Chesapeake works to improve functions of treasurer’s office
City seeks increased efficiency before tax bills are due
CHESAPEAKE — City leaders are working to get the treasurer’s office back on track after operational concerns came to a head last summer, culminating in the treasurer’s retirement.
The City Council approved a slew of actions Tuesday that are aimed at increasing efficiency within the office well in advance of the June 5 due date for personal property and real estate tax bills.
Last year city leaders cited concerns with the level of service being provided from the treasurer’s office as well as staffing issues and delayed tax bill mailings. The turmoil prompted the transfer of certain functions to other departments, including the management of city bank accounts, cash and investments and billing services.
The city treasurer’s office is responsible for collecting personal property taxes, real estate taxes, stormwater fees and solid waste fees as well as investing the city’s money and reconciling bank accounts. The office also collects other delinquent fees such as emergency medical services fees, delinquent terminated water accounts and parking tickets.
Longtime former treasurer Barbara Carraway announced her retirement shortly after last year’s move, and fellow Republican Ben White was elected to the role in last year’s special election.
City manager Chris Price said White has since been working with city leaders to more efficiently perform the office’s core services and that Tuesday’s set of City Council votes will help do that.
“They’ve really done a lot of work to get the ship righted and going in the right direction,” Price said. “These items are sort of back to basics.
“These are getting the right functions back into the right place and appropriately funding those functions.”
The set of votes amounted to a transfer of roughly $446,000 from the general fund. The City Council unanimously authorized outsourcing the mailing of approximately 540,000 original personal property tax bills and third- and fourth-quarter real estate and stormwater bills, which is a little more than half of the million bills sent out each year. White said such bills also have legal requirements for when they’re mailed.
“So this will ensure that we get those bills not only on time, but well in advance of the due dates to give citizens opportunity to plan for those payments,” White said. “And actually it would help the city as well because it puts the the workload of taking those and accepting those payments over a longer period of time.”
The vote also authorizes the purchase of a mail inserter for daily in-house mailings, such as delinquent notices. The office currently has two aging mail inserters purchased in 2006.
White said the city will purchase new equipment from vendor Pitney Bowes, whom he credited as the “industry standard.”
The funding transfer will also cover additional postage for tax bills and notices as well as three short-term contract positions to help customer service and collections efforts before the tax due date in June.
White said though he’ll be requesting additional staff in next year’s fiscal year budget, which will begin July 1, the short-term hires are particularly helpful for the office’s busy season.
Among the issues previously cited within the treasurer’s office was a lack of staff. White said it is fully staffed now. A total of 31 fulltime positions were authorized for the office in the city’s 2024 fiscal year budget.
“I’m excited about where we are,” White said. “I’m really excited about where we’ll be a year from now.”