previous system. A Merchant’s License is issued for the calendar year of January 1 through December 31 and the annual fee is $25.00. This streamlined program allows us to generate the annual license, with a statement reminding the merchant of the need to update to the current year’s license.

2. Created a Pulaski County Collector’s website which provides information about the office, Delinquent Tax Certificate Sale, Merchant’s License, Tax Levies, Personal Property Taxes for the military and other website links useful to taxpayers. The website is: www.pulaskicollector.com.

3. Developed a Delinquent Tax Certificate Sale packet for citizens interested in the annual sale. The packet provides information in advance of the sale which affords taxpayers the opportunity to make an informed decision as to whether or not the sale is something in which they want to participate. Registration and affidavit forms were included in the packet and the website, allowing anyone who is interested in the sale to register the week before. The website, www.pulaskicollector.com, was updated daily so taxpayers had access to an accurate list at any time. The sale is held annually on the fourth Monday of August. I received many favorable comments about this year’s information packet, the radio program/newspaper articles prior to the sale, and the new website with the daily updated list of properties to be sold.

4. We are in the process of installing a program that will allow taxpayers to pay their 2007 taxes online or via an 800 number, 24 hours a day.

5. Integrated a computer program to generate the annual Collector’s Settlement report required by state law. This had been a major problem of the past.

6. Our office provides official Personal Property tax receipts for use in motor vehicles registration. This replaces the handwritten cards that had the potential of being misused.

As you can tell, we have been very busy these last six months. All of us in the office have learned a lot and are crossed-trained to be able to perform the job of any other employee in the Collector’s office. Service to the taxpayers of Pulaski County is our highest priority.

We encourage your suggestions, comments or praise. Together we can make the Pulaski County Collector’s office one of the most outstanding collector’s offices in the state