 Welcome to Sheboygan County Government, working for you. My name's Adam Payne, Sheboygan County Administrator and co-host of this program with Chairman Mike Van der Steen. And for many of you, you're probably not thinking about your tax bill right now. You get the joy of receiving that property tax bill sometime around Christmas and it's a rude awakening, but hopefully you've gotten past that, maybe you have the second payment coming up this summer. But today we're very pleased to have the key person county government associated with making sure those tax bills get out and that they're paid promptly. Our county treasurer, Laura Henning Lorenz. Laura, welcome. Thank you for having me. We were just saying off the air how the time flies. Laura started back in 2003 and in some ways it only feels like the last couple of years it's just amazing how quickly time goes. Well, Laura today is gonna talk a little bit about the roles and responsibility of the county treasurer's office. A lot of good things happening there. Very important to the operations of county government. And Laura, please begin by telling our viewers a little bit about yourself and when you started. Sure, as we mentioned, I took the oath of office for the county treasurer in January of 2003 and have been in the office since that time. Our office mainly does tax collections. The first installment taxes are collected in December and January and due by January 31st. And this year our office collected for 12 of our 28 municipalities. And that constituted approximately 60% of all the tax bills that were created for the December 2008 mailing. So we were very busy in our office doing that. After first installment tax collections, then our office collects for all 28 of our municipalities. And that we do from February until about the middle of December when the next cycle of bills come out. In addition to that, we also collect the delinquent taxes and do foreclosures. And I'm also on the land information committee as part of my duties as county treasurer. Our office collects all of the money that is received by the county. And we do a number of other things in our office. I mentioned at the onset that it can be somewhat of a rude awakening getting that property tax bill each year, especially in December and just before the holidays. But the fact is for the last couple of years that it hasn't been so unpleasant because Sheboygan County for two consecutive years reduced our property tax levy. We were the only county of 72 across the state to do that two consecutive years. And Laura, I know that your position and your good staff often are interacting with folks as they come in and pay those taxes each year from a standpoint of the tax bill itself, you've made some nice improvements to it, including putting a little summary pie chart on it that shows the allocation of the property tax levy in Sheboygan County. When did you first start doing that and what kind of feedback have you gotten? I think that took place around 2004, possibly 2005. And the charts are county specific and the pie charts do indicate for the taxes that are levied county wide, what piece of that or pieces belong to which department or departments, so it does give our county tax payers a good indication as to who they are paying their taxes to and for what departments and services. It's always surprised me that the tax bill, frankly, it can be difficult to understand with all the different numbers on the front and the percentages, and I think the pie chart gave folks a bigger feel and appreciation for where their hard earned dollars are going. But do you find yourself getting a lot of questions from constituents as they come in about those different allocations, whether it's the county or the state or the school system? Well, oftentimes, probably the hardest part to understand is the difference between equalized value, which is what units of government set their rates at and then that number is converted to an assessed value, which is what we're taxed at on our tax bills. The nice part about the tax bill is that it does itemize every individual governmental unit and people do see the exact dollar amount they are paying for each of those units of government. So big picture, you touched on some of your roles and responsibilities as county treasurer, but what is the primary mission and responsibilities of the treasurer's office? Well, our mission statement says something to the effect that we are here to serve the public. We are public servants, so we serve the public and other units of government in the most friendly, efficient, and effective manner. And in saying that, the majority of people that we do serve would be tax related, property tax related. And how many people actually work in the treasurer's office? Well, I'll identify those folks because they are so important to me and to all of the taxpayers that come into our office. Jane Dragan is the office supervisor. Jack Ferhelst, Jeff Lampy, and Barb Schultz are account clerks. So they do just a wonderful job in the office. So besides the very important task of collecting taxes, what are some of the other services that your office provides? Well, during the year, in the non-tax collection months, we're certifying a lottery credit database. We're working on any changes that may have taken place in the law that will have to be prepared for during the next tax collection. We do, on a daily basis, take care of collecting the monies, receiving all the money for the county. And we are always very busy taking care of the public because there are so many questions that arise on a daily