Dane County and City of Madison Team Up to Save Money on Tax Statements

June 19, 2002
Sharyn Wisniewski (608) 267-8823, County Executive’s office Dave Gawenda (608) 266-4151, Dane County Treasurer Ryan Mulcahy (608) 266-4611, Mayor’s Office Ray Fisher (608) 266-4531, City Treasurer, City Assessor's Office

In what might seem like an ironic place to save tax dollars, Dane County has found a way to shave costs in processing the second installment property tax payments that are due by July 31. “I asked county department heads to find ways to save money,” said Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. “County Treasurer Dave Gawenda and City Treasurer Ray Fisher found a way to save $15,000 on processing tax payments by sharing equipment owned by the City of Madison. It is a win-win-win—for Dane County, the City of Madison, and most especially, for taxpayers,” said Falk. “We worked with Dane County to take advantage of this unique opportunity to simplify the way it processes tax payments. The agreement to use city equipment not only saves the county some steps, it saves the county money. We’re pleased that we can work together and benefit all taxpayers,” said Madison Mayor Susan J. M. Bauman. She congratulated Madison Treasurer Fisher, Assistant Treasurer JoAnn Terasa and County Treasurer Gawenda for working together to share the equipment. Property taxpayers in Dane County have the option of paying their tax bill in two installments. The first installment, due by January 31 of each year, is collected by the town, village or city in which the property is located. The second installment is paid to the county. Property taxpayers who have opted for the two-installment plan, will be receiving notices within the next week that the second installment is due July 31. Previous to this year, Dane County contracted with a private vendor for processing the 40,000 tax payments received in June and July. The City of Madison, however, owns electronic scanning equipment for processing its tax payments. The equipment matches the parcel number and the amount of the payment and automatically credits the payment within the system. Since the city uses the equipment in December and January, and the County would use it in June and July, it made perfect sense to share the equipment “Dane County is paying the City of Madison for processing the mailed tax payments. That should result in a savings of about 50 cents for each payment processed, and we only have to send our tax payments across the hall, rather than to a vendor out of the county,” said Gawenda. Gawenda said he would assess how smoothly the process goes after the July 31 deadline. He said people who wish to pay over the counter in the Treasurer’s office are still welcome to do so. # # # Please note: Photo opportunities can be arranged through Dave Gawenda