1. Transparency in Appeals Kim Simpson, Durham County Tax Administrator Presented by Steve Pelfrey, Durham County Deputy Assessor

2. Some of the issues:  Taxpayers contacting office for appeal purposes in multiple ways  Barriers to convenient communication with taxpayers  Variation in taxpayer inquiry volume (different times/stages of tax year)  Time involved in routing inquiries appropriately  Ability of taxpayers to develop meaningful appeals  Keeping track of documentation  Consistency in responses from tax office  Ability for managers to provide oversight  Getting consistent information in front of the Board of E&R  The need to manage everything with current CAMA system, but not be dependent on it

3. Durham County’s Goal  Develop a method of interaction with taxpayers that:  Maximizes the convenience and options for taxpayers  Creates a discussion thread between taxpayers and staff  Gives supervisors a means of oversight  Further reduces paper  Improves Board of E&R efficiency

4. How do taxpayers want to contact us?  An article in the April, 2014 issue of Fair & Equitable referenced a study which found that communication by the Internet has become the primary channel of contact in the United States  The same study indicated that Americans actually preferred communicating with government offices via the Internet, compared to other methods

5. Common Online Experience TaxpayerManagementBoard of E&R Appraisal Staff Durham County’s strategy

6. Our approach:  Dedicated email address to respond to general inquiries  Online filing and tracking for appealsfiling and tracking  Simple, easy-to-read online property record cardonline property record card  Online tool for taxpayers to locate suitable comparable sales  Online demographics to provide community information

26. Results  In the first year of implementation, the online appeal process was the choice of taxpayers for about 50% of appeals, without any announcement or promotion of the online appeal process  We do not believe the convenience of online filing has increased the number of appeals  Appeals were resolved faster, because both staff and supervisors could keep track of individual appeal activity  Board of E&R preparation time was reduced

27. Takeaway Points  The overall goals were:  To make it easier for taxpayers to get relevant information and to file appeals  To make it easier for staff, management, and Board of E&R to track appeals  The online process helps accomplish both of these goals  We happened to choose particular vendors and particular products, but there are certainly other alternatives  It can start with a dedicated email address that is actively monitored, and a willingness to help taxpayers develop the best appeals they can

28.  The “sandbox” version of the online appeals system is available at:  https://qa-dconc.modria.com/ https://qa-dconc.modria.com/  The live version of the new property record card is available at:  http://dev.spatialest.com/durham- nc/Property%20Record%20Card/ http://dev.spatialest.com/durham- nc/Property%20Record%20Card/

29. Questions? spelfrey@dconc.gov 919-560-0409 spelfrey@dconc.gov