Administrative Assistant-Finance, Bureau Of Revenue/Division Of Tax Recordation And Reconciliation

Howard County

Conveniently located in the heart of central Maryland between Baltimore and Washington, Howard County offers the charm of a historic past mixed with the excitement of a cosmopolitan community.

Howard County Government

Howard County Government is a leader in innovation, sustainability, and consistently ranked as one of the best places to live and work in the country. In 2023, Howard County Government received a record-breaking 51 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) - the most in the state of Maryland. NACo is the leading organization representing county-level government operations. These awards recognize innovative and transformative programs that provide new services for county residents, improve existing programs, upgrade working conditions, and enhance citizen participation and public policymaking.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for outstanding individuals to join our team and contribute to excellence in Howard County operations.

What you'll like most about working at Howard County Government:

• We are committed to workplace excellence in every area of County government.

• We have a highly talented, diverse, and inclusive workplace.  Your input will not only be heard, but it will be encouraged!  

• We offer competitive compensation and great benefits including medical, retirement, and wellness programs.

As a member of the Howard County Government team, you'll be helping drive our culture and directly impact what makes us an amazing place to work.

POSITION SUMMARY:

Highly complex, administrative and customer service level work including collection of recordation tax, certifying all liens with the County have been paid prior to a transfer of real property, the review of deeds and other documents to be recorded by the Clerk of the Court, and additional responsibilities related to administrating the County's annual tax sale.  Work requires advanced knowledge of property taxes, deeds, recordings, tax credits, recaptures, and tax sale. In addition to providing a high-quality level of customer service to constituents, other duties include completion of administrative level work essential to the daily operations of the Division of Tax Recordation. Work includes the performance of clerical support such as typing, filing, data entry, researching information and verifying reports.

STARTING SALARY HIRING RANGE:

$28.44 - $32.09

$59,155 - $66,747

CLASS DESCRIPTION:

Performs senior technical level administrative support work, which may include supervisory responsibility, under general supervision from an administrative or technical superior.   Work typically involves administrative, technical and para-legal work providing staff assistance to various Boards; or administrative secretarial or constituent services work assisting the County Executive, the State's Attorney, the Chief Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, Chief of Staff  or the Chief Administrative Officer. Assumes responsibility for clerical procedures and office operations; maintains executive calendar and appointments. May supervise a support staff.  Work at this level may include independent responsibility for a difficult and complex administrative or clerical process not requiring the attention of a professional or technical expert.Include the following. Other related duties may be assigned.

• Prepares Tax Lien Certifications (County Statement of Obligations), for requests received via electronically or mailed, which includes inputting data entry for all lien certificate requests using the lien certification database.

• Reviews and approves deeds submitted for recordation in Howard County including:

• Verifying that the Intake sheet reflects the information contained on the deed, both from walk-in customers and utilizing the SIMPLIFILE E-recording deed submission software program.

• Performing research which verifies that all liens are paid prior to stamp of Deed for transfer.

• Calculating property taxes, water and sewer charges, recaptured and repayment of tax credits/exemptions, and other miscellaneous liens.

• Performing review of the following documents being submitted for recordation: Deeds, Deeds of Trust, Contracts of Sale, Declarations of Trust, Easements, Financing Statements, Homeowners Liens, Leases, Memorandum of Leases, Modifications, Mortgages, Right-of-ways, Statements of Loan Advances, Amendments to Mortgages and Deeds of Trust, Assignments and other documents. Review involves applying general guidelines, analyzing complex documents, making independent decisions, and taking responsibility for those decisions.

• Determining, based on State and County Law, whether the document is subject to recordation tax and county transfer tax or if it qualifies for an exemption. Determining the amount on which recordation and county transfer tax should be calculated. Reviewing applicable transactional documents to verify that the consideration recited in the Intake Sheet reflects the total consideration being received for the property. Reviewing settlement sheets to determine if any of the charges shown are additional consideration.

• Calculating and collecting recordation tax and county transfer tax, completing required information and stamping the document for processing at the Clerk's Office.

• Submitting questionable documents to the Office of Law for determination of whether recordation tax and county transfer tax is applicable and/or the amount on which recordation tax and county transfer tax should be calculated.

• Staying abreast of changes to State or County law, as well as Letters of Advice, Memorandum to Clerks, and Opinions of the Attorney General which may impact the collection of Recordation Tax and County Transfer Tax.

• Processes daily ACH payments for Govolution and Simplifile.

• Balances all tax collected daily with system totals and intake sheets, researches and resolves variances, and submits receipts.

• Performs monthly reconciliation of recordation tax and county transfer tax GL.

• Provides Customer Service for inquiries received by mail, phone, email, and/or walk-ins that concern applicable fees on various real estate transactions and filings of deeds and deeds of trusts.

• Stays abreast on tax sale related timelines and processes to address phone and/or walk-in inquiries related to tax sale matters including tax sale payoffs. Provides support for annual tax sale tasks, as assigned by Division Chief, including the full lien search process, return mail processing and tax sale redemptions.

• Manages the Tax Recordation email box to ensure timely and accurate responses.

• Aids in planning and organizing the activities of the Recordation Tax Collection office and following up to ensure the tasks are completed.

• Maintains key Divisional worksheets including:

• Homeowner recapture spreadsheet to record all recapture tax credits throughout the month and ensure accuracy for Division Chief's monthly State Reporting process.

• Recordation and transfer tax worksheets for recordings in excess of $1.5 million for the Office of Budget.

• Rental license process and month end related worksheet.

• Provides backup customer service for real and personal property tax by phone and in person during times of peak volume.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.Associate's Degree and four (4) years of related experience in or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

PREFERRED EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

Associate's Degree and experience in recordation or the title industry.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

•  While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit.

• The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear.

• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, peripheral vision, and depth perception.

• The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.

LANGUAGE SKILLS, MATHEMATICAL SKILLS, AND REASONING ABILITY:

• Ability to read and interpret legal documents and contracts such as deeds and leases, as well as other documents, such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.

• Ability to write routine professional / business reports and correspondence.

• Ability to speak effectively with customers or employees of the County, on the phone or in person.

• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.

• Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

• Ability to read and interpret various types of maps.

• Ability to regularly use independent judgment, analysis, evaluation, creativity, and consultation to carry out instructions presented in written, oral, or diagram form

• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.