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HomeMy WebLinkAbout020693 RES - 06/13/19891N X A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A A CONTRACT WITH NUECES COUNTY FOR THE COLLECTION OF THE CITY'S AD VALOREM TAXES. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI, SECTION 1. That the City Manager is hereby authorized to execute a contract with Nueces County fcr the Lo'iecL'on of the City's ad valorem taxes, all as more fully set forth in the contract, a substantial copy of which is attached hereto and made a part hereof, marked Exhibit "A." ATTEST: City Secretary APPROVED: 1L<<-ii[t_ MAYOR i THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS DAY OF TZciv42_ , 1995 HAL GEORGE, CITY ATTORNEY 208HG112.res MICROR L ED STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF NUECES AGREEMENT FOR AD VALOREM TAX COLLECTION SERVICES THIS AGREEMENT made and entered into this day of , 1989, by and between the County of Nueces (hereinafter called "County"), a political subdivision of the State of Texas and the City of Corpus Christi (hereinafter called "City") duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Texas, each acting herein by and through its duly authorized official. WITNESSETH: WHEREAS, the parties to this agreement wish to consolidate the collection of their respective ad valorem property taxes into one agency, i.e., the Tax Assessor -Collector of the County of Nueces; and WHEREAS, the parties enter into this agreement in order to eliminate the potential duplication of the existing system for collection of taxes and to promote governmental efficiency; and WHEREAS, the parties enter into this agreement pursuant to the authority granted by Sections 6.23, 6.24, 6.30, TEXAS PROPERTY TAX CODE, and TEXAS REVISED CIVIL STATUTES ANNOTATED article 4413 (32c), known as the Interlocal Cooperation Act; NOW, THEREFORE, for purposes stated herein, it is mutually agreed as follows: I. DEFINITIONS "Collection" is defined as assessment, collection, disbursement, and any other function associated with levying and collecting current and delinquent taxes as required by Texas Property Tax Code. "Current taxes" are defined as ad valorem property taxes legally due and payable without penalty and interest. "Delinquent taxes" are defined as ad valorem property taxes which have not been received by the County on or before January 31st of any given tax year and on which penalty and interest are due. II. REGULATIONS AND LAWS This Agreement shall be subject to all rules, regulations and laws applicable thereto passed or promulgated by the United States of America, State of Texas, or any governmental body or agency having lawful jurisdiction or any authorized representative or agent of them. 605HG157.agr.dv 1 III. PERFORMANCE 1. Effective from and after August 1, 1989, the County of Nueces acting by and through its Tax Assessor -Collector and the County Property Tax Collections Activity shall act as Tax Assessor -Collector and collect ad valorem taxes for the City of Corpus Christi under the provisions of Sections 6.23(a)(4) and 6.24, Texas Property Tax Code, for a term of three (3) years commencing on August 1, 1989, and ending July 31, 1992. The term of this contract may be extended beyond the original three year term by mutual consent, to allow for additional time to complete negotiations for a new contract or extension of the present contract. 2. The County Tax Assessor -Collector shall have full authority, within the terms of this contract, and shall assess all of the real and personal property, in accordance with the laws pertaining thereto, located within the boundary of the City subject to taxation. The County Tax Assessor -Collector is authorized and directed, and shall vigorously collect all current and delinquent taxes of the City, including taxes previously assessed by the City. The collection of said taxes, both current and delinquent, shall be done in accordance with the Texas Property Tax Code and all other laws or regulations pertaining to property tax collections. In the event any provisions of this contract are inconsistent with the requirements of the law, the requirements of the law shall control, and the Tax Assessor -Collector shall discharge the duties in accordance therewith. 3. The County Property Tax Collection Activity shall identify all property accounts located within the Tax Increment District Reinvestment Zone No. 1 (Zone) for all taxing units participating in the Zone. The County Property Tax Collection activity shall collect all property taxes within the Zone in accordance with the terms and conditions of the establishment of the Zone. Said property tax collections shall be remitted to the City and identified separately from other property tax collections. The following is a partial listing of required reports: 1. Comparison of Values - Present year to Prior 2. Analysis of Tax Collections Distribution 3. Reports necessary to Annual Report 4. RIVZ Levy Distribution 5. Monthly Collections Reports All reports requested must conform to the per parcel cost factors of this contract. If additional expense is incurred by the County in providing these reports, the City will reimburse this cost. 605HG157.agr.dv 2 4. This contract shall be for a term of three (3) years, but each of the parties hereto reserves the right to terminate this contract any time during the term of this contract by giving notice as provided by this contract. If notice of cancellation is given between January 1 and June 30 of any given year, the effective date of cancellation for assessment purposes is the following January 1st. The effective date of cancellation for the purpose of tax collections is the July 31 following the effective date of cancellation for assessment. If notice is given between July 1 and December 31 of any given year, the effective date of cancellation for assessment purposes is October 1 of the following year. The effective date of cancellation for collection purposes is July 31 of the year following the notice date. For example, if notice of cancellation is given on April 30, 1989, the effective date of cancellation is January 1, 1990, for assessment purposes and July 31, 1990, for collection purposes. Likewise, if notice of cancellation is given on October 31, 1989, the effective date of cancellation is October 1, 1990, for assessment purposes and July 31, 1990, for collection purposes. Until such respective effective dates of cancellation are initiated, the assessment and collection of the City's taxes by the County shall be continued as here provided. In all cases, the County will be duly compensated by the City for all services performed. 