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Tulare County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder cites digitization, new software and planned move to speed services
Summary
The Tulare County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder’s office told supervisors it has migrated from decades-old systems to modern software, cut major processing backlogs and plans a relocation to Government Plaza to improve public access.
Tulare County’s Assessor-Clerk-Recorder office told the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 23 that a multi-year modernization program has replaced legacy systems, digitized millions of records and reduced a major document-processing backlog while improving public access.
The presentation, led by Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Tara Freitas and department public information lead Steve Wise, outlined software replacements, a large-scale scanning project, online filing expansions and a planned relocation to Government Plaza on Mooney Boulevard.
The changes matter because the assessor’s office establishes property values that form the county tax roll. “When Tara was appointed department head … she vowed to modernize the office,” Wise said, adding the office now manages roughly $53 billion in assessed value across about 175,715 assessments. Freitas said the department’s work is governed by state law and that modernization reduces wait times and internal bottlenecks.
Freitas described three major software projects: migrating to the Megabyte property tax system used by dozens of California counties; implementing Tyler Technologies software for the clerk-recorder functions; and deploying an automated bridge (called Just Appraised in the presentation) that pulls ownership data from recorded deeds into the assessor system. “Using machine learning, it extracts ownership information from grant deeds … and populates our system with greater accuracy and efficiency,” Freitas said.
The office said the combined initiatives have had measurable effects: when the ownership-integration system went live last spring, staff had 8,603 documents awaiting processing; last week that queue stood at 1,584, an 80% decrease. The assessor scanning project digitized more than 3 million documents and integrated them into the new property system, eliminating much of the paper-based retrieval that previously slowed responses.
Freitas also highlighted online services: a new online filing option for business property returned 5,460 filings last year, a 60% participation rate compared with a 6% adoption level before modernization. The office additionally created public guides for marriage licenses and fictitious business names, and a GIS web map to help analyze land value issues related to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
Board members praised the work. “Every time there’s change, there’s going to be hiccups. But you’ve done an amazing job,” Supervisor Macari said. Supervisor Dennis Townsend asked whether fallowed farmland would materially lower the tax roll; Wise replied it was difficult to predict but said residential and commercial growth has helped keep the overall roll strong.
Freitas said the department used federal ARPA funds and state trust funds to complete several projects and that the planned relocation to Government Plaza should improve parking, remove the need for some courthouse security screening for routine transactions and co-locate staff who are currently scattered across the courthouse.
The presentation closed with Freitas thanking the Board, the county chief administrative office and tax collector Cass Cook. No formal vote or ordinance was required; the department said the relocation and system changes are being implemented under the department’s administrative authority and approved budgets.
