The Bottom Line - Fall 2020 - 32

OFFICE OF TAX AND REVENUE
HOW WE ARE SUCCEEDING

OTR'S
TRANSITION
TO REMOTE
WORKING
By Keith J. Richardson, Deputy Chief Financial
Officer, Office of Tax and Revenue

hen the Office of Tax and Revenue
(OTR) closed its offices due to the
Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, I did
not imagine that five months later we would
still be working remotely. Just like many of
you reading this, I assumed that we would
be back in the office doing "business as
usual" right around the end of tax filing
season, in April. Despite the miscalculation,
OTR is doing an amazing job. Productivity
is outstanding and there are fewer customer service complaints.
We had an exceptionally good tax filing
season.
OTR's transition to remote work included
quickly moving most of our operations
off-site. The Returns Processing staff continue to work in the OTR offices to post
payments, process returns and mail for all
administrations, and send out notices and

32 | THE BOTTOM LINE

real property bills to D.C. residents and
businesses. Additionally, several employees in the Real Property Tax Administration
have been on-site. The Recorder of Deeds
continues to work remotely with title companies and taxpayers making sure all
records are recorded timely.
Our Customer Service Call Center
employees are working remotely to resolve
taxpayer concerns and have assisted taxpayers in applying for the D.C. Tag program
while consistently meeting or exceeding
their Key Performance Indicator (KPI) goals
during the filing season.
OTR has not only adapted to the need
for our employees to work in new ways
but has also addressed taxpayers evolving needs. We are assisting taxpayers who
have experienced economic hardships due
to the pandemic to meet their tax obligations, including real property, income,
business, and miscellaneous taxes. Our
Communications team has been instrumental in getting out the message that OTR is
"ready, willing and able" to assist taxpayers
who want to establish payment arrangements. The team was proactive in communicating to taxpayers through social media,
updating our website with tax notices, and
even creating a Facebook Live event for
taxpayers to connect with Elena Fowlkes,

The Bottom Line - Fall 2020

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