5. In the event of termination of this contract, either by withdrawal by either party or the failure to agree on extension of agreement beyond the three-year period, a magnetic tape of property tax data pertaining to property within the City shall be prepared by the County and delivered to the City with the cost of such preparation being part of the cost of services provided by this contract. IV. SERVICES TO BE PERFORMED 1. The County shall vigorously collect current and delinquent ad valorem property taxes owing to the City. The County further agrees to perform for the City all the duties relating to the collection of ad valorem taxes for the City provided by the laws of the State of Texas. 2. The County shall perform all the functions set out in the Definitions section of this Agreement. The County agrees to prepare consolidated tax statements for each taxpayer. The County shall mail said tax statements to each taxpayer or authorized agent on property within the City. The County shall collect delinquent taxes in accordance with accepted collection practices. 605HG157.agr.dv 3 3. The City hereby designates the Tax Assessor -Collector of the County of Nueces as its tax collector for all purposes under the Texas Property Tax Code. 4. The County shall supply the City with monthly and annual reports as required by the State Property Tax Code and the State Property Tax Board. Additional requests for reports by the City must be made in writing; must allow sufficient time for adequate response; and must conform to cost factors of this contract. The monthly and annual reports shall include as a minimum the following information: total tax collected including penalty and interest, discount, refunds, cumulative collections, less discounts and any other information as required by the State Property Tax Code or State Property Tax Board. The City may request additional reports as it may require at its cost. 5. The County will prepare an annual property tax collection activity operational budget which will include all expenditures incurred in the property tax collection process for the previous year. Copies of this work budget will be made available to representatives of the Consolidated Property Tax Advisory Council and will be used as basis for joint independent audits of the property tax collection operation and for establishing the following years "per parcel" costs. 6. The County will apply equal effort in the assessment and collection of current and delinquent property taxes for the parties to this Agreement. The County Property Tax Collection Activity will not show bias toward any taxing unit for which it collects current and delinquent property taxes. 7. The County will permit the taxpayer, in the event payment of less than the consolidated bill is tendered, to apply the payment as the taxpayer desires, in compliance with State law. In the absence of the expression of any preference as to application of payment, the payment will be applied in compliance with State law. 8. The County will obtain written approval from the City's Director of Finance or his designee before penalty and interest is waived, either partial or in whole, on any City account. Any waiver of penalty and interest being considered must establish that the delinquency was caused by a direct action or inaction of the Tax Office as required by the Texas Property Tax Code. 9. The County will limit the time frame allowed for installment payment agreement on delinquent property taxes owing to the City to no more than six months. Written approval must be obtained from the City's Director of Finance or his designee for any deviations. 605HG157.agr.dv 4 10. The County will refrain from seizing and/or selling any property pertaining to the City Tax Roll, having a homestead designation, for payment of delinquent taxes. 11. Interest payments required as a result of untimely processing of refunds are not considered reimbursable expenses. V. PAYMENT 1. Amount of Payment The City agrees to pay the County an amount determined by dividing the Tax Collection Activity budget by the number of parcels within the County which for the initial year is $0.93 per parcel for all parcels on the City's certified tax roll that are located in Nueces County. This fee is established as a first-year estimate by which the consolidation process will be initiated. It is expressly understood herein that included within these first year $0.93 per parcel fees, are hardware/software costs essential for consolidation and which will be shared equally by all using entities. The County agrees to accept recommendations from using entities for, and further agrees to resolve with first-year entities, a method that will equitably recoup for all first-year using entities, a fair share apportionment of initial hardware/software costs, which will be charged to entities that enter the property tax consolidation process in subsequent years. At the end of the first collection year, the County agrees to analyze property tax collection expenditures to determine "actual per parcel" costs. A copy of this analysis will be provided to the City which will be authorized to examine source data to confirm "actual per parcel" costs quoted in the County analysis. The County will reimburse to the City its proportionate