Technology And Customer Service Come Together At The Tax Office

Among life’s certainties is the paying of taxes and fees to government entities that then spend the money for the benefit of residents on things like roads and other infrastructure, or services such as fire protection.

As Hillsborough County’s tax collector, Nancy Millan is responsible for the collection of revenue payments from residents so they can operate a business, own a home, fish for snook or drive a car, as examples.

She was elected to the office in November 2020, and while she is the newest Hillsborough County tax collector, it is a position that Millan is familiar with, having served as the agency’s director of community relations for 20 years.

According to Millan, her experience of connecting the community with the county’s administrative and civic processes while working for her predecessor, Doug Belden, influences her work in leading the tax office and also played a part in wanting to continue serving county residents by running for election to the position.

“I’m very passionate about this office and the work we’ve done, and I wanted to move forward with the excellent foundation to provide excellent service,” she said, adding, “I knew what success looked like.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected tax office operations over the last three years, and the resulting innovations will continue to do so as Millan encourages adoption of technology that offers residents flexibility in taking care of routine administrative matters.

“We learned there’s a different way of doing business,” she said.

Among the innovations are the ability to take a driver’s license road test in a remote fashion, with the examiner observing and evaluating an applicant’s driving skills via cell phone. Other technologies deployed to facilitate public access to the tax office include self-service kiosks located at some Publix supermarkets and a bilingual (English and Spanish) chatbot named Sofie on the tax collector website to provide customer assistance.

The high level of customer service expected of tax collection employees is also reflected in the office’s internal culture, resulting in recognition as a 2022 National Top Workplaces Culture Excellence awardee by Energage, a national research company that conducts workplace surveys.

You can learn more about doing business with the Hillsborough County tax office by visiting www.hillstax.org.

See story from Osprey Observer here.