Florida News
February 2009
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Director's Message
Happy New Year Everyone! I hope your Holidays were safe, fun and filled with Joy. Mine were probably the busiest ever - but completely worth the toil. We are looking forward to an exciting year here in Florida. We had an Advisory Council meeting on January 20th, hosted by the Honorable Rhonda Skipper. We would like to send out thanks to Rhonda and her staff for making all of the preparations.
There are several new tax collectors entering the fold and although we will miss our old friends, we look forward to building relationships with our new partners and personally meeting each of you very soon.
We are planning some new releases with Value changes for the Amendment 1 compliance this year and have begun work on this early in order to avoid some of the issues we ran into last year with exemptions and roll conversions. Plans are underway for our annual User Group Meeting tentatively scheduled for July. Any input on topics for that meeting, or if you would like to present a session, please let us know and we can work on getting it into the agenda.
Also – watch for our first GRM Tax installation in Florida this year with the addition of Palm Beach County. Please join us in welcoming them into the Manatron Family. Altogether, it is shaping up to be a wonderful and busy year! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Paula Leal
Director of FL Operations
Welcome New Tax Collectors
We at Manatron extend the warmest of welcomes to the newly elected Tax Collectors throughout Florida: Lisa Cullen - Brevard County, Sharon Jordan - Suwannee County, Carol Jean Jordan – Indian River, Michelle Cannon – Dixie County, Stan Colie Nichols – Santa Rosa County, Becky Trickey Smith – Calhoun, Larry Ray- Collier, Marie B. Goodman – Liberty, Ruth "Ski" Pietruszewshi – Martin and Mary Sue Adams- Hamilton. We look forward to personally meeting each of you in the near future.
It’s bittersweet to say farewell to those collectors who we’ve worked with over the years – Rod Northcutt, Joyce Davis, Charles Sembler, Robert McClure and George Burnham. We wish them well and hope that our paths cross again.
Advisory Council Update
The Advisory Council’s first meeting of 2009 was hosted by the Honorable Rhonda Skipper in Walton County on Jan 20th. Six counties were in attendance and 9 counties participated remotely via “Live Meeting”. The topic of Value Changes for the upcoming tax year was the primary focus of this meeting. A Value Adjustment Advisory Committee has been formed to provide direction and consensus on the changes that will need to be implemented within our products. A review of products introduced in 2008 were also reviewed – Check Clearinghouse, Job Scheduler, Special Assessment Import process, TDA Interface and Tax Track. It was decided that the next Advisory Council Meeting would be held exclusively via “Live Meeting” and the following meeting would be conducted in conjunction with the User Group Meeting in Tampa this summer.
Palm Beach County Contracts with Manatron for GRM Tax Solution
We are very proud to announce that Palm Beach County, Florida has selected Manatron’s GRM Tax as the tax collection software solution. Palm Beach County becomes Manatron's 26th tax client in Florida and is the first county in the State to contract for our GRM Tax software. Through our partnership with the Palm Beach County Tax Collector's Office, Manatron will introduce GRM Tax to Florida, which will then become the natural upgrade for our current client base in the years to come.
About GRM: GRM is Manatron's fully integrated property management suite of software designed to manage and support the entire property life cycle, which includes deed recording, land records, GIS (Geographic Information System) integration, valuation, assessment administration, personal property, business licenses, cashiering, tax billing and collection, delinquents and tax sales, and e-government. Manatron GRM automates the operational, information and planning needs for Assessors, Auditors, Treasurers, Tax Collectors, Recorders and other state and local governmental officials so that they can completely, fairly and efficiently assess real and personal property and bill and collect the related property taxes in their jurisdictions. More on this product is available at manatron.com/solutions/grm.aspx.
About the Palm Beach County Tax Collector's Office: The Tax Collector's office collects and distributes taxes and fees on behalf of 94 taxing authorities and the citizens of Palm Beach County. The Office of the Tax Collector is a separate and independent government entity to ensure freedom from influence by local or state agencies that have the power to levy taxes. This means that the Tax Collector can and does operate independently of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commission and other Constitutional Offices. The Tax Collector's budget is approved by the Florida Department of Revenue.
STI Acquisition
Manatron is pleased to announce that we have acquired Software Techniques, Inc. (STI), based in Winter Park, Florida effective December 31, 2008. With this acquisition, over 40 engineering, implementation, and support personnel have joined the Manatron team.
STI has been in business since 1987, and has focused on CAMA software solutions since 1994. STI’s CustomCAMA software solution supports over 5,000,000 parcels for 21 clients. Outside of FL they service large jurisdictions like Harris (Houston) Texas, Clark (Las Vegas) Nevada, and the State of Maryland. Inside Florida they work with the Property Appraisers in Miami‐Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Duval, St John’s, Polk, Escambia, Indian River, and Levy Counties. We hope this merger can lead to closer integration between the Tax Collector and Property Appraiser offices in the Florida counties that utilize STI software.
Being able to complete the acquisition in this difficult economy and tight credit markets highlights the strength of Manatron and the support of Thoma Bravo. Our company is still growing and remains financially strong. Rest assured that your software is being provided by a stable company.
Welcome New Manatron Employees
We’re pleased to introduce the following new employees to our Tampa office..
Janet Lower – Support Analyst Janet joined our Tampa office in Sept of 2008 and is putting her experience in project management, information systems and accounting background to use and has already taken on the Check Clearinghouse and TDA Interface as her “pet” projects. She’s currently earning her Master’s degree in Information Science Management and a minor in Project Management.
Nick Toerner – Business Analyst Nick has just transferred from our Beavercreek, OH office to escape the cold and snow. He has participated in many implementations of Manatron’s MVP Ohio product and now brings his skills to FL. He will begin by assisting the Palm Beach implementation team with the completion of this huge project and assist with other FL business as needed, so you can look forward to meeting him in the near future.