Dolores County approves treasurer's "auto-agent" payment service, subject to legal review

Dolores County commissioners on Nov. 3 approved a contract to let a third-party "auto-agent" vendor offer taxpayers an optional 12-month payment plan for property taxes, with final signatures contingent on the county's legal review of contract termination language and any repayment obligations.

County Treasurer Tara explained the service to the board, saying the vendor would host a cloud-based copy of public tax-bill information (name, parcel ID, property description, tax amount), allow taxpayers to make monthly payments to the vendor, and then remit funds to the county by the county's normal deadlines. Tara said the vendor would handle customer service and mortgage-company interfaces and that there would be no fee to the county; customers would pay convenience fees for ACH or credit-card transactions.

Tara described a three-year commitment in the vendor's standard contract and told commissioners she and staff were negotiating a clearer clause for early termination and any potential repayment obligations. Commissioners raised data-privacy and scope questions; Tara said the vendor would receive only public tax-bill data and would not be given additional personally identifiable information.

Chair moved to approve the auto-agent contract through the treasurer's office "contingent on contract/legal review." The motion was seconded, and the board voted in favor. Tara said she would circulate the negotiated contract and proposed legal changes to the commissioners when available.

Next steps: county staff will send the edited contract to the board and county counsel for review before final execution.