The challenge
Property tax collection concentrates a year's revenue into a few weeks. The counter, the phone line and the mail all peak simultaneously, and staffing for the peak is not an option.
Payers frequently could not locate their bill, turning what should be a self-service transaction into a phone call.
Distribution to schools, cities and authorities depends on clean daily reconciliation — reconciliation that cannot wait until the season is over.
The approach
A branded property tax collection page was configured with search by parcel, bill number, owner name and address, resolved live against the county's tax system.
eCheck was enabled alongside cards so that high-value tax bills had a flat-fee payment option.
Real-time reporting was configured with the fields the office needs for digest reconciliation and distribution, exportable to the county's financial system.
Government Window's support team took payer questions directly, keeping the office's phone line focused on tax questions rather than payment mechanics.
The results
Online property tax payment volume has grown each year since 2014 without a corresponding increase in office staffing.
The office describes day-to-day interaction with Government Window as a matter of sending an email — support is a channel, not a ticket queue.
Payer convenience has proven to outweigh the service fee, which is the adoption question every tax office asks before going live.