In last week’s blog post, I outlined some tried and true collection techniques.  This week we’ll explore four more ways to help you boost your NC property tax collection rates.

The just released Management of Cash and Taxes and Fund Balance Available memo for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011 reveals that the Statewide Average for NC property tax collections is 97.63%.

North Carolina property tax collections account for the lion’s share of each county's total revenue, but when cash-strapped counties face a budget shortfall, raising rates is not a popular option.   That leaves many local governments seeking new revenue opportunities.

Did you know that if you have delinquent taxpayers for another taxing unit within your borders, you could be liable for those unpaid taxes?

NC local government continues to struggle under the weight of the economic downturn.  However, some counties and municipalities are beginning to at least see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Personal property tax levy is one of the most complicated delinquent tax remedies.  Identifying and locating the taxpayer’s property that is eligible for levy is often one of the biggest challenges of this delinquent property tax remedy. 

Attachment and Garnishment is an effective and often-used method of enforced tax collection.  But, the statutes that govern it and the process of enforcing it are anything but easy. 

In FY ended June 30, 2010, more than $58 million in NC property taxes went uncollected. With counties and municipalities around North Carolina struggling to maintain a proper fund balance, now is the prime time to review your forced collections strategies.

Unfortunately, addressing problems don’t typically capture the attention of most county officials until “bad things” occur: a fire that forces evacuation of residents, a death because an ambulance couldn’t find an address (or were routed to a wrong address), people voting in the wrong districts, or someone picking up on the fact that “some” county residents haven’t been paying their fair share of taxes (or any share at all).

Last week I attended the 2011 North Carolina GIS Conference in Raleigh. The conference is bigger than a lot of national conferences and attracts folks from North Carolina and surrounding states. I’ve actually been attending this conference throughout my career, starting with my US EPA days through IBM and now as a representative of Farragut. I’ve been to a lot of state GIS conferences, and I have always been particularly impressed with this conference and the state of GIS technology in North Carolina. The quality of papers and general information that you pull out of this conference has always been impressive.