HCTC Recognized with Governor’s Sterling Award (May) 

The Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s Office has been named a recipient of the prestigious 2025 Governor’s Sterling Award, Florida’s highest recognition for organizations demonstrating superior management, outstanding results, and commitment to continuous improvement. This marks our third major Sterling recognition, having first earned the award in 2008 as both the first tax collector in Florida and the first government agency in Hillsborough County to receive this honor, followed by the Sterling Sustained Excellence Award in 2011.

New Saturday License Services Now Available for Students and Adults (April) 

We are expanding our service offerings with the launch of the new Saturday License Services events beginning April 19, 2025. This initiative provides a convenient weekend option for both student driving services and adult driver license renewals. Students can access road tests, knowledge tests, and obtain driver licenses or learner’s permits, while county residents whose licenses were issued in 2018 or earlier can complete their renewals. This service expansion aims to accommodate busy families and individuals who find it challenging to visit during regular weekday hours. 

Hillsborough County’s Kids Tag Art Program Celebrates Record Participation and $104,000 Raised for Arts Education (April) 

We celebrate another successful year of our Kids Tag Art program with an awards ceremony held April 16 at Jefferson High School. The 2024-2025 program achieved record-breaking participation with 65 schools and over 3,100 fifth-grade students creating original designs for specialty license plates. Now in our fourth year, the initiative has generated more than $104,000 to support art education in Hillsborough County schools, highlighting both the artistic talents of local students and the community’s commitment to sustaining creative programs in education. 

Team HCTC Joins 35th Annual Paint Your Heart Out Tampa Event (April) 

Team HCTC proudly participated in the 35th annual Paint Your Heart Out Tampa event on Saturday, April 26, 2025, joining hundreds of volunteers to transform two homes belonging to low-income elderly residents and disabled veterans. Arriving early with supplies and enthusiasm, team members contributed to this meaningful community service initiative that has revitalized over 3,000 homes since its 1988 inception. The program, which provides these valuable services at no cost to qualifying homeowners, brings together businesses, organizations, and community members to strengthen neighborhoods through collective action. 

Transition To Official Government Domain: hillstaxfl.gov (April) 

We launched our new official website domain, hillstaxfl.gov, replacing the previous hillstax.org address. This change aligns with federal government standards for official government entities, enhancing security and public trust while providing residents with a verified connection to essential services. All web pages and email communications from the office will now use the hillstaxfl.gov extension, which is exclusively reserved for government agencies. 

Town ‘N Country Community Rebuild Event with Special Guest Wilmer Valderrama (March) 

Partnered with Operation BBQ Relief and actor Wilmer Valderrama for a special community outreach event at West Park in Town ‘N Country on Saturday, March 29, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. This collaborative effort provided hot meals to residents affected by recent hurricane devastation, along with access to our essential services and other rebuilding resources. We launched the event alongside Senator Jay Collins, David Marks of Operation BBQ Relief, and Wilmer Valderrama, demonstrating our commitment to serving the community beyond traditional services during recovery. 

Tax Collector’s Office Achieves Record Service and Returns $29.5 Million to Hillsborough County (February)

Our Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report showcased exceptional achievements, including serving over 1 million in-branch customers while maintaining an impressive 93.9% customer satisfaction rating and 4.87 Google Review rating. Our office demonstrated fiscal responsibility by returning $29.5 million in excess (unused) fees to Hillsborough County and other taxing authorities, underscoring our commitment to efficient service delivery and responsible financial management that benefits the county’s taxpayers. 

HCTC Hosts Government Day (November)

In November 2024, we hosted a Government Day in partnership with Kings Point in Southshore. This event brought together many county agencies to provide valuable resources to the Southshore community. Our Mobile ID Go team participated, assisting customers with driver license and ID card transactions, ensuring convenient access to essential services.

Express Services (November)

When HCTC operations resumed after Hurricane Milton, a new process for Express Services was created to reduce customer wait times for certain quick service transactions. Payment terminals (Pin Pads) were deployed across the organization at the Queue Desk to allow for acceptance of credit card payments directly at the queue desk. Staff may now process registration renewals, property tax payments, DL clearances, and parking placard issuance without the customer needing to wait in the lobby for a traditional CSR. This improves the overall customer service experience by eliminating their wait time, therefore freeing CSRs to handle more complicated transactions. Brandon, Drew Park, and North Tampa have additional customer service windows set up specifically to process Express Service transactions.

