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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-07-2017 - 4-a - Presentation of the Joseph E. Hunt Distinguished Jurisdiction Award 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 7, 2017 Action Agenda Item No. 4-a SUBJECT: Presentation of the Joseph E. Hunt Distinguished Jurisdiction Award DEPARTMENT: Tax Office, Manager ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Orange County's Award Application Bonnie Hammersley, County Manager, (919) 245-2306 Dwane Brinson, Tax Administrator, (919) 245-2726 PURPOSE: To recognize the Orange County Tax Office staff for its achievement in earning the 2016 Joseph E. Hunt Distinguished Jurisdiction Award from the North Carolina Association of Assessing Officers (NCAAO). BACKGROUND: The North Carolina Association of Assessing Officers (NCAAO) has established the Jurisdiction Award to be presented each year in recognition of a county (or counties) achievement in areas of property tax assessment and/or collection, the implementation of a project, or endeavors to enhance the overall effectiveness of a county tax department. The recipient(s) receive prestigious recognition and an award at the annual NCAAO Fall Conference in November. The NCAAO reserves the right not to make this award annually, but as it deems justified. The Orange County Tax Office received the award for its 2017 revaluation collaborative community outreach efforts. Specifically, the NCAAO took note of Orange County's 2017 Revaluation Partner Program and its collaborative, transparency and educational components. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: There is no Orange County Social Justice Goal impact associated with this item. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board recognize the Orange County Tax Office staff for this achievement. 2 THE NCAAO 2016 Joseph E. Hunt Distinguished JURISDICTION AWARD App ® oust Jurist d c �. 'mat®ion o y � on A ward FOR CLARITY, PLEASE PRINT ALL INFORMATION COUNTY NAME: Orange County Number of Parcels: 55,500 Submitted By: Dwane Brinson Mailing Address: 228 S. Churton Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278 Contact Telephone Number: (919)245-2100 E-mail Address: dbrinson @orangecountync.gov Please refer to the cover letter on the awards rules and criteria before submitting the application for your County. The application must be received by Friday, October 17, 2016. In submitting your application, you may: • Print the form, complete and fax it to (919)-715-3107 attention, David Baker. • Print the form, complete and mail it to: NCDOR c/o David Baker PO Box 871 Raleigh, NC 27602 • Complete the form and e-mail it to: david.baker@ncdor.gov 3 Page 2 (Application for NCAAO 2016 Joseph E. Hunt Distinguished Jurisdiction Award) COUNTY NAME: Orange County You may submit one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper with single spacing with a font size of 12 for each criterion. 1. Description of the program or project and time frame of implementation: Briefly summarize the project's history, motivation,purpose,timeline and budget. For our 2017 revaluation,we wanted to garner excitement, involvement and collaboration with the public at a new level. One of the foremost goals of any revaluation is to adequately communicate the revaluation, its methodology and findings to the public,but for 2017 we found a way to improve this effort. Orange County, like other North Carolina counties,has a desire for full transparency and total collaboration. Knowing that,we developed a comprehensive educational academy for our public with a reward at the end. Our program is called 2017 Revaluation Partner. Through this program,the public reviews information on our website that includes: • Basics of a revaluation, including applicable laws and standards; • Full qualified sales bank allowing taxpayers to review all qualified sales being used; • A sales comparison grid with instructions on how to evaluate a property's value; • A Learn and Share revaluation video series; • An interactive and educational quiz As one begins the journey to become a 2017 Revaluation Partner,he or she can review our website narrative, proceed onto the Learn and Share video series and finally take part in the 10-question, interactive quiz. As a way to further the program's purpose,when a question on the quiz is answered incorrectly,the user is provided the correct answer and feedback as to why that answer is correct. Once the quiz is successfully passed, a Certificate of Achievement is awarded. Moreover, since the quiz taker registers before taking the quiz by inputting name and email address,this contact information is stored in the online database and is fully accessible by the tax office. This allows us to use our 2017 Revaluation Partners as a pilot group,knowing they are educated and have volunteered their time towards learning more about the revaluation. Through this effort, our Learn and Share video series has garnered 523 views. In addition,we now have a total of 34 Revaluation Partners that have completed the entire program. This effectively allows us to extend our office through a more educated and involved community. Perhaps more importantly,within the online quiz database we are able to see, among other things, statistics by question. This has been a tremendous help as we can see the one or two questions most frequently answered incorrectly by the public and surely address those in community presentations and other public relations efforts. While the program was designed to create a collaborative effort and partnership with the community,we have found that it also has gone a long way with governing boards. It has shown the county commissioners and town councils that we want community involvement through the design of this program. We want input upfront rather than later. 4 2. Effort and difficulty in implementing the program or project: How well did the program use available resources, given the time limitations on such resources? Were tax dollars saved? Were future expenditures curtailed?What obstacles or challenges had to be overcome? This was a large-scale project with many moving parts and involving coordination of efforts over time. The program used many existing resources and knowledge of staff. For example, development of a sample sales comparison grid and step-by-step instructions on how to evaluate sales was completed through Microsoft Excel and staff knowledge. Developing the Learn and Share revaluation video series, similarly,was made possible by staff volunteers. Three videos were created. One is more introductory,the second has more appraisal substance and the third covers mostly the appeals process. These are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the public. The interactive quiz was developed through a low-cost solution called ProProfs. Staff developed the quiz, Certificate of Achievement and manages analysis and reporting for feedback. 3. Describe how the program or project involves collaboration with other departments, municipal jurisdictions, non-profits or businesses? This program's success was dependent on collaboration within the tax office and other county departments. Every division within the tax office was involved in making the Learn and Share revaluation video series. Involvement included scene appearances,behind-the-scenes shots of staff hard at work reviewing maps, and staff speaking on camera during portions of the video. One scene involved an actual taxpayer reviewing her property record card with our Chief Appraiser. Orange County's Public Affairs office assisted with production of the videos. Public Affairs provided insight into best practices and coordinated the video shooting with a local producer. Orange County Information Technologies was instrumental in providing electronic solutions to components of the program. This segment alone was a great experience for staff. The program was advertised widely through County and Town resources as well as media outlets. It also was a part of every revaluation presentation. Of course,the largest collaborative component of this program was with the public. We developed this for the public to encourage their involvement in our 2017 revaluation. Moreover,we want to inspire the public's involvement upfront and throughout the process so, in part,they are educated about our methodology and their resources ahead of time. Increasing the public's understanding of the process and guidelines prior to the actual revaluation helps reduce frustration and increase collaboration during the revaluation process. This all ties back to the adage of making someone part of the decision process increases their likelihood of accepting the decision in the end. 4. Would other counties have the ability to replicate this program or project? What could counties do to minimize obstacles and problems? Yes,this program could be replicated and customized in other counties. To minimize obstacles and problems, other counties would create a roadmap and timeline upfront outlining the expectations. The standard project management questions of"what do we hope to accomplish?", "what is our timeline for each phase of the program?", etc. should be determined upfront.