Customer-Friendly Web Enhancements

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

Florida has over 30 ad valorem property tax exemptions, and navigating the list of what exemptions are being applied to a piece of property can be confusing for owners. Also, many counties, including Lake, did not offer residents a simple way to apply for homestead exemption status; relying on paper applications, hand-delivered or mailed-in. To remedy these issues, a team of in-house staff across two agencies, the Property Appraiser’s Office and the Lake County Board of County Commissioners, developed an easy-to-use web interface that displays a listing of available exemptions. The website includes a green checkmark next to the exemptions being applied that a particular property. The page likewise displays the applicable assessment reduction information, and displays a total savings for both exemptions and assessment for that individual property. The team also created a user-friendly e-file application for homestead exemptions that resulted in 65 percent of all new applications being filed online in its first year. The benefits to workflow and productivity by not having to process paper applications was felt immediately; while the long-term benefits of property owners benefiting from both the online application process, and the new individualized exemption and assessment information is invaluable.