Dolores County OKs moving forward with Auto Agent tax‑payment program, contingent on contract review

The Dolores County Board of County Commissioners voted Nov. 3 to allow county staff to proceed with a contract with Auto Agent, a private company that would provide an optional 12‑month tax‑payment service to local taxpayers, subject to the board’s legal review of contract terms.

Jay, the county treasurer, told the board Auto Agent would let taxpayers look up parcel information, make monthly payments into an account the vendor holds, and then have the vendor deposit the county’s tax proceeds on the county’s statutory deadlines. "They allow for 12 monthly payments on taxes," she said, describing the product as effectively a third‑party savings and payment service that handles customer service and online payment processing on behalf of the county.

The treasurer said the service would not charge Dolores County a fee but would charge customers convenience fees for card payments (she described examples, e.g., roughly $2 plus a percentage for card transactions), and that mortgage companies can also be routed through the vendor. She also flagged a contractual detail the board wanted clarified: the vendor’s standard three‑year commitment and a clause that could require the county to reimburse fees if the county ends the contract early.

Commissioners and staff asked about privacy and data handling. The treasurer said the company would receive only tax‑bill information that the county already publicly provides to mortgage companies and others: parcel ID, taxpayer name, property description, and tax amounts. "We don't give them any UPII data," she said on the record.

The board voted to approve moving forward with the Auto Agent agreement and authorized staff to finalize the contract subject to legal review and clearer language on cancellation and penalties. The motion passed on voice vote. Commissioners asked that the finalized contract be circulated to them before signatures.

Why it matters: If implemented, the service would make a year‑long payment option available to local taxpayers who prefer monthly payments or whose mortgage servicers handle tax payments, while the county would continue to receive its tax disbursements on the statutory schedule. Commissioners emphasized that use of the service would be optional for taxpayers and that the county would not pay operating fees under the current proposal.

Next steps: County staff will seek contract revisions to define any early‑termination liability, confirm privacy protections, and return the final document for the commissioners’ review and legal clearance before execution.