King County
Property Tax Assessment System
Palador was selected to conduct a proof of concept (POC) on King County’s Property Tax Assessment System. The county’s current property tax system is inefficient and is unable to keep up with changes to state laws. King County is also rapidly expanding and the number of parcels to be administered and assessed for property taxes has doubled. The county has considered replacing their property tax system for several years but has found that most of the vendors that provide off the shelf property tax assessment systems are too costly. Palador was chosen to determine if using Microsoft Dynamics Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution could replace the current tax assessment system at a lower cost. The POC was successful and we were able to provide proof that the County could save $10 million dollars using the Dynamics platform.
Challenge
The Dynamics platform has never been customized to provide a complete property tax assessment system for any county in the US.
Solution
Palador quickly developed a successful partnership with two other firms with expertise in customizing Dynamics CRM and geospatially enabling parcel data.
How We Did It
We customized the Microsoft Dynamics platform to modernize the Property Tax Assessment System and developed an intuitive web application for seniors to apply for tax exemptions, providing changes in property conditions using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Usability
Designing for elderly + disabled users
Considering the target users’ proneness to poor vision, color blindness, and/or decreased motor skills, usability was a top priority. We used large buttons, increased font size, supportive icons, and ample explanatory text, paying attention to contrast and cognitive load. And since older people are also less adept at multi-tasking, we designed the UI so that users could focus on one step at a time. By focusing on ease of use, we could provide an experience with optimal satisfaction and a high adoption rate.
Dynamics CRM
Facilitating implementation of a non-proprietary cloud solution
Using the Dynamics CRM solution to replace the property tax assessment system was proven successful. We were able to demonstrate to King County’s executive team that Microsoft Dynamics platform can be more cost effective then other property tax solutions in the market. The platform can be configured and maintained by county staff which also saves the county from expensive long- term maintenance contracts. The solution is scalable and flexible and streamlined business workflows.
G.I.S.
Coordinating parcel data in G.I.S.
King County has divisions that handle Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) information. Each of the divisions require migration of parcel data and up to date property tax assessments. As part of the POC our team was able to demonstrate real time parcel information such as conditions of property, property boundaries and improvements. The geospatial data automatically uploaded and allowed the assessors to change property values according to their assessments.