Website Homepage Refresh (September)

We unveiled a refreshed homepage with a modern look and feel, designed based on customer behavior analytics. By identifying the most frequently used links and services, we added intuitive, easy-access buttons, ensuring customers can find what they need quickly. We saw 1,369,648 unique users visitors to our website in FY 2024, highlighting the growing reliance on our digital platform.

FTCA Legacy & Merit Award in Financial Operations (August)

This year the finance department submitted an application for the Legacy and Merit Awards. The Legacy Award application highlighted our Dishonored Payments Reimbursement Process Improvement. For many years our office sent the reimbursement request form through ordinary mail but recently we switched to electronic delivery using a tool called Liquid Files. This improvement brought many benefits to our agency:

• The Liquid Files tool helps secure customer’s information. Data such as driver license numbers, customer addresses, vehicle identification numbers, and bank account information is now encrypted and secured.
• File is now received by Tallahassee within minutes and there is no more risk of it being lost in transit.
• Less people are now involved in the process. No need for a mail courier from the Downtown office to the Mail Center, and no Mailroom clerk required for package processing.
• Since nothing is being mailed, we no longer spend money on postage.
• The length of this process has been reduced significantly. Items are received by Tallahassee within minutes and we get a file download confirmation as proof of delivery. With the previous process it took an average of 41 days from the day the form and documentation was sent to the day payment was received. Now it only takes 25 days on average. The length of the process now depends exclusively on the time it takes the State to process the form and to mail back the check. We removed 16 days from the process by implementing this improvement.
• We now have better control of forms sent to the State. Before, once they were sent, we didn’t know if they were processed or if a check was remitted back to us. Our new process allows us to keep track of our requests and ask for updates when needed.

Get Your Tag Renewal Instantly (July)

We have new self-service registration renewal kiosks up and running as of July 23, 2024, in three additional Publix locations!

These are:

Valrico: 1971 E. State Road 60, 33594
West Tampa Area: 2724 W. Hillsborough Ave., 33614
Town n’ Country: 8701 W. Hillsborough Ave., 33615

We deliver on the HCTC vision to lead in convenient and accessible services!

HCTC New Resident Guide (July)

Hillsborough County continues to experience an influx of new residents moving to our community. We are often the first point of contact for these new residents as the work through the process of transitioning their driver license and vehicle registrations, or looking for information regarding property taxes, registering to vote, or learning more about homestead exemption. HCTC developed a specific page our website to guide new residents through the process of making their transition to Florida official. In May of 2024, HCTC partnered with Spectrum Communications to target market information specifically to new residents through Spectrum Advertising. This campaign is promoted via web-based advertisements and Spectrum TV channels. During the first month, the video reached over 117,000 customers with 78% watching the video to completion. Completion rates were consistent between the English and Spanish versions.

Mobile ID Go – MIG Team (June)

The Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s Office is making services more accessible to our community! The Mobile ID Go Team provides driver license and ID card services to homebound residents and assisted living facilities in Hillsborough County for customers with health conditions or special circumstances that prevent them from visiting an office. HCTC is one of the first Tax Collector’s in the state to offer this service option through a partnership with the DHSMV.

HCTC Fleet Program Revamp (June) 

Using feedback gathered through our Key Customer & Partner Survey and our Outside Advisory Board, HCTC determined that it was necessary to reassess our current Fleet Registration process to better meet customer needs. Stakeholders met to review the current process, assess roadblocks, and identify improvements to drive improvements in efficiency and satisfaction for our fleet customers.

Customers are considered a fleet renewal if they have 25 or more vehicles registered in Florida. These customers require a bit of special consideration to ensure they are able to renew the fleet in an efficient manner. Walking up to the counter is not always an option due to service limitations at the branch offices restricted to five transactions at a time. Fleet customers are now able to handle their annual registration renewals through the mail without having to come to the office. Fleet customers now have access to create a “Holding/Trust Account” where prepayments are stored to be used when the transactions are processed. Since many Fleet customers already maintain a spreadsheet roster of vehicles, the customers can now send their fleet renewals to a specific HCTC email address. That gives them a single point of contact throughout the renewal process, from the submittal of the Fleet Registration spreadsheet to confirmation of processing, mailing, and receipt of associated costs. This improvement streamlines process for our internal staff and drives tangible improvements for fleet customers.

