Building Trust Through Smarter Technology
Organization Profile
- Industry: State Government
- Tyler Client Since: 2005
- Number of Employees: 280
- Population: 1,137,233
- Location: Helena, Montana
- Tyler Products/Solutions: Assessment & Tax Pro, Field Mobile, SmartFile, and Digital Solutions
Challenges
In a state as expansive and sparsely populated as Montana, reaching constituents in a timely and meaningful way presents unique obstacles for staff at the Department of Revenue, Property Assessment Division. The vast, rural landscape can make connecting in real time with property owners costly and time-consuming. Limited office locations, lengthy travel times, and harsh weather are just some of the barriers faced by property owners needing to visit their nearest field office.
Relying on letters and phone calls to augment in-person service to reach an active and engaged population has limitations. For example, with 31 Property Assessment Division (PAD) field offices, constituents may mail their appeal to the wrong office, creating forwarding delays in addition to those inherent in postal communication.
“One challenge was to meet our over 27,000 farmers and ranchers in a quick and effective manner…and doing so via phone or mail is slow, and that slowness can lead to distrust,” stated Business Analyst Jeremy Battles.
It became increasingly clear that a more modern and efficient process would benefit both the organization and its diverse population.
Solution
The Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) was searching for an innovative and integrated solution that included:
- 24/7 public access to information and electronic filing capabilities
- A simple, convenient way for property owners to complete personal property returns
- Capabilities to move to a paperless workflow
More than a decade after implementing Assessment & Tax Pro, the office decided to add Tyler’s new SmartFile solution to the lineup. The PAD staff worked with Tyler’s product team to develop new digital forms for their appeals, agricultural land classification, property tax assistance, disabled veteran tax relief, and more. The agricultural exemption form was particularly notable in that it automatically updated multiple parcels with the exemption data. Previously, the clerk would need to update each record manually. What once took hundreds of hours of appraiser and front office staff time to tackle using manual entry and mailing now takes mere minutes thanks to the ability to submit online at any time. SmartFile also centralized the filings online so that documents can be instantly accessed by the appropriate regional office staff without delay.
Results
Montanans across the state enjoyed the benefits of this new solution almost immediately. The ease of filing online led to increased trust and satisfaction for property owners, as well as fewer complaints and improved office team response times.
By digitizing the process, the Division and property owners have seen postage savings of roughly $100,000 statewide and have also made great strides in their efforts to increase efficiency and to move toward a paperless model. In a given reappraisal year, staff receive more than 85,000 documents and by moving even a portion of these filings online, the office saved thousands of hours of processing time.
We have appreciated working closely with the Tyler team and together have broken ground and pushed the capabilities of the software in ways what will undoubtedly benefit other jurisdictions as they look to implement their own SmartFile solutions.
Jeremy Battles
Business Analyst
The addition of SmartFile has also had a huge impact on the speed of the appeals process. With property prices skyrocketing during the global pandemic and the idyllic geography of the state, the office faced a massive increase in appeals — jumping from about 10,000 in 2021 to nearly 25,000 in 2023.
“We have a mission to become the nation’s most citizenoriented, efficiently administered state tax agency, and SmartFile genuinely helps us accomplish that,” said Battles. “It gives people a way to interact with us that’s easy and authentic, while ensuring they fully understand the process and that their data is being used appropriately and accurately.”
With this mission in mind, the Montana DOR has greatly increased public access to the department’s services and deepened relationships and trust among their constituents. And with SmartFile, the PAD team is confident in its ability to develop additional digital forms as mandated by the state legislature.