Treasurer-Tax Collector Property Tax Checks Only Process

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

As collector of property tax payments for nearly 1 million parcels, the County of San Diego implemented a “Checks Only” program to more efficiently identify and apply property tax payments submitted without a payment stub from more than 50,000 taxpayers who use their online banking service to pay bills. The annual value of payments processed in this manner amounts to more than $130 million each year. As more citizens are using online banking services to pay bills through the banking institution of their choice, it is critical for the tax collector to adapt to the change in technology that has become a convenient way of life for everyone. The “Checks Only” program allows the tax collector to use technology to identify the parcel (account) number information as text shown in various positions on a check and match the parcel number to the account the taxpayer intended to pay. This eliminates the need for an operator to manually search for the parcel number in the tax collection system and print a payment stub as previously required for processing through the tax collector’s remittance processing machines.