Lodi to get new software system to track revenue

The City of Lodi approved a contract with HdL Companies during the Dec. 18 city council meeting, a deal that is expected to provide the city with a more efficient administration software system that will better track and collect revenue.

HdL, an auditing software company based in Orange County, specializes in developing comprehensive and tailored approaches to maximizing and understanding public agency revenues. The company provides a full assortment of revenue management services including sales tax, property tax, business license and tax, economic development and more.

Deputy City Manager Andrew Keys said the software would be used to provide business license administration services, business license tax revenue discovery, business license tax audit, transient occupancy tax administration, and short-term rental administration services.

The software will be implemented in January, which is a busy time for the city finance division. Keys said the revenue department spends approximately 1,300 hours annually processing business licenses, payments, and transient occupancy tax information.

“If you have to get a business license in January there are usually long lines of people submitting their license, and our customer service representatives experience an uptick in the department because we have four to six thousand businesses coming in to get their license renewals at the same time,” Keys said.

The city currently uses HdL to manage its sales tax revenue administration and forecasting. An addendum to the contract will allow the city to expand its resources and work with a third party call center as well as utilize a website that allows people to register their businesses online. Keys believes HdL will provide more responsive customer service, including improving phone, voicemail and email response times.

Keys added that business owners will be able to get licenses and make payments online instead of having to drive to the city finance office.

According to Keys, tax revenue discovery will allow Hd access to the state databases that would allow the city to verify business tax records to ensure people are accurately documenting their tax filings.

“They will also do physical verifications to confirm whether business are still in business or not, and they do this all at a very low cost on a per-license basis,” Keys said.