Photo by Carrie Pryor-Newman

The GCCISD Tax Office staff members enjoy the challenge of serving nine entities. Pictured are Charlene Piggott (front), director; (second row, from left) Ashley Bumpus; Joan Neese; Virginia Vasquez; Delilah Villegas; (top row, from left) Nichelle Walker, Ester Castro; Pat Reid and Jennifer Alaniz.

GCCISD Tax Office Uses Teamwork to Serve Nine Entities

By: Susan Passmore

It takes a team effort for one tax office to serve nine different entities, but Charlene Piggott and her co-workers in the Goose Creek CISD Tax Office make it look easy.

This past summer, Piggott, director of tax services and tax assessor/collector, gained approval for the district’s Tax Office also to collect for the cities of La Porte, Shoreacres and Morgan’s Point as well as La Porte ISD, which went into effect August 1, 2016. The office already had an interlocal agreement for shared services with Lee College when Piggott came onboard 17 years ago, but added the City of Baytown in 2003, Huffman ISD in 2006 and Crosby ISD in 2011.

Although Huffman ISD has a drop box, Crosby ISD has a drop box as well as a small branch office, and La Porte ISD has a branch office to help with tax collection, the bulk of the work is done in the Goose Creek Tax Office. Piggott sets the tax rates for the jurisdictions, and she and her staff answer questions, send bills, collect taxes, ensure that money is deposited correctly and that it gets to the correct places, work with three different contracted law firms to assist them with delinquent collection efforts, collect up to 40 different types of fees associated with taxes, handle escrow prepayments, and send out monthly corrections and additional bills, adjustments and refunds. They work hard to pull this off, but it’s all about the vision Piggott has for her department.

“My vision has always been to make it a really effective cost center so that we would become an asset to the teachers in the classrooms. This shared service arrangement supports instruction by lowering costs to the district and putting the dollars in our classrooms. It’s similar to our district’s Tri-County East Regional Day School Program for the Deaf, which serves 16 other school districts. By working together, we can cut down the price and deliver the service to more,” said Piggott.

Taking on additional entities was a decision Piggott made sure was supported by her team.

“We all get it. We don’t do one of these unless we think we can do it well. We like the challenge of it and the good feeling you get from doing something well,” said Piggott.

Of course, there are many “unsung heroes” who hold everything together. Two specifically praised by Piggott are Matt Flood, chief technology officer, and Kevin Billings, director of technology services, who ensure that the two servers are up and running and that the branch offices are connected.

“We have really good technology. We’re like a bank. If it comes in today, it’s posted today,” Piggott said. “We are on the front edge of the technology piece and have the leading software in the industry to allow us to accomplish all that we do.”

This also means that many of the staff members work during the Christmas holidays, when the rest of the Administration Building is closed, since taxpayers often rush to get their taxes paid before the first of the year, so they can count them on their income tax return.

Customer service is another important aspect of the Tax Office. The employees work well together and are friendly and helpful when taxpayers come in with a question or to pay their bill.

“We deal with a lot of senior citizens. Sometimes they will come as a group or send a spokesperson to ask questions. We have the chance to put it in terms they understand,” Piggott said.

Piggott began her career with the City of Webster as city secretary, moving into positions as city clerk, tax assessor/collector and then controller. She tried her hand in real estate for a couple of years, but decided to take the tax assessor’s position at Galena Park ISD in 1994, where she learned about school funding. She relocated in 1997, taking a job at Irving ISD, but returned to the area, coming to Goose Creek in December of 1999. Even though she has worked with taxes for 30 years, she is always ready to improve the department and take on new challenges.

“Every time we’ve taken on another entity, we’ve improved their collection rates and their services to the public. For example, none of the other tax offices had a website,” said Piggott.

Randal O’ Brien, Goose Creek CISD superintendent, is pleased that Piggott and her team have felt motivated to take on this new venture.

“Charlene is an invaluable asset to our administrative team, specifically our budget and finance department. She has improved the performance of the tax services provided to our community so much so that our neighboring communities have solicited her assistance. I am proud of the Tax Department staff and their willingness to take on additional work to benefit our district and the other entities they serve,” said O’Brien.