FY STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN

Transcription

1 FY STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN, North Carolina

2 STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN OUR To be recognized for providing fair, clear, and accurate assessment services to assist local government in serving the community. We accomplish this by being a skilled, knowledgeable, and informed team, with integrated and reliable technology and work processes, making this a great place to work. OUR To discover, list, and appraise all real and personal property in in accordance with North Carolina General Statutes. The Assessor's Office provides accurate and timely information to internal and external customers while fostering good relations with those customers and the community..organizational vision is not about seeing that which is visible; it is about navigating the organization to a place no one has ever been.

3 OUR ENVIRONMENT ORGANIZATION The County Assessor s Office (CAO) is responsible for the appraisal of all taxable property, both real and personal, as defined by the North Carolina General Statutes (NCGS). CAO is comprised of 99 staff member across 5 divisions. Our budget FY 16 is $12,063,649. The CAO Real Estate Division is responsible for the periodic reappraisal (at least once every eight years) of all real property in, along with the annual updating of records to account for new construction, additions, and remodeling. The CAO Personal Property Division is responsible for both Business Personal Property and Individual Personal Property. The Division also does audits on accounts that have an aggregate assessed value of less than $50,000. The CAO Audit Division is responsible for both managing the audit program, completed by Tax Management Associates (TMA), and customer outreach. The CAO Administrative Division is responsible for department oversight, budgeting, purchasing, accounts payable, and many other office support programs. The CAO IS team makes sure all the technology that the CAO uses to list, assess, notice, bill and handle appeals for real and personal property works and works together. Most team duties fall into three areas: Operations, Support, and Management. CURRENT STATUS The CAO is completing the Session Law , Revaluation Review project. Prior to the beginning of the project, customer confidence in the CAO was at its low point. This was highlighted in the Customer Service Survey that the county paid for back in Any media story produced at that time included terms like blotched, error- plagued, etc. Upon the arrival of the new assessor in October of 2013, the department was in a reactive mode in handling media coverage. The slant and delivery of the stories almost always had a negative tone. The department has worked very hard to improve its public image and customer satisfaction. More recently, media stories appear to show the CAO in an improved image. The Valuation and Notices portion was completed on-time based on the 18 month plan. The CAO also completed the appeals by the end of calendar year 2015, another of our goals. The completion of nearly 24,000 appeals was an important milestone because the department could not complete the refunds and discovery bills process until the appeals were completed. The following list shows the status of the four phases of the project: Valuation and Notices completed Appeals completed Discoveries approx. 83% completed Refunds approx. 88% completed Other contributing factors included the late approval of the amendment to the session law to assist current owners that have not owned their property for the entire review period. So as CAO transitions away from the Revaluation Review project, focus turns from 2011 and the economic downturn to the future. The CAO continues to field canvass properties across to ensure that our property characteristics database is as accurate as possible. The department has completed approximately 100,000 property canvasses to date. It is also working on neighborhood boundaries. The department has recently hired a Revaluation Coordinator and will soon add a Quality Control/Appeals Position. The CAO still has much to do and a significant amount of the Review Project workload fell squarely upon staff. The CAO believes that the lessons learned during the Revaluation Review will pay huge dividends as it approaches the next revaluation. 3

4 OUR GOALS The County Assessor s Office (CAO) has established three major goals for the FY Strategic Plan. These are to: 1) Successfully conduct a revaluation in accordance with the North Carolina General Statues 2) Successfully close the 2011 Revaluation in accordance NC General Statutes 3) Maintain environmental sustainability of operations In the Current Status section of Our Environment, the CAO has outlined the where we are and moved the organization to the point just short of where we want to go. The message below covers the next steps for the CAO. DIRECTOR S MESSAGE Our goals for the FY Strategic Plan represents an opportunity for organizational transformation. They move us from a reactive state - with the revaluation review - to a proactive state, preparing for the next countywide revaluation. The department will stay proactive throughout the process, continuing the goal at CAO of creating our own future. Our organization is most appreciative of our partners assisting in our redevelopment. The contributions of BPM, PI, ITS, HR, Finance, OTC, LUESA, the Manager s Office, and others have been invaluable. This department would not be where it is today without their able assistance. The completion of nearly 24,000 appeals was an important milestone because the department could not complete the refunds and discovery bills process until the appeals were completed. Change is being implemented at many levels within our Real Estate Division and throughout the organization. Our focus on the revaluation will be keen. The Assessor s Office must continue to provide community outreach to all our customers and expect those opportunities to increase exponentially as we approach the next revaluation date. The process behind the next revaluation will look nothing like any revaluation Mecklenburg County has ever completed. To be successful, the focus must remain on our shared aspiration, remembering that organizational vision is not about seeing that which is visible; it is about navigating the organization to a place no one has ever been. 4

