MOHAVE COUNTY–The Treasury Office is always looking for ways to improve the services provided to taxpayers and to the County. This month I will be highlighting 2018 Tax Statements, some projects completed since I took office, and some currently underway. My goal is to assist the County in lowering (or not having to raise) taxes.

The 2018 Property Tax Statements will be mailed to the “Owner of Record” before the end of September.  2018 Property Tax amounts are unavailable until this mailing as we calculate, verify and prepare for mailing. Thank you to all taxpayers who have signed up for eNoticesOnline. This service saves taxpayer monies previously paid for printing and postage. Mohave County bills over 260,000 parcels each year and that number is growing. The cost of an eNoticesOnline is 19 cents per parcel instead of the much higher cost for printing and postage. To use this service, please go to www.enoticesonline.com. As always, after mailing, the 2018 Property Tax Statements will be available on our website at www.mohavecounty.us.

The largest single budget item I have some control over is Salaries and Wages. Although this is subject to laws such as minimum wage, County guidelines, etc., I can affect the number of employees in my office. The Treasury Office and the County in general, has had reductions in work force prior to 2013. At its highest, there were 30+ employees in the Treasury Office. Through automation, streamlining and economies of scale, as of this Fiscal Year the staff headcount in my office is 22 full-time employees. I have also encouraged job sharing and less than full-time staff, which further reduces costs to the County.

The “New and Improved” cashier windows proved well worth the investment made in 2014. We now have faster, more accessible customer service windows, shorter lines for Treasury customers, better flow to enforce more stringent cash controls and are compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Board of Supervisors approved Tax Lien Foreclosure of 809 seriously delinquent parcels (all vacant land). This action forced a handful of property owners to pay delinquent taxes (redeeming their liens) back to 2007.  Although the full and final results will not be realized until the County Clerk of the Board holds the Tax Deed Sale, the results so far are extremely promising. My hope is to continue this each year, recoup tax dollars the County has gone decades without and get these parcels back in current tax status. This action also encouraged automation of the Tax Lien Foreclosure process saving time, energy and costs now and going forward.

The Tax Lien Foreclosure automation was so successful it led to the Treasury Tax Deeds automation currently being implemented. Piggybacking off the Tax Lien Foreclosure automation saves taxpayer monies for needed and cost saving automation.

 Cindy Landa Cox, Mohave County Treasurer

Next month’s article will be from Mohave County Sheriff Doug Schuster