share of unspent funds which are defined as those funds which were budgeted but not spent or committed by valid contract during the County's fiscal year. The County also agrees to reimburse to the City, questioned charges which are defined as those costs charged to the property tax collection process but determined by independent audit to be inappropriately charged to the tax collection process. The cost of this independent audit will be included in the annual budget for the Tax Collection Activity. It is recognized that Nueces County is but one unit of government and the Nueces County General Fund, Debt Service and Farm -to -Market taxes are levied, budgeted and spent only by the Nueces County government. It is agreed that for tax year 1990 and subsequent years Nueces County shall be considered as one unit with one county -wide total of parcels within that consolidated tax roll used as the budget denominator to compute the "per parcel" cost under this Agreement. 605HG157.agr.dv 5 2. Method of Payment The City will pay at the end of each month, $0.93 per parcel for each parcel collected during that month. The County will include the number of accounts collected in a monthly report to the City. By July 31st of each collection year, the City will remit to the County the balance of fees for parcels identified in the City's current year tax roll but which have not been thereby collected. 3. Source of Payment Payments by the parties for services under this Agreement shall be made from current revenues of the parties. VI. REMITTANCE OF COLLECTION 1. Current and delinquent taxes collected for the City shall be deposited into the City depository when practicable within 24 hours of collection, however, under no circumstances will the deposit of taxes collected be made later than 48 hours from the time of collection. 2. County agrees to certify to the City in a manner approved by the City that all deposits in the County's depository shall be fully collateralized in accordance with the appropriate law requirements for the County. All refunds and amounts applicable for returned checks will be withheld by the County from current collections and will be annotated on the appropriate report. VII. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS County agrees to make every effort to collect 87 percent of the net collectible of the current ad valorem taxes assessed and levied on behalf of the City by February 1 of each year and 94 percent of the net collectible ad valorem taxes assessed and levied on behalf of the City measured over the City's fiscal year. VIII. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS 1. All expenses incurred by the County for the collection of taxes shall be clearly kept on the appropriate books and records. The City or their designated representative, after notifying the County in writing, is authorized to examine the records to be kept by the County at such reasonable times and intervals as the City deems fit. 605HG157.agr.dv 6 2.(a) The County agrees to establish a "Consolidated Property Tax Advisory Council" of property tax collection service users. The Consolidated Property Tax Advisory Council will be appointed and will consist of one representative appointed by each of the following entities, if participating in the County Property Tax Collection Activity. - City of Corpus Christi - Corpus Christi Independent School District - Corpus Christi Junior College District - Nueces County - One representative appointed for all other participating entities. The Advisory Council will recommend the independent auditor to be selected. The Advisory Council is authorized to review the total operation of the County Property Tax Collection Activity including the preliminary budget of the County Property Tax Collection Activity and make any recommendations for change and for improvement to the Nueces County Tax Assessor -Collector. The Advisory Council will meet, at minimum, on a quarterly basis or as often as required. The chairman of this council will be the County Tax Collector. The Council will be authorized to preview the composition of costs by which the County will set the "per parcel" fees for the following year. The Council will further be authorized to submit recommendations pertaining to "per parcel" costs to the County governing authority. The County agrees to request that such recommendation be included in the agenda of the Commissioners' Court. (b) The parties hereto mutually agree to establish a subcommittee of the hereinabove created Advisory Council to consist of the principal attorney representing the County, the City, and the Corpus Christi Independent School District, and the Corpus Christi Junior College District known as the Delinquent Tax Attorney Advisory Committee. This committee shall meet at least quarterly and give advice to the County and the Advisory Committee regarding the collection of delinquent taxes and make recommendations on the selection of the Delinquent Tax Attorney and the review of the delinquent tax collection program. The County Commissioner's Court will select the delinquent tax attorney. 3. In the case that the City changes or amends any portion of the data submitted to the County, after the County begins processing such data for collection of the City's taxes, the City will pay the additional costs resulting from such changes and/or amendments. Such cost shall be paid by the City. 605HG157.agr.dv 7 IX. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 1. The City agrees to transfer to the possession and control of the County, without charge, copies of all records necessary for the performance of the duties and responsibilities of the County pursuant to this Agreement. These records shall include all tax records, including tax rolls or records available to the City. Transfer and format costs shall be incurred by the City. 2. The County shall not be liable to the City for any failure to collect taxes nor shall the County Tax Assessor - Collector be liable unless the failure to collect taxes results from willful or intentional failure on his part to perform the duties imposed upon him by law and by this Agreement. 