Statement - February 2000

You Like Us!

You Like Us!
PTD Customers Grade 1999 Services

Annually, the Comptroller's Property Tax Division (PTD) has asked chief appraisers and county tax assessor-collectors to complete a survey about PTD services. For calendar year 1999, chief appraisers in 105 county appraisal districts (CADs) responded, representing about 42 percent of all chief appraisers. County tax assessor-collectors in 96 counties, representing about 38 percent, answered the survey.
Overall, the results show 95-percent favorable ratings on the survey questions.

CAD survey

The 1999 CAD survey focused on information and quality of service provided by PTD on CAD requests. The questions asked respondents to rate how well PTD supplied information on the Comptroller's Window on State Government Web page, responded to technical assistance calls, completed requests for forms and publications, provided instructions for appealing the Comptroller's Property Value Study and answered questions on the PTD's Electronic Data Submission process.
The survey asked if CADs found information on Window on State Government useful. More than 50 percent found it very useful or somewhat useful. Ten percent did not respond to the question, and 36 percent said they had no Internet access.
When calling PTD, about 88 percent of the chief appraisers indicated they always or frequently get through on the first try. About 10 percent responded they sometimes get through on the initial attempt.
Almost 94 percent of the chief appraisers said PTD's Technical Assistance Section answered their calls in a timely manner always or frequently. More than 87 percent believed that their questions were answered appropriately, either always or frequently. When asked if their requests for public information -- known as "open records requests" -- were answered promptly, about 86 percent of the CADs responded always or frequently.
One question asked about PTD's staff responsiveness to CAD requests for documents, forms and instructions necessary to file an appeal of the Comptroller's Property Value Study. Almost 87 percent of the chief appraisers responded they were always or frequently received the information necessary to complete the appeals filing process. About 10 percent marked that the question did not apply to them.
Finally, some 60 percent of those CADs responding received very useful or somewhat useful help by phone on the PTD's Electronic Data Submission. About 17 percent marked that the CADs file paper reports rather than the electronic submission. The PTD's electronic data submission sets out how CADs send in appraisal and tax rate information for the CADs and taxing units electronically.

County tax office survey

The county tax office survey focused on the PTD's responsiveness and quality of service to county tax office requests. The questions requested evaluation about the usefulness of information on the Comptroller's Window on State Government, PTD's technical assistance answers, open records requests and training seminars.
The survey asked if the county tax assessors found information on Window on State Government useful. More than 51 percent of the county tax assessors responded they had no Internet access. The remaining 35 percent who did have access found the Web page very useful or somewhat useful.
When calling PTD, about 86 percent of the county tax assessors indicated they always or frequently get through on the first try. Only 5 percent responded they sometimes get through on the initial attempt.
When asked if PTD staff responded to their calls in a timely fashion, 85 percent of the county tax assessor-collectors answered favorably, indicating that this was always or frequently the case. About 85 percent of these collectors responded their questions were answered appropriately always or frequently. About 63 percent said their open records requests were always or frequently handled punctually. However, about 31 percent of the county tax assessor-collectors marked this question not applicable.
The PTD asked county tax assessors about the training class and publication of the Truth in Taxation manual, used by taxing units in calculating tax rates. About 68 percent responded that the information was always or frequently useful. About 26 percent marked that it was not applicable to them.
After the 1999 legislative session ended in May, the PTD sent each county tax office copies of the property tax bills that had passed. More than 60 percent of the county assessors responding found this very useful. Another 27 percent marked somewhat useful.

Contributing to this article: Robert Unks