Department: Commissioner, Precinct 1
Department Head/Elected Official: Rodney Ellis
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Discussion Item
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for an update from the County Attorney’s Office on the status of delinquent tax collections and the impact on property taxpayers.
end
Background and Discussion:
Failure to resolve delinquent tax accounts quickly allows penalties and interest to balloon for property owners. From 1999 to 2023, the private law firm, Linebarger, Goggan, Blair, & Sampson, LLP. (Linebarger), collected delinquent property tax collections for Harris County. Linebarger’s contract allowed for the collection of a 15% fee on top of the statutory required interest & penalties (1% interest per month & 6% to 12% penalty). When private firms collect delinquent taxes there is an incentive to delay resolution to collect higher penalties. In 2020, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the County Attorney’s Office (CAO) provided data to show that taxpayers pay an additional $8.6-$.9.3 million in fees above penalties and interest annually to Linebarger.
To reduce this burden several steps the Commissioners Court has taken the following steps:
• June 2021, the Commissioners Court approved the renewal of the delinquent tax collection contract with Linebarger, agreeing to a 15% penalty collection rate.
• May 2022- the Court approved a motion to develop a plan to move delinquent tax collections in house within 365 days. The Office of County Administration, County Attorney’s Office, Office of Management and Budget and Tax-Assessor Collector were tasked to lead this plan development.
• Summer 2022 the County released a tax collection software RFP to separate collections from software management.
• February 21, 2023- The CAO will present a plan for in-house delinquent tax collections for final review.
• April 4, 2023- The Court approved the final transition plan to move delinquent tax collections to the County Attorney’s Office for Harris County taxes.
• March 2024- The Court will receive an update on the status of delinquent tax collections.
Expected Impact: N/A
Alternative Options: N/A
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
X_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
_X Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
4/4/2023 |
347 |
Court approved official transition of delinquent tax collections to CAO |
|
2/21/2023 |
500 |
Possible action to transition the delinquent tax collections process to the CAO |
|
5/24/2022 |
312 |
Direct OCA, CCA and CAO to develop plan to eliminate excessive delinquent tax collection fees and bring to Court for review within 12 months. |
Location:
Address (if applicable): Countywide
Precinct(s): Precinct 1
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: March 26, 2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date):
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Sophie Elsner, Policy Director, Precinct One
Attachments (if applicable): N/A