HCTC Partners with Local Organizations to Bring Essential Services to the Community | National Safety Month (June) 

Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s Office is partnering with local organizations to bring essential services to the community throughout the month of June!. This annual outreach event aims to emphasize the importance of safety in both homes and workplaces. National Safety Awareness Month is dedicated to promoting safety and well-being in our daily lives. We will be holding outreach events at several of our offices. These events will feature free hearing tests and free eye exams, among other vital services.

HCTC Wins 2024 Top Workplaces National Culture Excellence Awards for Innovation and Purpose & Values (April) 

HCTC proudly announces its recognition as a recipient of two prestigious 2024 Top Workplaces National Culture Excellence Awards for Innovation and Purpose & Values. The Culture Excellence Award celebrates organizations that exemplify outstanding workplace cultures. This is the third year in a row the office has been recognized with culture excellence award! The Innovation Award acknowledges organizations that foster a culture of creativity and idea generation, where innovation thrives at every level of the organization. The Purpose & Values Award celebrates companies that integrate their mission and values into their cultural fabric, demonstrating efficiency and commitment to realizing their core principles. Receiving these accolades highlights the Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s dedication to cultivating an environment where employees are empowered to contribute fresh perspectives and ideas, driving continuous improvement and growth. Through a commitment to innovation and steadfast dedication to its mission and values, the office has solidified its position as a leader in workplace excellence.

HCTC Podcast Goes Live (April)

In April 2024, we officially launched our very own Podcast – Conversations with Nancy/Conversado Con Nancy, available in both English and Spanish. Team members and our community can find the podcast on our YouTube channel and on Spotify. Season 1 of the podcast focused on tackling misconceptions about our offices, helping customers be more prepared for the Real ID deadline, and more. Each new season of the podcast will focus on a specific theme. Season 2 will be focused on “The Customer Experience.”

Our episodes are available in our YouTube and Spotify channels.

HCTC Promotes Societal Well-Being with Donations to ECHO (March)

Tax Collector Nancy Millan and her team recently visited ECHO of Brandon’s new Riverview location to witness firsthand the incredible work this organization is doing for our community. Inspired by their visit, the Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s Office took action by organizing a clothing drive throughout March to benefit ECHO. During the drive, employees and community members donated gently used men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing and shoes. These contributions support ECHO’s comprehensive services, which include job coaching, financial counseling, workshops, emergency food and clothing, and much more. We are proud to support ECHO and its mission to provide vital assistance to those in need.

HCTC in the Community – HCC & Moffitt Cancer Center Event (February)

Expanding our outreach and education efforts is a top priority to ensure the public is well-informed about our services. We recently participated in the Hillsborough Community College (HCC) Day of Hope event in collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center! We had the opportunity to share valuable information about our services by leveraging our partnerships.

Express Lane E-Title Printing Service (January)

Customers can complete a request for a printed electronic title online and pick it up same day in the office of your choice. We are expanding our Express Lane service options to include e-title printing where customers will be able to complete their request for a printed electronic title online and pick it up same day in the office of their choice! Customers will no longer need to wait in line or make an appointment for this service. Now, they can simply apply and pay for a printed copy of their e-title by 3:30PM and pick it up same day once they receive the notification that it is ready for pickup. HCTC has developed videos in both English and Spanish walking customers through this Express Lane service. Click here to view our video resources.

Walk In and Appointment Improvement Process (June) 
In partnership with our vendor Qmatic, HCTC launched the Mobile Ticket queueing system to bring about an improved approach to serving customers. Prior to implementing a shift from a full appointment-based service model, we set out to improve the number of customers served at our branch offices. Customers can now scan a location specific QR code to secure a space in line for service and wait wherever they choose. Appointments for certain services like driver license or title transfers remain available. Simpler services, like registration renewals, are entirely exempted from the appointment system, enabling customers to receive service the same day at any of our service centers.

Free Eye and Hearing Services for Children at Tax Collector’s Office Locations (June) 
June is National Safety Awareness Month, and we partnered with several local organizations to bring free services and safety information to our customers and our team! The Glazer Mobile Eye Clinic administered free eye exams to children at our branches throughout the month. The children were also eligible to receive a free pair of glasses made on-the-spot if necessary. In addition, Water Safety Tampa provided water safety information and BayCare Kids shared kid safety tips as well as conducted child safety seat inspections for customers; and Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation was onsite to provide free hearing screenings for children.

