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County hears pitch for text-message delinquent-tax notices; commissioners approve pilot process
Summary
The county’s delinquent tax collector proposed a no-cost text-notification system to reach taxpayers who do not open mailed notices; commissioners questioned privacy and call-center hours and then approved proceeding with the vendor demonstration and local rollout.
A representative identified as James, partner with the Lambar Law Firm and acting as Polk County’s delinquent tax collector, presented a text-message outreach system to help taxpayers learn about delinquent accounts. James said the system would cost the county nothing to deploy, would use skip-traced cell-phone numbers and a five-digit sender code to indicate legitimacy, and would include an opt‑out option, a secure payment link and live-call support routed to a San Antonio call center with extended hours (not 24/7).
James said the vendor does not sell skip-traced numbers and that responses and opt-outs are reviewed; commissioners asked the vendor representative about hours of operation, data security and the confidentiality of the sourced phone numbers. James said call-center coverage would be routed to San Antonio and that payments could still be made by phone to the local tax office.
Commissioners expressed support for modernizing taxpayer notifications in order to reduce lost notices and penalties for residents who change addresses or fail to receive mail. The court approved the item on the consent agenda and thanked James for the presentation.
Next steps: the tax collector will proceed with vendor onboarding and the county will provide information to citizens about opt-out options and how to reach the call center for payment assistance.