5 GOAL 1: A Revaluation in 2019 in Accordance with the North Carolina General Statute Objective 1: Ensure that exemptions are properly granted or denied on applicable parcels Strategy Redefine the current processes for exemptions Actions 1. Perform an audit of existing elderly and disabled exemption applications. 2. Create a tracking system of intake and outcome of all annual applications. 3. Create a tracking system of rollover exemptions, with a cyclical update of information. 4. Streamline processes with Information Technology Systems (ITS). 5. Document processes and create training manuals for staff. 6. New Hire FY 16 (Quality Control Employee) Human Resource 25% 7. One Information Systems Employee (Internal) Human Resource 10% Run exemption audit reports semi-annually and confirm an 85% level of compliance. Manually filter through 65% of paper applications and convert digital images on the NCPTS system. Quality control/assurance is vital to the success of every valuation system. It is important for the citizens of to be aware of exemptions that they may be eligible for, and it is equally important that the laws pertaining to the qualifications of these exemptions are adhered to. Proper tracking and quality control will create criteria, ensure that applications are properly reviewed, and that exemptions are granted, or not, appropriately. (See IAAO Standard on Property Tax Policy, 4.3 & 5.3) 5

6 GOAL 1: A Revaluation in 2019 in Accordance with the North Carolina General Statute (cont d) Objective 2: Implement a quality control process where appraisal, exemption, and appeal procedures are regularly audited and consistently monitored for adherence to North Carolina General Statutes, policies, and laws Strategy Enhance Quality Control Actions 1. Review parcels for listing accuracy as well as consistency among staff. 2. Review and grade quantity of new construction based on IAAO standards. 3. Acquire Modria to monitor customer inquiries, appeals, and staff response time. 4. Continue staff training. 5. Review and update existing Real Estate Policies and Procedures annually. Conduct 8 staff meetings/trainings per year for the appraisal staff with 85% participation Review 3% of Real Property field canvassed properties per year. Review 3% of value added permits per year MODRIA is an online dispute and resolution center. After many citizen complaints following the 2011 Revaluation, the current state of our online offerings was deemed insufficient by a BOCC commissioned customer service study dated May 23, This online informal appeals and customer inquiry system meets the criteria for those items outlined in that study (attached pdf). The costs are budgeted in the already approved related technology reserve request (see attached Excel sheet). 6

7 GOAL 1: A Revaluation in 2019 in Accordance with the North Carolina General Statute (cont d) Objective 3: Facilitate training programs to increase the quality of assessments Strategy A Action Measure(s) Develop and implement field canvassing and Real Property permits to regularly audit and consistently monitor the annual cycle. Hire an Appeals/Quality Control Coordinator in FY 16 to facilitate and review policies, procedures, and work product. This employee will be responsible for the flow of assessment appeals. This is a new position. TBD for the above position Accuracy of value is dependent upon the quality of the data, and a well-trained and knowledgeable staff. The Appeals/QC Coordinator will audit and identify areas of improvement, update and/or create policies, procedures and training for appraisal staff. 7

8 GOAL 1: A Revaluation in 2019 in Accordance with the North Carolina General Statute (cont d) Objective 3: Facilitate training programs to increase the quality of assessments (cont d) Strategy B Develop and implement field canvassing and Real Property permits to regularly audit and consistently monitor the annual cycle. Actions 1. Develop procedural manuals that support trainings provided by UNC School of Government, International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), and NC Department of Revenues 2. Review field canvassed parcels, initiate procedure manual (new construction and newly hired), monitor performance 3. Field canvass 1/6 th of the county each year for listing accuracy (IAAO Standards). 4. Input of field canvas property record cards into next revaluation file for analysis. 5. Implementation of annual access to construction permits. 6. Meet annual deadline of permit completion 7. Quality Control/Quality Assurance of 1/6 th of the field canvassed properties and new construction each year. Canvass thousand parcels per year. Have new construction completed by January 31 st each year. Property characteristics data should be continually updated, and made current to ensure the quality of that data, and proper assessments. IAAO recommends periodic field inspections to help ensure that characteristics are complete and accurate. By these standards, an on-site verification should occur every 4 to 6 years. Additional imaging and quality control measures will provide additional layers of accuracy. (See IAAO Standard on Mass Appraisal of Real Property, and 4.8) 8

