Fees are taxes and a Taxpayer Challenge

The second half of today's RTD article was just as fascinating...

Let's all repeat "Fees are taxes"...

An average bill would see a $1.29 increase monthly on their water and wastewater bill.
Connection fees for typical residential meters are proposed to increase in water from $4,025 to $4,400 and in wastewater from $3,140 to $3,455. The connection fees for larger meters will increase proportionately based on size.

Then there is this IT nugget…

A code change also is proposed that would allow the county to collect all delinquent property taxes before issuing a business license. The change would come ahead of implementation of a new tax assessment, billing and collection system.

So how much did this new system cost?

First, it looks like a Reston based firm, Avenity, has the contract for a new revenue management system.

RESTON, Virginia December 9, 2008 -

Avenity is pleased to announce Chesterfield County, VA signed a contract to purchase Avenity’s revenue management system, RevenueOne®. RevenueOne® will allow the County to replace its existing legacy tax systems and will intelligently integrate with the County's many applications.

Avenity is excited to welcome Chesterfield County as our newest client.

RevenueOne®
RevenueOne® is a revenue management system built from the ground up, specifically for Virginia’s Commissioners of the Revenue, Treasurers, and Finance Directors. Built on Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia, RevenueOne® offers tax assessment, collection, billing, and compliance features in one user-friendly package. RevenueOne® is an integrated taxpayer-centric system that can be implemented by Counties, Cities, and Towns to greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your revenue management and collection processes.

From the 2009-10 Biennial Financial Plan with 2010 Amendments

In partnership with the Chesterfield County Treasurer’s Office, the Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office is purchasing and implementing a new tax assessment and collections customer service system known as the Taxation Customer Service System (TCSS). It is expected to be completed in the next in 12 to 18 months and will bring increased efficiencies and greater ease for providing customer service to the county’s residents and county administration regarding taxation.

Isn't a Taxation Customer Service System an oxymoron?

The Taxpayer Challenge medal of honor will be awarded to the first taxpayer who can tell the Taxpayer how much the system cost.  If we had a transparent budget online, the Taxpayer would have found the answer within 5 minutes.  Since we don't, the Challenge is issued.