basis. And if we think we've heard everything, we haven't because there's always another question that we have to think a little bit about and usually delve and investigate and get back to people on. One of the things our viewers may have just noticed is this beautiful county atlas that you have here on the table. And I know a number of years ago, we went outside and had that done. And it didn't have nearly the information and detail that it has today. I think it's something that the county takes a lot of pride in. Obviously your office is involved with it. Certainly our information systems office, our planning office. But please tell us a little bit about the county atlas and when it's available and how folks can get a new one if they're interested. Well, the first shipment was delivered in March of 2009. This is the 2008 edition. So all of the plat maps inside of the atlas are as of December of 2008. Yeah, the size of the book was changed for the first time back to an eight and a half by 11. We did have many requests to do that. So that was done. And yes, we are with a company now that has produced this as well as some other items. We have the atlas on a CD as well. These atlases are available throughout the county. So anybody can go to the National Exchange Bank in Adel both of the first national banks in Plymouth. Community Bank and Trust in Plymouth and Elkhart Lake have the atlases as well as our Sheboygan County Museum on Erie Avenue. They all have these atlases. The atlas is also available at the administration building in our office in the county treasurer's office in the county clerk's office and on second floor at the register of deeds. If people would like to purchase them, they may call our office or they may go to our website. So once they get to the county's homepage, they just click on departments and treasurer. And we have an order form right on our webpage where they can just order these atlases as well. Excellent. So they don't have to necessarily get in the car and drive to the local store or down to our office. They can get right in the website. I see you also brought along a nice map of the county today. Yes, we also have wall maps available. Mostly the interest in the wall maps is from businesses and offices throughout the county. However, we do have several people, taxpayers in our county that just love maps and they do purchase them for their own personal use. So, yeah, it is a beautiful, beautiful map. Robert Lee, if I can give him a plug, from our information systems worked very hard on putting that map together and it is just beautiful. People are touching it and pointing out locations every day in our office. Outstanding. Thank you so much, Laura. Laura, you mentioned that one of your key responsibilities is collecting the taxes. But you also, before you do that, certify the lottery and gaming credits. Now, should people expect some kind of a postcard to determine how long they've been living at, your present address? Well, Mike, that's a good question because we used to send out postcards. But because of some law changes at the state level, we no longer will be sending out those postcards. And actually, in the long run, it has been saving money that way. Actually, we do certify the lottery credits right in our office now and we will no longer be sending out those postcards. So how do you go about certifying the lottery credit? Well, it's a long process and we work on it in between time, in between tax collection. So usually, May or June, we will start certifying and then we finish by the end of October. And what that does is it helps us to have a greater level of accuracy now on our tax bills. So when we are collecting taxes, we will collect taxes and we won't have to be entering or deleting lottery credits too. Okay, and who should qualify for that lottery credit? Well, miscellaneous entities will qualify and by that it would be trusts or LLCs or corporations. But the majority of people that qualify for lottery and gaming credit would be individuals like you and me, where your primary residence is in Wisconsin and that's the place where you live most of the time. So for example, if I had a home here in Sheboygan County, yet I had a cabin in Northern Wisconsin and I would go into that cabin throughout the summer, my primary residence is still here in Sheboygan County and that's the only property I should receive the lottery credit on. So one property in the entire state per taxpayer. Okay, and what should residents or taxpayers do if they feel they are due a lottery credit and it's not on their tax bill? That's a very good question because this is exactly the time of the year where we're dealing with that. And if someone did not have a lottery credit on their tax bill, the first thing they should do is take a look at that tax bill just to verify whether they did or didn't have it. If they can't locate their tax bill or cannot figure out on their tax bill, whether they had it or not, they should just call our office and we'll be real happy to look that up for them because there's nothing better that we can do than to help people get money. And we enjoy doing that. So all they would have to do is call us and we have late claim forms and the state of Wisconsin also has the late claim form on their website and the brand new form is now a fill-in form. So folks may fill it in right online, however they still have to print it out so that they can sign it and date it and they just send a copy of their tax bill with it and the address is right on the form where they need to send it to the state of Wisconsin and that has to all be