Cole County readies online application, in-person intake and three-month pilot for senior property tax freeze

Cole County staff and officials reviewed a draft website, online application and office workflow for the county's Senior Real Estate Property Tax Freeze program and agreed on key steps for intake and verification, including required documents, digital signature handling and a tentative May 1 start that would run through July 31.

Melissa, a Cole County staff member who drafted the application flowchart and website copy, presented the online form and a proposed public-facing page. She said the web form will ask applicants to upload identity and ownership documents, display a partial-identification example from the tax bill, and include links to the county tax search and GIS parcel lookup. "I'm trying to keep it simple and clear," Melissa said while walking the group through the draft pages and the planned frequently asked questions and downloadable PDF.

Staff discussed how the form will save progress, validate required fields and integrate with digital signature software. "As you're going through each step, it's saving that page...it should just don't clear your cache while you're doing it for them," Melissa said, describing the browser-based save behavior. The group demonstrated a DocuSign signature step; Melissa said the sign-and-attach sequence should populate the submitted package and that the county will coordinate with DevNet to push records into the county's case-management workflow.

Coun…