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Findings and Recommendations 10 findings
F1
tax bills; however, bill complexity has increased with a corresponding decrease in transparency as more special assessments appear on property tax bills. The Auditor's Office partially agrees with this finding, acknowledging that the
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
and acquire a new software system that will replace the COBOL-based system currently used. The software should be acquired by June 30, 2026. (F1 - F3, F9) The Auditor's Office has implemented this recommendation. On June 27, 2025,
R6
modify the new and subsequently printed versions of 'County of Fresno Tax Rate Book' to include 'Dollar Amount,' and 'Maturity Date' columns and associated data in both the secured and unsecured tax rate tables to improve transparency. The new information should be included in the tables by November 1, 2025. (F1,
F2
Fresno County Assessor and the Fresno County Auditor-Controller / Treasurer- Tax Collector as well as school districts that have levied taxes on voter-approved bonds.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
and acquire a new software system that will replace the COBOL-based system currently used. The software should be acquired by June 30, 2026. (F1 - F3, F9) The Auditor's Office has implemented this recommendation. On June 27, 2025,
F3
problem of maintaining and coding the Fresno County legacy property tax program will only increase over time. The Auditor's Office is aware of this issue regarding the declining number of
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
and acquire a new software system that will replace the COBOL-based system currently used. The software should be acquired by June 30, 2026. (F1 - F3, F9) The Auditor's Office has implemented this recommendation. On June 27, 2025,
R2
Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office should implement the following additions to Fresno County property tax bills: 1) Columns and associated data for 'Start Date,' 'Dollar Amount,' and 'Maturity Date' should be added for all special assessment line items. 2) Internet address printed on bill stock directing property owners to a functional 'Sample Tax Bills and Notices' webpage at the Fresno County Auditor- [July 23, 2025] The Honorable Judge Houry A. Sanderson, Presiding Judge Fresno County Superior Court Grand July Finding Reporting No. Controller / Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office website. These changes to the Fresno County property tax bill should be implemented by December 1, 2025. (F3, F6) The Auditor's Office will not be implementing this recommendation because it
F4
provide specific information on special assessments to property owners because they can't understand the titles placed on the property tax bill by the Fresno County Auditor-Controller / Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office. The Auditor's Office cannot agree or disagree with this finding, as we do not
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
provide a key / legend for the special assessment codes appearing on property tax bills to all school districts levying taxes for bond obligations that will assist school district contact personnel in providing information to property owners. This key / legend should be made available by October 1, 2025. (F4) The Auditor's Office has not yet implemented this recommendation but will
F5
property tax owners with questions about special assessments are sometimes non- functional. The Auditor's Office agrees with this finding. The Auditor's Office would like
Related Recommendations (2)
R3
repair and update the website (Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector - County of Fresno) to provide better transparency for property owners. Repairs and updates should at the minimum include: 1) A webpage or partial webpage that provides information about special assessments that is also linked to a functional 'Sample Tax Bills and Notices' webpage. 2) A question / answer on the 'Frequently Asked Questions' webpage relative to special assessments, noting where to find more information. 3) A functioning link to the 'Auditor-Controller / Treasurer-Tax Collector document library for public resources' (ACTTC Publications - County of Fresno). 4) A functioning link to the current County of Fresno Tax Rate Book. These repairs and updates should be completed no later than October 1, 2025. (F1,
R4
examine and update annually the contact phone numbers of all 5000 series tax code entities on the Fresno County property tax bill and in the County of Fresno Tax Rate Book. These examinations and updates should be completed by November 1, 2025. (F5) The Auditor's Office will not be implementing the recommendation because it is
F6
Office offers no searchable link to 'special assessment' when queried, and several pages of the website have remained non-functional throughout the duration of this investigation. The Auditor's Office agrees with this finding. On the property tax bill, bonds
Related Recommendations (2)
R2
Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office should implement the following additions to Fresno County property tax bills: 1) Columns and associated data for 'Start Date,' 'Dollar Amount,' and 'Maturity Date' should be added for all special assessment line items. 2) Internet address printed on bill stock directing property owners to a functional 'Sample Tax Bills and Notices' webpage at the Fresno County Auditor- [July 23, 2025] The Honorable Judge Houry A. Sanderson, Presiding Judge Fresno County Superior Court Grand July Finding Reporting No. Controller / Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office website. These changes to the Fresno County property tax bill should be implemented by December 1, 2025. (F3, F6) The Auditor's Office will not be implementing this recommendation because it
R3
repair and update the website (Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector - County of Fresno) to provide better transparency for property owners. Repairs and updates should at the minimum include: 1) A webpage or partial webpage that provides information about special assessments that is also linked to a functional 'Sample Tax Bills and Notices' webpage. 2) A question / answer on the 'Frequently Asked Questions' webpage relative to special assessments, noting where to find more information. 3) A functioning link to the 'Auditor-Controller / Treasurer-Tax Collector document library for public resources' (ACTTC Publications - County of Fresno). 4) A functioning link to the current County of Fresno Tax Rate Book. These repairs and updates should be completed no later than October 1, 2025. (F1,
F7
Auditor-Controller / Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office, provides a complete and properly titled listing of all outstanding bond obligations for Fresno County school districts. [July 23, 2025] The Honorable Judge Houry A. Sanderson, Presiding Judge Fresno County Superior Court Grand July Finding Reporting No. The Auditor's Office agrees with this finding. The County of Fresno Tax Rate
No recommendations for this finding
F8
to Fresno County property owners at the time of the property tax bill issuance, and was still unavailable at the end of April 2025. The Auditor's Office agrees with this finding. Annually, the County of Fresno
No recommendations for this finding
F9
Controller / Treasurer-Tax Collector are collaborating to identify an appropriate vendor to supply a client-based software system that will replace the COBOL- based legacy program. The Auditor's Office agrees with this finding. The Auditor's Office and the
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
and acquire a new software system that will replace the COBOL-based system currently used. The software should be acquired by June 30, 2026. (F1 - F3, F9) The Auditor's Office has implemented this recommendation. On June 27, 2025,
F10
that additional information (dollar amount of bond, year of bond maturity) could be easily inserted into the tax rate tables for voter-approved bond obligations. The Auditor's Office partially agrees with this finding. We concur that the
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
modify the new and subsequently printed versions of 'County of Fresno Tax Rate Book' to include 'Dollar Amount,' and 'Maturity Date' columns and associated data in both the secured and unsecured tax rate tables to improve transparency. The new information should be included in the tables by November 1, 2025. (F1,
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Fresno County Treasurer-Tax Collector
Elected County Office
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.