9 GOAL 1: A Revaluation in 2019 in Accordance with the North Carolina General Statutes (cont d) Objective 4: Instill better understanding, positive reinforcement, and team work through better communication between jurisdictions, departments, management, staff, and the public; make it easier for customers to understand neighborhood delineation Strategy A Neighborhood Delineation Actions 1. Identify physical/natural boundaries, uniform land-use controls (zoning) and/or homogeneous types of properties that share similar geographic, economic, legal, and physical attributes; allow appraisers to better analyze each market easier and faster. 2. Re-Stratify current neighborhoods to support geographical markets affected by the same economic factors. Measure Strategy B Action Measure Re-stratification of 100% of neighborhoods by the date of revaluation (Some neighborhoods may stay the same even though all of them will be reviewed). Mass appraisal models attempt to represent the market for a specific type of property in a specified area. Valuation models are then developed for defined property groups, and separate models are developed for each market area. A quality revaluation requires that neighborhoods are properly delineated to draw from values within the appropriate market neighborhood and/or property group. (See IAAO Standard on Mass Appraisal of Real Property, 4.1) Design a working file of records Create a Revaluation 2018 file The performance test file should exist The revaluation file should exist. This is mandated by North Carolina Statutes. Revaluations are mandated by NC statute. We must do one by We must have a file to store the data. Therefore, the file must be created to comply with North Carolina General Statutes. 9

10 GOAL 1: A Revaluation in 2019 in Accordance with the North Carolina General Statutes (cont d) Objective 4: Create better understanding, positive reinforcement, and team work while instilling better communication between jurisdictions, departments, management, staff, and the public; make it easier for customers to understand neighborhood delineation (cont d) Strategy C Actions Strategy D Actions Sales verification Send sales letters, income and cost letters to understand current markets, more accurate records and to use this local data to build a better Schedule of Values that represents the Local economy. Send Letters to 100% of all Real Property transactions that occur. Deliver received questionnaire information to the appropriate appraiser within 1 week from receipt. One of the CAO responsibilities under NC General Statutes is to value real property. The primary way of determining the value of residential real estate is the analysis of sales of similar property. This data is required to confirm that the sale was an arms-length transaction and that the sale can be used to set the values of similar property. Not having this information will lead to incorrectly valued real property, citizen complaints, higher appeals volume, and the associated reputational and hard dollar costs of those outcomes. Cost is typically cents per letter depending for printing and first class mail volume discounts. Ensure land and improvement values are fair and equitable (1) Verify the consistency of land values and improvements. (2) Utilize technology to ensure and quality control procedures. Fair and equitable building data stems from better neighborhood boundaries, accurate market verification and stratification, and uniform training of staff. Run audit reports to verify data is consistent on a minimum of 90% of parcels Field train 100% of staff semiannually. Model testing and quality assurance will provide reliability of valuation models and ensure overall accuracy of the valuations for the countywide revaluation. We will utilize model diagnostics, sales ratio analyses, samples, and other quality control measures. (See IAAO Standard on Mass Appraisal, 5) 10

11 Strategy E Educate the public about the appeal process Actions 1.Promote website usage for appeal filing 2.Continue to enhance website with various appeal information 3. Meet with community groups throughout the year to explain the appeal process Strategy F Meet with 5 to 10 community groups per year Increase Appeals website traffic by 15%. The public website and pamphlets will share information about the revaluation process. The public website will be a reliable source for the retrieval of forms and other information related to the assessment processes. Educate the public about the 2019 revaluation Actions 1. Promote website usage for information. 2. Continue to enhance website with various information 3. Meet with community groups throughout the year to explain the upcoming revaluation Schedule meetings with at least 12 neighborhood and civic organizations per year Assess public knowledge via the Community Survey administered by the County Manager s Office The public website and pamphlets will share information about the revaluation process. The public website will be a reliable source for the retrieval of forms and other information related to the assessment processes. 11

12 GOAL 1: A Revaluation in 2019 in Accordance with the North Carolina General Statutes (cont d) Objective 5: Maintain an 84% or higher customer satisfaction for call volume and counter service Strategy A Employees will conduct themselves with integrity and display the organization s core values of being trustworthy, timely, open, clear, knowledgeable; provide names at all level of customer contact; end verbal communication with a wrap up questions such as Have I answered all your questions today? ; remain dedicated to customer satisfaction by listening to the customer s requests; delivery on time quality service; communicate openly while fostering transparency; and collaborate across the organization to foster the sharing of knowledge and a consistent message to customer Actions (FY 17) Contact 311 for monthly call volume reports on Real Estate (FY 18 & 19) Secure an electronic ticket tracking system for walk-in customers (FY 18 & 19) Create optional after call participation survey (FY 18 & 19) Create customer comment cards for counter Customer service survey. Secure report of walk-in volume from electronic tracking system Use telephone reports to measure the number of phone calls and hold time Customer service reports completed by walk-in customers The CAO will provide responses/feedback/and or information to customers during the initial contact that will reduce the number of repeat customers. The Ticketing Tracking System will provide better customer service and offer tracking and reporting metrics to identify peak periods. The CAO used the following data to identify the goals/objectives: 1. County Assessor s Work plan Customer Service Measure 2. Assessor s Office Mission Statement/Core Values 3. Call Volume reports obtained from

