News-Record.com

Tuesday's No. 2 editorial.

At least one Guilford County commissioner feels locked out of the tax department’s recent embracing of a lockbox payment system.

Linda Shaw makes a valid point. Apparently commissioners’ only heads-up to the significant procedural revision was buried in a routine communique from County Manager David McNeill back in March. That’s unfortunate, because the switch from labor-intensive in-house manual processing to a farmed-out lockbox system commonly used in the private sector looks like an efficient step in the right direction.

Tax payments previously sent to county offices in Greensboro and High Point now are mailed to a processing center in Charlotte run by Wachovia Bank. There’s also an online pay option.
Tax Director Francis Kinlaw predicts the change will save the county money by lowering labor costs and eliminating replacement of a $200,000 piece of equipment.

But beyond that, the details get a bit fuzzy. Unclear are the implications for the 23 employees who formerly handled 580,000 payments annually. Kinlaw says they now can spend more time answering the phone and processing other paperwork.

But Shaw and the rest of the board are entitled to know about the longer-range ramifications. Will the lighter workload eventually lead to fewer department jobs? Can time gained now be used to corral more tax delinquents and boost lagging county revenue?

Since a number of other counties in the state already have made the transition to lockbox collections, finding answers to those and other questions shouldn’t be all that difficult.

Kinlaw may report to the county manager, but commissioners still should be adequately informed of major changes. A timely update before the full board is in order.