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County collector briefs commission: senior tax-freeze enrollment, tax-sale location and plans to replace legacy tax system
Summary
Cass County's collector told the commission that open enrollment for newly eligible seniors to freeze property taxes will run April 13'July 3 at the collector's office, urged moving the annual tax sale back indoors, reported thousands of delinquent postcards and described active bids to replace a decades-old AS/400 tax system.
The county collector updated the commission on several public-facing items: open enrollment for new seniors to apply for a property-tax freeze will begin Monday, April 13 at 9 a.m. and run through Friday, July 3, with daily office hours noted; he said these are for new applicants and not those already enrolled. "Open enrollment for new seniors wanting to freeze their property taxes begins at my office in the Milwaukee Mall," he said during public comment.
The collector also said he will request formal approval to move the annual tax sale back inside the courthouse (second floor) rather than the outdoor tent used since 2020, arguing indoor space and the presence of the sheriff on the balcony would make the sale more manageable. He noted staff closed the books at the end of February and mailed delinquent notices, and referenced a large figure of postcards sent (transcript reference: "17,061").
On county technology, the collector said the county's AS/400 (IBM Power) system is more than 30 years old and several key programmers have retired; the county is soliciting bids for a modern property-tax system and has received widely ranging proposals. He reported one vendor asked for $48,000 down, another $224,000 down, and that some vendors raised bandwidth concerns related to recent state implementation work. The collector said he hopes to return with a formal proposal soon and will conduct vendor demos for staff.
