Title
a. Retroactively Approve the County of Monterey's participation in the Statewide e-Forms Network Group Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) effective March 1, 2013.
b. Affirm and ratify the Monterey County Assessor's execution of the JPA effective March 1, 2013, and payment of Monterey County's share of the JPA agreement initial costs for phases I and II, in the amount to date of $2,200, as indicated in the Agreement; and,
c. Authorize the Monterey County Assessor to continue to participate in the JPA and make annual maintenance payments pursuant to the terms of the JPA in annual amounts not to exceed $1,000 per year through the termination of the Agreement on July 1, 2016.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
A. Retroactively Approve the County of Monterey's participation in the Statewide e-Forms Network Group Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) effective March 1, 2013.
B. Affirm and ratify the Monterey County Assessor's execution of the JPA effective March 1, 2013, and payment of Monterey County's share of the JPA agreement initial costs for phases I and II, in the amount to date of $2,200, as indicated in the Agreement; and,
C. Authorize the Monterey County Assessor to continue to participate in the JPA and make annual maintenance payments pursuant to the terms of the JPA in annual amounts not to exceed $1,000 per year through the termination of the Agreement on July 1, 2016.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
In 2004, the Board authorized the Monterey County Assessor to enter into a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) for the creation of Standard Data Records for the filing of annual Business Property Statements. That JPA was and continues to be a positive and productive activity for the County. At this time, the Assessor is asking the Board to approve and ratify the execution on behalf of Monterey County by the County Assessor of the March 1, 2013 Agreement, titled "e-Forms Network Group Agreement" for the purposes of gathering and distributing formatted data, through electronic media, based on relevant BOE and Assessor approved forms. The 2013 JPA Agreement will facilitate the development and ownership of the common data handling process for purposes of property tax assessment and administration. It will also result in the distribution of the associated costs and liabilities directly related to this purpose proportionate to each participating County's share of statewide taxes generated. There is an expected cost savings for all county users, as well as to the Board of Equalization (BOE) from this type of consolidated on-line services and enhanced/consolidated/coordinated services thereby being offered to taxpayers due to the economy of scale and minimization of duplication of services. All participating counties share in the costs so that the services and benefits provided by the new system will be available to all California taxpayers and County entities statewide. The project is administered through Orange County as the Coordinating Assessor.
Due to a misunderstanding, partially due to the existence of several other JPA's that facilitate similar joint cooperative actions, this JPA was not brought to the Board's attention until this time. Monterey County has and will continue to benefit from the services performed pursuant to this JPA, a greater cost savings than would be possible if the County would have to obtain these services, either in-house or by outsourcing the work as a stand-alone County activity; total projected costs for the entire statewide endeavor exceed $350,000, which would have to otherwise be duplicated locally.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has reviewed and approved this JPA Agreement as to form.
FINANCING:
Each County is sharing only a portion of the costs, proportionate to that County's share of the statewide receipt of tax revenue. There is no additional cost to the County General Fund, as there are sufficient appropriations in the Assessor's FY 2014-2015 Adopted Budget (1180-ACR001-8003) for the current recommended action. The development share of costs to the Monterey County are $2,200 (phases I and II), with estimated future annual maintenance costs of $1,000 per year through the JPA termination date of July 1, 2016.
Prepared by: Corina Morgan, Finance Manager, x5821
Authorized by: Stephen L. Vagnini, Assessor-County Clerk/Recorder, x5803
Attachments: Exhibit I