Ever feel like there is someone or something that is messing around with you and your property tax department? Think it may be ghosts or you might be going crazy?  Well, you’re probably not going crazy (although I am not qualified to certify your sanity) and your property tax department probably isn’t haunted, you might just have a case of the PropTax™ monkeys ‘monkeying’ around with you.

Through the help of my son, Tyler, and his surveillance we were able to catch the PropTax Monkeys in the act of ‘monkeying’ around.

(Can’t see the video? Click here)

They’re cute and cuddly but can drive you crazy.  We’ll be keeping our eyes open for the PropTax Monkeys.

Remember the legendary Roman Empire? That’s the one whose mythical foundation started with abandoned twins, nursed by a wolf and raised by a shepherd. Where technological advances such as aqueducts were erected and where the brutal Gladiator was born. It was also in Rome that the world first witnessed a republic established on principles of self government. The city thrived on its’ republic ideals and expanded into an empire to become the undisputed ruler of Italy, and ultimately the world.

The creation of a sophisticated and ground breaking property tax system was one of the milestones of the Roman Empire. Property taxes were paid based on land value, livestock, structures, even plants and trees and all other personal property. The United States has taken some cues from this legendary government, well, minus the wolf-nursed abandoned twins… Many of the property tax policies in Rome have found their way into our current property tax systems.

How many of you will be attending graduation parties this month?  Over the next two weekends my family has a multitude of graduation parties to attend, not to mention all the parties we missed last weekend because we were out of town.  Of course, this volume of parties (and the volume of our budget for gifts) is greatly influenced by the fact that our own son is graduating from high school this Sunday.  As a parent, I feel a mix of emotions watching my son graduate.  I’m amazed and a little sad) at how fast time has flown, and at the same time extremely excited for the future.

What makes graduation so special?  So special, in fact, that we will exhaust ourselves this weekend to get to as many as possible?  Graduations give us the opportunity to acknowledge past achievements, but even more, they provide an opportunity to anticipate things to come.  We celebrate the fact that a young person has stepped over the threshold and begun a new phase in the adventure of life!

Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge where you have been as a property tax department, and chart a course for the next phase in that life!  At the beginning of May, we began piloting the PropTax Assessment - a tool to help companies benchmark against best practices in the industry.  Almost 40 companies have taken the assessment in the first few weeks.  Here’s some of the feedback we have received:  “It’s comprehensive”, “The questions are straightforward”, “I’m very interested to see how we measure up”.

We will be piloting this assessment over the next couple of months.  After July 31^st we’ll begin providing individual reports to participating companies so they can see how they measure up.  In June, we’ll be presenting preliminary findings at the IPT Conference.  If you would like to participate in this assessment, send our team an email.

It’s our goal at Advantax to demystify property taxes and the PropTax Assessment is a tool we offer to reach this goal.  The PropTax Assessment may just facilitate your graduation to the next level in your property tax process.

Twelve employees of Advantax volunteered on 4/28 at Feed My Starving Children (www.fmsc.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to sending millions of meals to starving and malnourished children across the world.  Our team was one of several groups (other companies, families, churches, clubs, etc) packing food that day.  After a briefing on poverty and how the meals were packaged and used, we went to work packing as many meals as possible in 2 hours.  It was an exciting way to spend the afternoon and gave us a chance to have lots of fun, engage in team building, and make a difference.  In the end 103 boxes were packed, which means 22,248 meals; 61 kids fed for a year!  What a great day’s work!

On 5/17, fourteen Advantax employees and members of their families participated or helped in the Feets of Strength 5k Run/Walk, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to creating positive memories for abused and neglected children in our community.  The weather was great for running/walking and each participant had the opportunity to raise both awareness and support for the needs of these children.

I’m excited that activities such as these are part of the culture at Advantax and proud to work with individuals dedicated to helping others.

 http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=113367845342142&ref=ts 

Do you remember your first kiss?  Was it in junior high, high school, college, or are you still waiting? How about your first job… your first venture into property taxes?  If you are like many in the property tax industry you probably stumbled into it and over time found a home.  I’d like to take you back… through the eyes of someone new to the industry. Scott Eckhardt joined Advantax last November through our intern program. Seven months into his career as a full time employee of Advantax, he shares his fresh perspective and first impressions – his first kiss with property tax.