done before October 1st of 2009 but they have plenty of time to do that. That sounds pretty easy. How much does the lottery credit save our taxpayers in an average year? Well in Sheboygan County for our December of 2008 tax bills that we just recently sent out and collected there were about a little over $2.5 million of savings with the Lottery and Gaming credit so it was a nice savings in our county. That's fantastic. There's a new credit that's been appearing on the tax bills. Could you explain a little bit about that new program? Yes, that's called the first dollar credit and that credit took place with the state's last budget process and what that budget did is it redistributed $15 million from the Department of Transportation and it took that money and set it aside for property tax relief. And the state estimated that the average credit on a property tax bill would be approximately $30 and that is actually what we did see here in Sheboygan County. The credit went on to all real estate bills where there were improvements. So if you have a piece of land and you have something sitting on top of that land as an improvement, you were automatically given that credit. However, nobody that has personal property credit or personal property tax bill or just had land would qualify for that credit. Now does that still have a residency requirement like the gaming credit? And that was the part where it probably, there were probably 10,000 more people in our county that received that credit than the lottery and gaming credit. Now you said this one was $30. What on average is the credit for the lottery? That varies by school district. I think we've seen school districts with lottery credits in the $50 range all the way up to and exceeding the $80 range. Okay, thank you. With that, I'll turn it back over to Adam. Every year, come tax time, we occasionally will see some lines at the administration building. In fact, the Sheboygan press took a photo with, I don't know, maybe 30 people standing in line and you and I both know that rarely happens. Your staff does such a wonderful job helping people and generally there's very little line whatsoever. And of course, that's just one option of payment. They also can drop it off, they can send it in. What do you recommend to folks? Because frankly, whenever I see anyone standing in line, I think to myself, geez, there's other ways of making that payment where they don't have to be driving down to the administration building and taking that time. What options are there and what do you recommend? Yes, I mean, our drop box has been just a wonderful way for collecting taxes, very safe. It's right at the curb on New York Avenue. However, I will be keeping in touch with our taxpayers because during the second installment tax collection, that box will temporarily be moved to another location due to some construction that will be taking place on New York Avenue. But that's in the works right now, so I'll be keeping folks informed about that through the Sheboygan Press and any other media that I can do so. Other options would be just to pay online. That has become a very popular method to pay. Online eCheck, which basically is an automatic transfer from someone's savings or checking account to the county. The cost to the taxpayer for that is $2.75, and you do get a receipt that you are able to print off right at the end of the transaction. We also offer that exact same service only with credit card. Now that is a little more expensive. That's 2.7% of the payment being made. And again, at the end of the transaction, you do get a receipt. And you may also pay, if you don't have a computer, you may also pay online by credit card, by telephone. And we have an 800 telephone, an 800 number, where people can use that. And of course there's the mail and coming into our office. What are you finding most people are doing now? I would say most people are mailing and then probably online and then our drop box in that order. And as you said, and I'm so glad you mentioned that, this summer there's gonna be some significant construction done around the courthouse administration building. Depending on when that is all really taking off, it might be frankly difficult to get to the administration building. And you're gonna be informing the media and getting news releases out. So if folks had been planning to drop it off for their second installment this summer, they may wanna try one of these other forms. Yes, yes, but I will let them know where the drop box will be relocated temporarily. A lot of discussion on property tax bills and of course a critical role and responsibility of your department. But you touched on some other things that you do, including the sale of the Atlas and the maps and the service you provide to other municipalities, the questions you answer when people have questions about their tax bill. But please touch on some of the other changes that have recently taken place in your office. There's been some real recent initiatives that are pretty exciting. Yes, our office in January consolidated with the real property listing office. And our office location has not changed. We're still in the administration building in room 109. But out of the consolidation, what did happen was we gained a lot of maps and a lot of assessment roles. So we are, again, an additional resource to assessors now which is rather new to us and also to surveyors. In addition to that, we have two people that are new to us in our office, but not to Sheboygan County. That would be Jane Villanue. And she's been with the county for 15 years and I've learned from