Webinar – Improving the Property Tax by Expanding Options for Monthly Payments

In the United States, about half of all homeowners pay their property taxes in just one or two large payments each year, rather than having the cost spread out into smaller (monthly) payments like most other bills and taxes. This payment schedule appears to cause several problems for homeowners and local governments; it can create financial challenges for households, increase tax delinquency, foster political opposition to the property tax, and requires governments to deal with irregular revenue inflows.

This webinar will describe how state and local governments can improve their property tax systems by allowing taxpayers to pay on a monthly basis. Adam H. Langley, Senior Research Analyst at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, will first cover key findings from his recent report, Improving the Property Tax by Expanding Options for Monthly Payments.

The next speakers will describe two of the best examples of monthly payment plans in the country. Claudia Fuentes, Treasurer for Marion County, Indiana, will describe Marion County’s Flex Pay plan. Jim Klajbor, Deputy Treasurer for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will describe Milwaukee’s monthly property tax installment payment plan.

Some local governments would need to make large investments in their tax collections software before they could start accepting monthly payments. The final speaker, Vincent Reitano, Public Finance Associate at the Government Finance Officers Association, will provide information on these costs and how governments can minimize them based on findings from his recent report, Investing in Collections Software to Allow for Monthly Property Tax Payments.

Participant Outcomes

• Understand the problems that can result from billing property taxes on an annual or biannual basis, and the benefits of allowing monthly property tax payments.
• Learn about two of the best examples of monthly property tax payment plans: Marion County’s Flex Pay plan, and Milwaukee’s monthly installment plan.
• Gain insight into the wide-ranging costs that governments could face to update their tax collections software to allow monthly payments, and some strategies to minimize these costs.