End Human Trafficking – The 100 Percent Club (May) 
According to the Florida Alliance to End Human Trafficking, Florida ranks as the third highest state for human trafficking cases. Tampa, ranks as the 12th worst city in the US for human trafficking. Our organization serves about a million customers a year which puts us in a prime position to identify potential victims of human trafficking. This modern-day form of slavery claims victims of all ages, sex, ethnicities, and demographics. By raising awareness and providing training, lives can be saved. The 100 Percent Club is a partnership between companies and the Office of the Attorney General that recognizes businesses for taking proactive steps to train employees on the signs of human trafficking and for providing quick reference resources to effectively report human trafficking. #TeamHCTC will take part in the Attorney General’s fight to end human trafficking. By participating in the 100 Percent Club, our organization commits to training our employees, providing them with a quick reference resource to easily report human trafficking, and participating in the public awareness campaign.

Bridging Communication Barriers with Pocketalk Translation Device (May)
Thirty percent of our population speaks a language at home other than English. This two-way translator offers 82 languages and is a multi-sensory two-way translation device with noise-cancelling microphones and powerful speakers which help us conduct full conversations, even in a noisy environment. The camera instantly recognizes and translates text or the written word. Our staff feel empowered to communicate with their customers in a meaningful way. This project aligned with our vision to enhance service delivery and accessibility and our mission to consistently deliver amazing service experiences that empower our community. This device helps HCTC bridge communication barriers encountered daily and reduces our need to pull one of our Spanish-speaking customer service representatives from their duties to translate for us which in turn reduces overall cycle time as we positively impact our customers and our team.

Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s Office Paints Homes with “Paint Your Heart Out Tampa” (April)
Paint Your Heart Out Tampa is a one-day volunteer effort to paint the homes of low income, elderly residents of Tampa. Our office had two teams (38 volunteers) who painted houses on Saturday, April 22nd. It was the first time HCTC participated in this event in many years. The weather was nice, #TeamHCTC enjoyed the opportunity to give back, and the homeowners were extremely grateful! Thank you to everyone who volunteered and put in their hard work! 

Internal Driver License Helpdesk (March)
In March 2023, we embarked on a new process to reduce processing time for driver license customers in our branch offices.  We worked with the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to eliminate the need for Tax Collector staff to call Tallahassee for record clearance for driver license issuance in certain situations.  Our team of Tax Collector liaisons now have access and training to provide our customers with immediate resolutions regarding a host of issues that previously required the DHSMV’s intervention to resolve, improving efficiency and the service experience for customers.

Redesigned Registration Renewal Notices (January)
We redesigned renewal notices with QR codes to provide direct access to accounts for payment, making it easier than ever to renew online!

Brandon Office Sound Quality Improvements (December)
In December 2022, the ceiling in our Brandon office was lowered to improve sound quality for customer interactions, eliminating the open-concept ceiling. This has made a big improvement to the service experience for our customers and our team in this location.

Top Workplaces Awards (October)
The Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s office was a recipient of the 2022 Top Workplaces National Culture Excellence Awards for Woman-Led Business and Diversity Equity & Inclusion Practices. These awards are based solely on feedback from employees provided on our employee engagement survey.

Fee Estimator Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot (October)
Our AI chatbot, Sofie, on our website was enhanced with the capability to provide fee estimates to give customers an estimate of fees for a registration renewal. Our office is the first in the state to develop and deploy this estimation technology!

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (October)
We implemented MFA using a system called Hypr throughout the organization requiring all system users to employ a second authentication system to confirm their identity, strengthening protection from unauthorized access to our systems.

New Queuing and Appointment System (September)
To improve the service experience and the flow of customers in our branches, we replaced our branch appointment and queuing system with a new system, Qmatic. It has skill-based routing, mobile check-in and mobile service ticketing as well as automated satisfaction surveys via text and email. In addition, the system has enhanced, multi-language appointment booking, and multiple services selection options.

Raising Security Awareness (September)
We enhanced our cyber awareness program for Tax Collector employees through monthly training and phishing campaigns.

Relocation of Data Center to the Public Safety Operations Complex (September)
In September 2022, we partnered with Hillsborough County to relocate the Tax Collector’s networking environment to the Public Safety Operations Complex which contains most of Hillsborough County’s IT infrastructure. This building is rated to withstand category 5 hurricanes and ensures redundancy in our network infrastructure necessary for continuity of service to the public in the event of an emergency.

