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The County’s Transfer Office has been experiencing
a high volume of property transfers and mortgage refinancings
due to low interest rates and the robust real estate market
in Montgomery County. The business process for intake,
logging, reviewing, performing calculations, and transmitting
documents and funds was manual, cumbersome, and labor intensive.
The processing time for simple deeds (i.e., simple property
transfers between homeowners) and deeds of trust was averaging
up to 30 days due to the increased volume of transactions.
The County experienced significant lost investment income
resulting from the delays in processing and similar delays
in depositing the transfer tax checks accompanying the
applications. Private settlement companies incurred costs
for hand delivery of paperwork at multiple stages.
The Department of Finance determined the need for a total
turn-key business solution that would automated the transfer
tax application and payment process. In February 2002,
the Department of Finance program and information technology
staff met with a private settlement company that is a high-volume
participant in the County’s transfer tax application
process, and formulated the strategy of combining database
solutions and document image retrieval to create a streamlined,
integrated application that includes: paperless electronic
application submission, automated calculations and review,
automated electronic processing of tax payments, and database
tracking of payment information, all accessed through the
County’s web site. It is a cutting-edge application
that brings simplicity, speed, and cost savings to all
parties involved in the property transfer and tax collection
process. The concept of business process re-engineering
was embraced to develop the application. The business processes
were illustrated and defined using a business system flow
chart that served as the blueprint for the application
development.
The new paperless system enables settlement companies
to accomplish processing of simple deeds and deeds of trust
online, rather than utilizing the traditional “walk
through” method. The faster processing resulting
from the system benefits the County through faster deposit
of tax receipts and increased investment income, and virtually
eliminating staff time required for processing these documents.
The application has reduced the processing time for recording
deeds from and average of 30 days to 15 minutes. Savings
to the County in investment income results from depositing
the payment automatically via the ACH electronic payment
system on the same day that the application is received,
as compared to depositing funds after a typical 14 day
processing time. These savings are estimated at up to $93,600
annually.
From “2003 Top 25 Technology Solutions”
By Public Technology Inc.
http://pti.nw.dc.us/
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