The San Francisco Offices of the Treasurer & Tax Collector and Controller have implemented a billing and collection system called TaxSys – built by government software provider Grant Street Group – to replace its 50-year-old legacy mainframe system.
According to city treasurer Jose Cisneros, the legacy mainframe was reliable, but cumbersome and slow when faced with customization or changes. The new system will annually process hundreds of thousands of property tax bills and payments totaling over $3 billion and will allow the team to visualize data on dashboards, customize reports and applications for city agencies, and distribute tax documents widely and rapidly.
“The launch of TaxSys® couldn’t have come at a more critical time for our city,” said controller Ben Rosenfield. “This is the first property tax system built by Grant Street that includes a Controller’s module, and I am thrilled that we could deliver such a large and complex technology implementation under these circumstances.”
The switch-over came in on-time and on-budget, with 50 San Francisco staff members working with 43 Grant Street engineers, business analysts and project managers for 18 months. They circumvented potential disruptions due to COVID-19 and met the deadline by moving all communications online.
“This is the kind of powerful, easy to use solution the public deserves, and I am proud that we delivered the project on time and on budget,” said city treasurer, José Cisneros. “Implementing a new tax system in 18 months would have been a huge challenge in a normal year, but when you add the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and having to complete the last five months of the project working remotely, this is truly a remarkable success. I am grateful to Grant Street and our team of dedicated city employees for their tireless work.”