Consideration and Adoption of Resolution No. 2022-28:  A resolution of the Flagstaff City Council approving an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Glendale, Arizona and the City of Flagstaff for use of the Glendale Tax Application 

The State of Arizona manages Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) collections and data for all cities, towns and counties in Arizona.  The City has entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the State of Arizona for this service. The City received weekly spreadsheet files from the State for TPT activity.  The amount of data received in this form is difficult for city staff to manage.  The City of Glendale has developed a program that helped them manage all the data received from the State and are now offering cities access to the program through an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA).  Staff is seeking Council approval to enter into an IGA to allow staff access to the program.  

The City will be one of the first customers to enter into an IGA for use of the TAX APP system and will receive a discounted price of $2,500 for the first year.  Subsequent years will be billed at $5,000 per year.  Funding is in the Revenue Section under account number 001-02-033-0120-1-4343.

None

Priority Based Budget Key Community Priorities and Objectives

No.

• Approve the Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Glendale
• Do not approve the Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Flagstaff

Since the implementation of centralized collection of sales taxes in June 2016, many cities and towns in Arizona have struggled to piece together and connect the data and reports provided by the Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR). Due to the complexity and volume of the data many cities and town have been unable to easily see and quickly use the data in a single place. 

The City of Phoenix developed software that other cities may access through an IGA and the Flagstaff has been using this system for several years.  The system has been beneficial to our staff however, it was often difficult to manage all the data within the system efficiently.  

The City of Glendale took the approach to develop its own software to effectively and efficiently manage the city's TPT data.  Guided and molded by Glendale’s Finance department and created in-house by Glendale’s Innovation & Technology team, Glendale’s AZ Tax Central is a solution built from collaboration on the principle of usability. We have taken all the data provided by ADOR and made it relatable and searchable. By creating the AZ Tax Central to be an easy to use, easy to understand solution the city has seen:

• A reduction in research time
• An increased efficiency
• An increase in compliance monitoring
• More accurate revenue review and reporting

Staff has received demonstrations of the TAX APP program and staff sees a great value in being a partner city with the City of Glendale.  The City of Glendale offered a discounted first year rate for early partners which is half the annual costs.  

Transaction Privilege Tax information is very secure and is only accessible by staff that have completed the required Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR) Sales Tax Confidentiality training.  Specific customer account information may not be shared with anyone that has not completed this requirement.  

The use of the Glendale Tax Application will help improve management of TPT accounts and improve TPT collections.  

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