her that 14 and a half of those years, she's been doing land record work. So she is an asset to our office that way. Also Kendra Versey. Kendra, I don't think there's a person that walks in the door that doesn't know Kendra. So she has quite a few people that visit our office that know her and want her taking care of them. Kendra's been with the county for seven years and three and a half of that has been working with land records. So we really do welcome and enjoy having those two ladies in our office. And as Laura, you know, very well because you were a part of the team that looked at this consolidation opportunity. Some of our viewers who may be hearing this for the first time, not only are we looking to improve the service provided in the treasurer's office through this consolidation, but that freed up space on the second floor where the real property listers area previously was and the Land and Water Conservation Department staff are now moving in there. They're gonna be co-located with the Planning Department. Again, a cost saving move. We wanna improve some services. And overall, I think we had about a $70,000 savings associated with those two components of the consolidations. Is that your recollection? Yes, it was a little over $70,000 each year. And yes, that should be something that will be very good news to our taxpayers. To complete the puzzle, if you're curious, what happens to the area that's vacant at the Land and Water Conservation Previous location in Sheboygan Falls? Well, that is where our Aging and Disability Resource Center is going to be moving. And what that does is not only connects them now with the senior center that's been established there, but that's gonna save the county $168,000 a year rather than going for rent. It's gonna go to direct services to people in this community. So again, a real nice move by the Sheboygan County Board and one that we're hopeful is gonna also be an asset to the people we serve. You talked about some good people in your office and certainly some new initiatives, but what are some other long-term goals that you have in play? Well, an immediate goal of ours is to get settled due to the consolidation. So we still have some moving to take care of, actually just to complete. A lot of moving has taken place. And just to get settled in. And then longer term though, and a goal of mine, I would really like to see us using do more sharing of our software, find in a software where more of our governmental units could use one enterprise type software for the land records. Because there are so many of us that do use the records day in and day out. So it would be nice to see a long-term goal of us committing to something like that and partnering with our towns, villages, cities, our surveyors, the state of Wisconsin, and also our assessors. I wholeheartedly agree with you. Even between the city and the county, there's opportunity for improvement there. And as you said, the other 28 municipalities. And if we can get everyone using a similar software, a lot less time trying to essentially change the data or rework the data to be able to use it. If people have questions, you covered a lot of good information today. And whether someone may want a plat book or a map or goes back and looks at their property tax bill to see if they received a credit that you just covered. If folks have questions, who do you want them to call? What's the telephone number? Well, our office telephone number is area code 920-459-30. That is 015. If people don't live right in the city, and it would be long distance for them to call us, they certainly may use the county toll free number, which is 1-800-924-0700. And they need extension 3015. And when they call, are they gonna have the pleasure of talking directly with you or any member of your team? How does that work? Generally, Jeff Lampe will be answering the phone. If Jeff is busy or away from his desk, it could be any number of people in our office. It could be Jack or either Jane or Kendra or Barb or myself. All right. Well, very good, Laura. Again, thank you so much for joining us today. We sure appreciate your dedication and I know how conscientious you are and hardworking you are. And you have served our community well. And I hope you're gonna be with us for some time to come. I hope so too. Thank you for having me. Next month, we're gonna have another very important department head with us, our child support director, Mr. Jim Graff. Child support, obviously a very important issue to make sure that children and families are getting the resources they need. And obviously can be sometimes emotionally charged. Can be difficult occasionally to who to get in touch with and how do you make sure those payments are coming? So again, Jim Graff is gonna be here to talk about the roles and responsibilities of the child support department. Also in the near future, you're gonna be hearing more about the county in our fiscal situation because as was shared with the Sheboygan County Board very recently and certainly anticipated at the state level, we're gonna see significant reductions coming onto the county level and that will affect all of us, every department. And we're certainly all gonna have to be part of that solution. So if you have suggestions for Sheboygan County government and how we can become more effective, more efficient, please don't hesitate to contact either Laura or any of our department heads or certainly your County Board supervisor or myself or County Board Chairman, Mike Van der Steen. So thank you so much for joining us on behalf of the Sheboygan County Board. Stay well.