Financial Excellence Awards (August)
As a result of our focus on fiscal accountability, we received two awards from the Florida Tax Collectors’ Association in 2022. The Excellence in Financial Operations Award was granted based on a comprehensive review of our financial records, customer focus, innovation, business practices and budgeting. We also received the Certificate of Merit for receiving a clean audit free of any findings.

Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) Toll Clearances (March)
Similar to the Tax Collector’s partnership with the Central Florida Expressway Authority in 2021, we partnered with the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) in March 2022 to improve the toll violation clearance process.  This process allows customers make direct payment for their unpaid THEA tolls to the Tax Collector’s Office at the time of their registration renewal. HCTC offers this convenient option at no additional charge to customers.

Online Insurance Affidavit (February)
In 2022, we launched an Online Insurance Affidavit for customers whose car insurance is not updated with the state of Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and are required to submit an insurance affidavit before their registration can be renewed. Previously, customers had to complete a paper affidavit and could not renew online.  Now, customers can save time and money by skipping the trip to an office or saving on mail costs by completing their affidavit and renewing online in a few easy steps.

New Resident Initiative (November)
To ensure new residents are prepared for service without the need to make multiple trips to an office, the Tax Collector’s Office partnered with other agencies to educate new residents on services and transaction requirements, including train the trainer sessions, training materials and videos.

Ad Hoc Telework Program (September)
This program was implemented in 2021 to address staffing shortages resulting from the pandemic to allow asymptomatic positive employees or employees required to quarantine due to an exposure to a COVID-19 positive or exposed person, to telework for a duration of time approved by Human Resources. This program allowed our Customer Services Reps who normally work in Branch Operations serving face to face customers to work from home answering calls while on quarantine for a short period of time.  Employees were given an appointment for contactless equipment pick up from our Processing Operations center with instructions for set up and log in from home.  This program ensured we had more resources on phones while allowing employees to continue working without a loss of work time or pay due to COVID.

Introduction of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot named “Sofie” to Assist Customers Online (August)
HCTC deployed our first digital employee, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. “Sofie” began serving customers on the website by providing comprehensive answers to frequently asked questions about services.  This innovative AI technology allows “Sofie” to develop additional skills and expand her knowledge the more that she is used, to benefit our customers. The AI Chatbot is a multilingual agent proficient in both English and Spanish. We are proud to be the first Tax Collector’s office in the state to implement the multilanguage feature.

Call Center Enhancements (July)
The call volume at the Tax Collector’s Office doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing from an average of 30,000 calls per month pre-COVID to 60,000 calls per month during the pandemic.  To ensure our ability to serve our customers by phone, staff resources were re-allocated, customer service positions that remained vacant in 2020 were filled, and we implemented an ad hoc telework program so front-line branch employees required to quarantine or remain isolated due to COVID could still take calls from home.  As a result of these call center enhancements, HCTC’s abandoned call rate decreased by 49% and the average answer speed improved by over 30 minutes in the first six months of 2021.  Additional call center enhancements were also completed in 2021 including the addition of a call back feature so customers won’t need to wait on hold, and additional resources in Spanish.

Increased Branch Customer Capacity (June)
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, HCTC maintained a close working relationship with the Florida Department of Health to ensure we provided in-person services in a safe manner for our employees and the community.  As COVID restrictions eased, HCTC increased capacity in our branches to meet customer demand while maintaining a healthy work environment.

CFX (Toll) Clearance Collection (June)
We partnered with the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) to improve the toll violation clearance process by allowing customers make direct payment for their unpaid tolls to the Tax Collector’s Office at the time of their registration renewal. Toll stop violations from expressway authorities often prevented customers from renewing their vehicle registration. HCTC offers this convenient option at no additional charge to customers – and customers no longer have to make multiple trips to the Tax Collector’s office to complete their registration.

Driving Test Track Enhancements (May)
Covered structures were installed at the East Tampa and Plant City branches allowing employees who administer driving tests retreat from the Florida weather, complete with fans, a seating area, and a cooler to store water. At the Brandon Office, where the driving test track is ¼ mile away, a small trailer was installed, complete with a bathroom, breakroom, and small office area, allowing the staff to be more efficient in serving customers and eliminating the need to travel back and forth to the main office building for basic necessities.