13 Strategy B Enhance collaboration between the County Assessor s Office and 311 Actions 1. Review, update and maintain keys word documents for Provide 311 with key mailing dates and volume 3. Continuous use of Emerald Request system for overflow Based on reports generated from the Emerald Software maintained by 311 Review, update, and maintain key word documents for 311 The CAO shares important updates and documents to ensure 311 conveys correct information to our customers. This also includes providing mailing dates for correspondence and mail volume. The 311 training document is also reviewed to make sure it is consistent with our practices. The CAO responds to the Emerald Requests generated by 311 daily. The goals and/or objectives for these measures was identified using the Run data edits from Assess-Pro with specific renewal dates and notices. Our goal is to produce correct reports with minimal errors and duplication. 13

14 GOAL 2: Close the 2011 Reevaluation Review Process in Accordance with the NC General Statutes Objective 1: Ensure all open appeals, refunds and/or tasks related to the 2011 Revaluation Review are closed Strategy Develop a plan that summarizes and schedules remaining actions related to the 2011 Revaluation Review. Actions 1. Identify all parcels impacted by the newly enacted Senate Bill (SB) 159; process discovery bills as appropriate for prior and current owner(s); contact prior and current owner(s) on discovery bills that have been paid and may be subject to language within SB Schedule and complete all Board of Equalization & Review appeals by February, 2016 (exception SB 159 affected properties). 3. Prepare related adjustments (includes refunds & discoveries) and mail notices by June 30, Final report of analysis of the process and costs. Summary by the Assessor s Office of the appeals, discoveries, and refund numbers. This plan is legally mandated by the NC General Statutes. Objective 2: Postmortem analysis of the Revaluation Review process Strategy Develop a plan that implements changes to the existing processes that were unsuccessful and continue to nurture processes that are successful Actions 1. Exit interview of Pearson Appraisal Service (PAS) 2. Determine overall impact of review to include value changes by segment 3. Determine total costs of the Revaluation Review Measure Final report of analysis of the process and costs. The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) members have stated they expect us to calculate these costs. 14

15 GOAL 3: Maintain Environmental Sustainability of Operations Objective 1: Adhere to environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) guidelines Strategy Actions Monitor department practices to ensure adherence to environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) guidelines FY 2017 Identify a department representative to work with the County s Sustainability Manager to track and meet the department s environmental goals FY 2017 FY 2019 Educate department employees on the importance of adhering to the County s environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) guidelines Enforce the department s adherence to the County s EPP guidelines by monitoring purchasing habits Embrace new and innovative opportunities for improving the environmental-friendliness of the department s purchasing habits When making purchasing decisions, consider the full cost of the products environmental, social, and economic Dollars spent on recycled paper / Dollars spent on all paper purchases Dollars spent on environmentally preferable office supplies / Dollars spent on all office supplies Dollars spent on remanufactured printer cartridges / Dollars spent on all printer cartridges The CAO will adopt purchasing habits that promote environmental sustainability and continue to find innovative ways to cut costs and minimize our impact on the environment. 15

16 GOAL 3: Maintain Environmental Sustainability of Operations Objective 2: Provide employees with opportunities to learn about and practice environmentallyfriendly activities (via the County s Work Green program) Strategy Actions Support employee involvement in environmentally-friendly activities (via the County s Work Green program) FY 2017 Identify a department representative to work with the County s Sustainability Manager to track and meet the department s environmental goals FY 2017 FY 2019 Measure Educate department employees on the importance of participating in the County s Work Green program Educate department employees on opportunities to participate in the County s Work Green program via educational opportunities (i.e. Lunch & Learns), volunteer opportunities, alternative commuting (i.e. carpooling, mass-transit, walking, or cycling), and other unique employee engagement campaigns Enforce the department s participation to the County s Work Green program by consistently monitoring performance Total number of Work Green credits earned by the department s employees The CAO will provide a healthy and sustainable work environment for employees to promote productivity, create a culture of employees that value the health of their surroundings, and encourage employees to utilize reusable dishware and reduce the amount of plastic and form containers used in eateries. 16