IMPROVE.NET - Web-based Business/Personal Property Valuation System

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

Alameda County successfully launched the first web-based property value system in California. Complexity of the California property tax code makes modernization of property tax systems in the state extremely challenging. Alameda County Assessor’s Office assesses and manages over 508,000 real properties and business/personal properties (BPP). The Assessor’s 35-year old BPP system was no longer meeting the demands of the business. Manual handling of the documents received by the BPP division led to user errors and a substantial effort to correct them. Auditor-appraisers made notes on the documents and notes were entered into the mainframe system by the clerks. Tracking of the operations and management reporting were done manually in Excel spreadsheets. To modernize the system with the goal of increasing productivity and operational agility, reducing paper and improving service to public, the Assessor and IT Department jointly planned five major production releases over 2 years. All releases were deployed on schedule, beginning in July 2016. The new system gave the Assessor’s staff a large productivity boost. Features include: sophisticated workflow ensuring consistency of the business process and staff accountability, real-time integration with document imaging, GIS and other enterprise systems.