Texas Appraisal District Streamlines Operations With Tyler

• Industry: County Government
• Location: Fort Bend County, Texas
• Employees: 136
• Population: 850,000
• Tyler Client Since: 2002
• Tyler Products Used: Assessment & Tax Pro [powered by Orion™]

Challenges

With an emerging pandemic, limited and fragmented governmental response, and subsequent economic uncertainty, 2019-2021 were challenging years for government offices and communities alike. Property owners across the state of Texas were unsure and curious about valuation changes, and internal team members in the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (FBCAD) office demanded safe, efficient working environments to meet the needs of their constituents.

The pandemic had made current reviews of value processes impractical for property owners as well as for internal staff. Existing processes involved manual entry, significant back and forth between office and owner, and room for manual error. A trip to an office also meant constituents had to drive, pay for parking, and risk health and safety — which caused bottlenecks at high-traffic times.

Constituents in the nearby Montgomery and Williamson districts were also filing record numbers of value protests, and the district offices independently came to the same conclusion: a modern protest process was necessary.

To address these challenges, the districts needed a streamlined, user-friendly, and fully integrated software solution that would allow for property owners to interact with offices remotely while allowing internal staff the efficient capabilities necessary to complete reviews, projects, and daily tasks.

Solution

FBCAD was looking for a software solution that included:

• A paperless workflow for managing every step of the property tax life cycle
• A dashboard that would allow administrators to monitor key performance indicators
• The ability for constituents to engage in an online value protest or file for an exemption online
• A complete management system to inspect, review, and defend property tax values

Tyler’s Assessment & Tax Pro met these needs. The three central appraisal districts agreed that a streamlined and automated protest process was necessary, and that they could leverage existing technology solutions across offices. And the system could accommodate each district’s unique transactional process for value protests – allowing for workflow overview to keep things moving smoothly.

Results

With the enhanced collaboration between districts, and the implementation of new tactics, property owners enjoy the new online appeal process and have expressed positive feedback. District staff are also pleased with the new functionality and workflow that not only frees them up for other priority tasks and projects, but also relieves excessive overtime during appeal season. For the first time in years, appraisers were able to work through all the online appeals prior to certifying, whereas in the past, carryover and additional review board meetings were unable to be completed prior to the deadline.

Fort Bend, Williamson, and Montgomery are some of Tyler’s largest central appraisal districts by volume, and thanks to enhanced collaboration through technology, all three now certify rolls ahead of schedule. FBCAD works closely with the neighboring districts to maintain best practices and increase efficiency through automation. In the end, local property owners are pleased with the innovations, team members are happy with the increased productivity, fewer hours, and reduced manual effort, professional agents are thrilled with the efficiency gains, and the administration continues to save time and money.