City and County of San Francisco Pivot to Fully-Remote Implementation, Meet Deadline for New Cloud-Based Tax Billing & Collection System
July 23, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Offices of the Treasurer & Tax Collector and Controller announced today the on-time and on-budget implementation of a new cloud-based tax billing and collection system that will annually process hundreds of thousands of property tax bills and payments totaling over $3 billion. TaxSys®, built by government software provider Grant Street Group, replaces a mainframe system that has been in use for over 50 years.
“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 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.”
Home to nearly a million people, San Francisco, the Bay Area’s cultural, technological, and financial center, becomes the second California client to implement TaxSys in the past year (following the County of San Mateo). San Francisco and Grant Street employees avoided potential disruptions due to COVID-19 and met the intended 18-month implementation deadline, by moving all communications online.
“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.”
To put into perspective how massive an undertaking the implementation was, 50 determined San Francisco staff members worked with 43 Grant Street engineers, business analysts, and project managers nearly every day for a year and a half straight, to remain on budget and on schedule.
“This was a herculean effort and we applaud the leadership of San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros and the efforts of all the City’s professionals involved in the project,” said Ian Yorty, Chief Business Development Officer at Grant Street. “San Francisco will be the first in California to utilize TaxSys functionality for the Controller’s office, and we look forward to serving the City Controller Ben Rosenfield and his team of experts, alongside the Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector.”
For more information about the TaxSys implementation, please contact Amanda Fried from the City and County of San Francisco Treasurer’s Office at Amanda.Fried@SFGov.org or John McCarthy from Grant Street Group at John.McCarthy@GrantStreet.com.
About the City and County of San Francisco Treasurer’s Office
The Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector, serves as the banker, tax collector, collection agent, and investment officer for the City and County of San Francisco. As the entity responsible for safeguarding the City’s money, the Office uses this expertise and authority to assist San Francisco residents through award-winning programs and initiatives that help low income families build economic security and mobility.
About the City and County of San Francisco Controller’s Office
The Controller serves as the chief accounting officer and auditor for the City and County of San Francisco. The Controller’s Office is responsible for governance and conduct of key aspects of the City’s financial operations, including operating the City’s financial systems and procedures, maintaining the City’s internal control environment, processing payroll for City employees, managing the City’s bonds and debt portfolio, and processing and monitoring the City’s budget. The department produces regular reports and audits on the City’s financial and economic condition and the operations and performance of City government.
About TaxSys
TaxSys processes over $30 billion in property taxes each year using Grant Street Group’s secure government cloud infrastructure. TaxSys was designed to serve the unique needs of California Treasurer-Tax Collectors and Auditor-Controllers. San Francisco joins the San Mateo County Treasurer’s Office, which went live with TaxSys in 2019, in addition to 26 Florida Tax Collectors who have selected TaxSys.
About Grant Street Group
Grant Street Group specializes in cloud-based government solutions for tax collection, e-payments, and auctions. Every year we process over $30 billion in tax payments and $10 billion in e-payments. Over the past 20 years, Grant Street has hosted online auctions of financial instruments exceeding $12 trillion.