Treasurer briefs executive committee on tax collections, banking RFP and tax-deed process

The Washington County treasurer briefed the Executive Committee May 18 on the treasury's daily functions and a planned request-for-proposal for the county's banking services.

The treasurer said the office prints and archives roughly 72,000 tax bills annually, collects current and delinquent real-estate taxes for 20 municipalities, and manages the county's investment portfolio. At annual settlement the county pays other taxing jurisdictions for delinquent taxes; the treasurer said the county typically disburses between $45 million and $54 million to those jurisdictions in August.

On delinquency timelines the treasurer told the committee that delinquent balances commonly fall from millions in February to tens of thousands by September; a small number of parcels remain delinquent for several years and are referred for tax-deed action. "We pay out between 45 and $54 million in August to those that are delinquent," the treasurer said, describing the settlement process and the county's authority to pursue tax deed after legal steps are exhausted.

The treasurer also described the county's real property lister function, which maintains parcel records and GIS data; he said the county's searchable tax software keeps records online going back to 2015, with older paper records available on request because of state privacy rules. The office also administers the Wisconsin lottery and gaming credit process and manages unclaimed funds.

Finally, the treasurer said staff will issue an RFP to evaluate the county's banking services, which have been provided by the same bank for many years. "It's still good to take a look and see," the treasurer said of the RFP plan.

No formal vote was taken; supervisors asked follow-up questions on delinquency and records access and thanked the treasurer for the overview.