Shifting Property Taxpayers Online

with Montgomery County Department of Finance

PARTNER
Montgomery County Department of Finance

SECTOR
Finance

SKILLS UTILIZED
User research
Prototyping
UX/UI

THE CHALLENGE

Every year, over 50% of Montgomery County’s 300,000+ property owners pay their property tax by mail—a process that is slow and fraught with errors that frustrate both property owners and the County’s Finance Department. The Finance Department wanted property owners to pay via the online portal, which provides an immediate and secure transaction.

They partnered with our team to identify and implement communication and process improvements to shift property owners to pay online.

PROCESS

Heard Directly from Property Owners

The project kicked off in the last month before property taxes were due. To understand why property owners preferred to pay in person and not online, I set up a table outside the treasury office for a week. I spoke to willing property owners immediately after they paid their property tax, uncovering 3 misconceptions:

  1. They thought going to the treasury office would be faster than paying online, even though they often had to wait in line

  2. They thought paying online always carried a service charge. This is true of paying with credit card, but paying with one’s bank account carried no service fee.

  3. They thought paying online wasn’t secure. The Department of Finance had invested much over the years to improve their security and paying online was actually very secure.

My values in action: Lived experience is expertise.

Built Prototypes

With this information, we decided that the best way to correct these misconceptions and simplify the process was by redesigning the slip of paper that accompanied the property tax bill in the mail. This was called a “buckslip.” I also redesigned the payment webpages to streamline the process and improve the clarify of information.

My values in action: Make to learn.

Collaborated to Refine the Designs

With the mockups in hand, I invited the Finance team to a virtual workshop using Miro to refine the designs together. Taking their feedback, I refined the prototypes and invited them to a second workshop to further refine the designs. Their feedback informed final refinements to both the buckslip and the online portal.

My values in action: Be a shepherd.

OUTCOME

A Clearer Message

The new buckslip went out to 365,000 property owners in the mail with their property tax bill. The message was simplified to address the 3 main benefits paying online provide property owners. It both addressed the misconceptions we heard and included a behavioral nudge to shift property owners to pay online.

This work contributed to a 2% increase in online payments (7,300 property owners).

See the before-and-after of the buckslip below:

A Simplified Process

The new online payment portal had clearer messaging and reduced the number of clicks to pay from 5 to 3 (40% decrease).

See the before-and-after of the online portal below:

FEEDBACK

“All of the items that you have provided… are very well done and polished. I really enjoy the Miro whiteboard sessions, which gave others an opportunity to provide feedback in real-time. Keep up the good work.”

— J.A.

“This was a great team project and everyone felt like their ideas were heard. I don’t think there was anything that could have been done better; it was a great project.”

— J.B.

“The updated website is easier to navigate and flow is improved. The buckslips are easier to read and focused on online payments.”

— G.L.