Agency Overview Mission Statement Business Environment Strategic Results Fund Details Tax Collection Program Delinquent Tax Collection Program Escrow Program Portfolio Management Program Agency Services Program

Agency Overview

Mission

The mission of the County Treasurer's office is to: (1) bill and collect taxes on real estate, personal property, and manufactured homes and ensure that the revenues are distributed promptly to schools, municipalities, libraries, and other political subdivisions; and (2) manage and invest all monies deposited in the Treasury in a professional and prudent manner to ensure that they are kept safe at all times, earn a reasonable rate of return, and are available when needed so that the county can operate and provide services to citizens, political subdivisions (schools, libraries, etc.) and agencies of Franklin County.

Business Environment

Several business environment dynamics impact the Treasurers Office, including but not limited to the following:

• Number of new home builds (increases number of parcels to manage)
• Real estate sales (increase record keeping and research requirements)
• Mortgage refinancings (increase record keeping and research requirements)
• Interest rates (low rates increase home sales and decrease interest earnings)
• Unemployment rates (more unemployment increases delinquency rates)
• Number of bankruptcies (must file proof of claim to secure county's lien position)
• Changes in the Ohio Revised Code (may affect the taxes we collect and how we collect them as well as permissible investments and authority to establish other programs)
• County Commissioner resolutions (authorize measures such as a linked deposit program)
• Low interest rates promote new home builds, refinancing of mortgage loans and increases the number of real estate transactions. This activity increases the workload in the office, as records need to be updated and maintained. Further, the low interest rate market puts particular stress on the revenues earned through the investments of the county. Cash flow concerns and maintaining liquidity are critical to the successful management of the county's money. The Treasury will remain diligent in looking for opportunities to increase investment revenues for the county by more actively managing the cash flow with a software package developed specifically for cash management purposes. The package will also lend itself to debt management.
• Further, as the economy tightens, the economic conditions of the citizens will be stressed causing more tax delinquencies. This in turn will require the Treasury to look at alternative ways to collect delinquent taxes such as the continuation of a tax lien certificate sale and the development of a land bank for the county.
• We will also be focusing our efforts on our Escrow Program and returning the interest earned on pre-payments to the participating taxpayers. The escrow program provides a budgeting tool for taxpayers that is especially important these days as mortgage companies are not as interested in providing escrow services due to low market rate opportunities. The program is especially appealing to persons on fixed incomes.
• The Treasury will continue to strengthen, formalize and test our disaster recovery and contingency plan that will ensure the safety of the documents we handle and will ensure continuity of operations should an occasion arise.
• The office will make major strides in transferring office records to a digital imaging format.
• Our short and long term goals relating to data services include improving our website to allow Franklin County taxpayers access to the office via the Internet by providing interactive forms and accepting electronic signatures on documents. We will continue to monitor the requirements and potential cost benefits of Check 21, a mandated paperless banking process into our positive pay and automated warrant reconciliation process.
• We will continue to work with title companies and mortgage companies to find ways to improve the tax collection process with electronic transfer of data.
• It is also our desire to incorporate IVR technology into our new phone system to provide our constituents even greater access to the office.
• Economic conditions in the county directly impact operations at the Treasury by affecting both revenues and expenditures, especially the demand for taxpayer services.
• The Treasury serves both internal and external stakeholders as listed: the County Commissioners; Auditor; Data Center; Print Shop; Purchasing; Treasury employees; all county agencies; PFM; training resources; various software providers; various suppliers such as the post office, Brink's, Xerox; financial institutions; brokers; financial advisors; service organizations; mortgage companies; title companies, other governmental subdivisions and all school districts within Franklin County; and, most important of all, the taxpayers and the public.

Strategic Results

• Increase efficiency through use of the Internet and other electronic processes.
• In 2007,Redesign the Real Estate Tax Bill to provide taxpayers more comprehensive information about their property taxes and to add efficiency to our processing operations.
• Maintain the delinquency rate below 4% through aggressive collection methods including the tax lien certificate sale. -Continue addressing "overpayment/surplus" payments and return overpayments to rightful owners in a timely manner.
• Review and establish benchmarking and employee performance appraisal processes.
• Provide computer training to all staff. In 2007, all employees will be offered the opportunity to take a minimum of two classes, and, ensure all systems documentation is up-to-date.
• Review all task manuals and operational procedures.
• Review banking service needs and conduct bid for banking services.
• In 2007, increase participation by 3% in the direct debit tax payment program to help taxpayers budget for their tax obligations. By 2010, the increased participation should be 10%. The result is a reduced number of potential delinquencies and disgruntled taxpayers due to better personal budgeting.
• Work with the Sheriff's Office to process Sheriff Sale tax payments more efficiently and reduce the amount of overpayments made in this process.
• Work with 500 seniors who are delinquent on their taxes to help them manage their tax and other financial obligations and protect them against predatory lenders.
• Seek funding for PTAP - the Property Tax Assistance Program for Seniors.
• Maintain interest earnings that meet or exceed the County's benchmark set by the Merrill Lynch treasury and agency 1-to-3-year index.
• Increase community partnerships and reduce tax delinquencies and vacant property issues throughout the county through the land bank initiative.
• Increase public awareness thru 50 outreach efforts to improve utilization of services. This includes increasing public awareness of our direct debit tax payment program, our delinquent tax programs, the tax lien program, voter registration, consumer education and the implementation of payment options via the Internet. By 2010, 10,000 Franklin County citizens will have benefited from the Treasurer's outreach efforts.
• Explore the possibility of pursuing a Securities Lending Program to add value and revenue to the Investment Portfolio.
• Restructure and implement a linked deposit program to assist in serving community needs should market rates allow.
• Build and share our knowledge base as it relates to financial literacy and consumer financial protection.
• Increase customer satisfaction by improving the quality and timeliness of services. Internal testing and constituent feedback indicate a need for improved Internet and telephone services that will help the taxpayers gain information in a more timely and efficient manner, especially during tax collection periods of peak demand.  

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