3. Following the first regularly scheduled meeting in September of the City's governing authority, and not later than September 12th of each year, if the City has not established the tax rate as required by law, the City will pay the costs of mailing its tax bills for that year. If such a delay creates a condition that requires the County to isolate handling of the City's tax collection data, the City will pay the additional costs of special handling. 4. Authorized refunds to property owners will be made on the same check for all taxing units contracting for assessment and collection services. Such refunds include, but are not limited to, late exemption claims, clerical errors, overpayments, etc. The amount of the City's refund shall be deducted from current receipts or, if none are available, such refunds will be remitted by the City to the County within seven (7) days of written notification of such sums due. 5. The County will make a reasonable effort to assure the charge for services to the City shall never increase by more than five (5%) percent from any one year to the next year. X. DELINQUENT TAXES 1. Pursuant to Section 6.24 of the Texas Property Tax Code, the City hereby authorizes the County by and through the County's Tax Assessor -Collector to collect delinquent taxes for the City as provided herein. 2. The County of Nueces is authorized to contract for the employment of an attorney to enforce the collection of delinquent taxes pursuant to Section 6.30 of the Texas Property Tax Code. Said attorneys shall have full authority to represent the City within the terms of said contract. The County and City, herein agree, that selection of Delinquent Tax Attorney firms must 605HG157.agr.dv 8 exclude any attorney employed under the umbrella of either government entity within one year of selection. XI. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY It is expressly understood and agreed that, in the execution of this Agreement, neither the County nor City waives or shall be deemed hereby to waive any immunity or defense that would otherwise be available to it against claims arising in the exercise of governmental powers and functions. XII. TERMINATION This Agreement shall continue in full force and effect from year to year until July 31, 1992 or such time as either party hereto gives written notice of cancellation as provided by paragraph III. (4). XIII. AMENDMENTS Any amendments, alterations, deletions or waiver of the provisions of this Agreement shall be valid only when expressed in writing and agreed to by official action of the governing bodies of both parties, and will be effective only if they do not adversely affect the prompt fulfillment of contract obligations. All amendments concerning or affecting an increase in the amount of payment or costs under this Agreement shall be effective only if they are agreed upon on or before July 1 of the year in which they are to become effective. XIV. GENERAL PROVISIONS 1. Cost Containment Increases to the property tax collection working budget which will be annually previewed by the Consolidated Property Tax Advisory Council, must be predicated on budget items essential to the property tax collection operation. All future increases will refer to the "per parcel" costs of the prior year contract. The County will make a reasonable effort to assure the charge for services to the City shall never increase by more than five (5%) percent from any one year to the next year. 2. Notices Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, all notices required or permitted herein shall be in writing and shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid, registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the party's office or usual mailing address. 605HG157.agr.dv 9 3. Parties Bound This Agreement shall be binding upon the parties, their legal representatives, successors, and assigns. 4. Copies This Agreement is executed in multiple copies, any one of which, or a true copy thereof, shall have the same evidentiary value. 5. Completeness It is understood and agreed that the entire Agreement of the parties is contained herein and that this Agreement supersedes all oral agreements and negotiations between the parties relating to the subject matter hereof as well as any previous agreements presently in effect between the parties relating to the subject matter hereof. 6. Severability The provisions of this Agreement are severable. If any paragraph, section, subdivision, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Agreement is for any reason held to be contrary to the law or contrary to any rule or regulation having the force and effect of law, such decision shall not affect the remaining portions of the Agreement. However, upon the occurrence of such event, either party may terminate this Agreement by giving the other party thirty (30) days written notice. IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents are executed by authority of the governing bodies of the respective parties hereto binding the parties effective August 1, 1989. ATTEST: CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI By Armando Chapa Juan Garza City Secretary City Manager APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM THIS F. Hal George City Attorney 605HG157.agr.dv 10 ATTEST: COUNTY OF NUECES By Secretary Robert N. Barnes County Judge APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM THIS DAY OF , 1989 Attorney for Nueces County Ramiro R. Canales Nueces County, Tax Assessor -Collector 605HG157.agr.dv 11 99.066.01 Corpus Christi, Texas day of �(.,� l l , 198 The above resolution was passed by the following vote: Betty N. Turner it( , David Berlanga, Sr. (7/c Leo Guerrero Tom Hunt Edward A. Martin Joe McComb Clif Moss Mary Rhodes Frank Schwing, Jr. (I :