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Revenue office reports renewal backlog while collecting $19.2M in occupational taxes; RFP under review and staffing remains tight
Summary
Finance reported $19.2 million collected in occupational taxes to date and an active processing backlog of renewals and lockbox deposits. The revenue division’s RFP for collection services is under committee review; staff emphasized ongoing recruitment challenges.
Finance Director Angelica Alexander presented a first‑quarter update on revenue and business license processing, reporting that $19.2 million in occupational taxes had been collected year‑to‑date and that the department continues to process a backlog of business license renewals.
Alexander said the division processed more licenses through the lockbox this year (nearly 5,000 items versus about 4,200 last year during the same period) and that about 309,000 worth of items remained to be processed at the time of the update, with 72 problem returns needing additional information. She said staff expects to complete processing of current renewals by mid‑June and to mail courtesy delinquency notices in August, with potential turn‑over to inspections and codes for enforcement thereafter.
The revenue office has an on‑going RFP to evaluate outsourcing elements of the revenue and collections function. Alexander said the RFP was released January 23, received three proposals, and that an RFP committee continues evaluation; she told council the committee had requested additional information from proposers and expected to proceed when the committee concludes its review.
Alexander also described staffing challenges: the revenue office had received additional positions at mid‑year and expected to fill more vacancies in May, but recruiting remained difficult. Weekly system‑improvement meetings with IT are ongoing; the office has launched a Civic Access Self‑Service Portal for public lookup and online payment of some excise taxes.
Councilors asked about system access to council referrals and staff said permissions would be granted to counselors who reported access errors. Alexander said the office is automating penalty and interest calculations to reduce manual work.
Ending: Staff will continue the RFP evaluation, onboard incoming hires, complete renewal processing by mid‑June, issue delinquency notices in August and work on portal adoption and automation to reduce manual steps.
