Department: Tax Assessor-Collector
Department Head/Elected Official: Ms. Ann Harris Bennett
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable):
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable):
MWDBE Participation (if applicable):
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval of funding in the amount of $313,425 to increase the temporary staff head count to prepare for a return to non-appointment walk-up services at branches and to prepare for the upcoming seasonal influx of property tax customer interactions.
end
Background and Discussion:
We are forecasting a budget shortfall for this fiscal year due to temporary employee agency price increases, non-labor cost increases and a tight labor pool. We’ve seen our non-labor contract employee costs rise 6.7% year-over-year, which makes up approximately 30-37% of our non-labor budget. Our contract workers create the pipeline for quality candidates being hired, and keep the Tax Office operating efficiently and cost-effectively.
Expected Impact:
The approval of this item will allow us to meet the needs of our stakeholders, recapture previous levels of employee morale, reduce the backlog of transactions and help twice as many taxpayers avoid unneeded payment pitfalls. We are confident the funds will help us secure the workers and supplies needed to keep the Tax Office running efficiently as we push towards a strategic return to full-service mode. It will also help us properly manage the seasonal influx of customer visits, calls, emails and other service needs. In specificity, it will:
1. Provide an estimated transaction processing capability increase of 19,152 transactions a month,
2. Allow us to move closer to target transactional efficiency rating of 7.5, going from 5.33 to 5.96,
2. Facilitate the reduction of response times to customer inquiries 50%,
3. Allow us to initiate twice as many property tax advocacy contacts,
4. Allow the Tax Office to properly staff the branch that was closed due to Hurricane Harvey.
Alternative Options:
Alignment with Goal(s):
_ Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
X Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
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Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Countywide
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
Service Name |
|
|
FY 21-22 |
FY 22 |
Next 3 FYs |
Incremental Expenditures (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
Labor Expenditures |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Non-Labor Expenditures |
$313,425 |
|
|
Total Incremental Expenditures |
$313,425 |
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|
Funding Sources (do NOT write values in thousands or millions) |
Existing Budget |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Additional Budget Requested |
1000 - General Fund |
$313,425 |
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|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Total Additional Budget Requested |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Total Funding Sources |
$313,425 |
|
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
Additional Positions Requested |
- |
- |
- |
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Implementation Date: November 30, 2021
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Marcus Hamilton, Assistant Chief Deputy/Budget, Tax Assessor-Collector
Attachments (if applicable): Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Additional Budget Proposal.pdf