FINANCING

For some tax authorities, their pool of delinquent tax receivables has become a hindrance to their overall operations. For others, the help of interim financing between collection phases would be of great benefit.

There are numerous finance structures that can be used by taxing authorities to increase cash flow, solve delinquency backlogs, or create taxpayer repayment extensions. MTS educates government officials on the pros and cons of each financing option. We work with collection teams to determine the best option for their immediate and ongoing situations. Moreover, we have connections to lenders and capital market experts who will ensure a smooth transaction.

Please contact us to discuss how each of these options may be able to help your delinquent tax portfolio.

LEGISLATION

As far back as 1998, our senior team has advised, reviewed, and even drafted tax collection and finance legislation in several states. Laws governing property tax collection and enforcement can be tricky and if not done with precision unintentional loopholes can arise. We assist legislators in creating tax collection systems that are fair and comprehensive, yet simple to understand and implement. The correct balance of enforcement and forbearance will not only increase collections, but also increase popularity with constituents.

Many statutes covering property tax collection were written decades ago and have patches that addressed isolated issues as they arose. However, most do not address recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding due process, most significantly Jones v. Flowers (2006), or the modernized methods of communication and finance. Often, they also do not properly compensate collection offices for the costs of collection and default processing. The results are that collection offices are held back from performing the most effective services, and thus sometimes property rights are not upheld.

A properly balanced statute will rigorously protect property rights, but also allow the tax collection process to proceed smoothly and timely. In addition, this statute structure will reduce blight.

Please contact us to learn more about how we can help your legislative team make effective changes to your property tax collection laws.

OPERATIONS

Operations involves everything from the technology systems used to track parcels, assessments, and payments, to the policies and procedures used to interact with the property owners.

Our operations team helps tax collection groups setup the policies and procedure that maximize communication and ease of payment, and thus enhance collections. We work with tax collection offices to create effective and responsive environments for payment processing, special needs response, effective communication, and enforcement with grace and compassion.

In addition, we help tax collection teams build the systems and metrics to monitor their success. In today’s world, it is not enough to know the aggregate percentage of collection each year. We must determine which property types, demographics, and other categorizations are under performing. Then, we design programs to help those groups struggling to stay current. We use our analysis to determine problems in the tax assessment and collection processes, and to measure the fixes we implement.

Please contact us to discuss how we can help your team increase collections and create a more comfortable process for your constituents.