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Santa Cruz County treasurer warns of two-week payment blackout during system upgrade; property-tax and investment gains reported
Summary
The county treasurer said the office will not accept in-person, check or cash tax payments July 1–19 while a new treasury system is installed; online payments will be accepted but processed weeks later. Officials also reported strong property-tax collections and investment earnings.
Santa Cruz County Treasurer Alejandra told the Board of Supervisors on May 13 that the county will pause in-person and manual tax collections while it transitions to a new treasury system.
“We will not be taking any payments from any constituents,” Alejandra said, saying the office will “go dark for two weeks” from July 1 through July 19. She and staff said online credit-card and e-check payments will remain available but will not be processed until three to four weeks after submission. The new system is scheduled to go live July 20.
The timeline and the temporary payment suspension are intended to allow staff to migrate records, receipts and deposits to the new platform without losing or corrupting data. Alejandra asked the county’s communications team to notify residents and publish a press release earlier than the transition.
The treasurer also reported robust investment returns and healthy balances. Maria, who presented the day’s cash and investment report, said the county’s total overall balance stood at $73,297,881 with invested funds of $28,957,773 and an estimated end-of-month balance of $13,871,048.
Separately, county finance staff reported property-tax collections and other key revenues. “We have collected $11,696,656” in real-estate taxes through the third quarter, said Mr. Chavez, adding that as of May 8 the county had collected $16,340,773—about 91% of the budgeted amount. He noted local sales tax growth of roughly 26 percent tied largely to contracting activity while lodging revenue is down about 4 percent compared with last year.
Alejandra highlighted year-to-date interest earnings, reporting $2,823,224.39 in investment income and described the county’s portfolio as diversified across several managers. She also said the county is in the final stages of a banking transition from JPMorgan to PNC Bank and is scheduling outreach and public notices to explain the payment window to residents.
What residents should know: in-person tax and cash payments will not be accepted July 1–19; online payments may be made but will not be processed immediately. The treasurer’s office will publish outreach materials and a press release with details ahead of the outage.
