FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Rachel Bryant, Director of Marketing
Manatron, Inc. (269) 567-2900
rachel.bryant@manatron.com
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PORTAGE, MI — October 7, 2008 - Manatron, Inc. the nation’s leading provider of integrated, enterprise-level property tax solutions for state and local governments, announced it has received a contract from the County of Santa Cruz, California for its GRM suite of integrated property tax software and related professional services. This project includes automation and integration of critical business processes in the offices of the Assessor, Auditor-Controller and Treasurer-Tax Collector. Santa Cruz is the first county in the State of California to contract with Manatron for its GRM software. This also marks the first introduction of a new property software solution to the California market in many years.
The property tax software system needs of California counties are unique and complex. Proposition 13 and subsequent voter approved initiatives limiting property assessments, together with complex allocation rules defined by legislation such as AB8, present significant challenges for off-the-shelf property tax software. Like many California counties, Santa Cruz faced the need to replace a legacy mainframe system that manages the processes of appraising, assessing and taxing residential, agricultural, commercial and business personal properties. Manatron GRM was developed as a suite of highly configurable software tools capable of managing the complex and unique needs reflected in California’s property tax code, thus providing the solution that suited the needs of Santa Cruz County.
“The time had come for Santa Cruz County to replace its aging mainframe property tax system," said Santa Cruz Assessor, Gary Hazelton. "Our system was originally developed in the late 1970’s and has been supplemented over the years with ancillary applications developed using newer technology. When first deployed, the Santa Cruz system was a model of efficiency and one of only a few systems in the State of California that fully integrated the business functions of all departments involved in the property tax process. Legislative changes over the years added a significant amount of complexity to those processes and fewer of them became integrated as changes were made to support the County’s operations. As often happens with aging software, the system became less effective in handling the complicated business processes of valuing and taxing property in Santa Cruz County."
"Advancements in technology and the inevitable retirement of increasing numbers of support staff dictated the need for change," Hazelton added. "Manatron was selected because of the advanced technical architecture of its GRM platform, the knowledge of its staff and the company’s commitment to the California marketplace. We are very pleased with the selection of Manatron and firmly believe that when our project is completed, Santa Cruz County will again have a property tax system that represents a model for other California counties to follow.”
“The Santa Cruz, California project is a key win for Manatron,” said Bill McKinzie, Manatron’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Santa Cruz is one the most forward thinking counties in the country and we are pleased they selected our GRM solution to meet their property tax requirements. We will launch our GRM solution in the State with the Santa Cruz project and plan to build momentum from this win. Most large counties across California are operating legacy property tax solutions that need to be replaced in the near future. As the leading provider of property tax solutions, Manatron is well positioned to be the vendor of choice as counties make system replacement decisions over the next few years.”
“We have already organized and deployed our team to begin project work with Santa Cruz officials and staff,” continued Mr. McKinzie. “Our partnership with the County is strong and we look forward to an expanded and mutually rewarding relationship as we jointly work to successfully deliver this project.”
“This partnership with Santa Cruz is the next step in our plans to bring GRM, the industry’s leading Integrated Property Tax Solution (IPTS), to market in California,” added Early Stephens, Chief Technology Officer of Manatron. “The preparatory work we’ve completed for several counties, and our 2006 acquisition of ASIX, have all been steps leading to this important milestone. We will continue to listen to the needs of California counties and work hard to ensure our enterprise-level GRM product suite effectively meets those requirements.”
About Manatron, Inc.: Manatron is focused on providing software and services to enable state and local governments in North America to completely, fairly and efficiently assess real and personal property, and to bill and collect the related property taxes in their jurisdictions. Manatron’s software manages the entire property life cycle, which includes deed recording, land records, GIS (Geographic Information System) integration, valuation, assessment administration, personal property, business licenses, cashiering, tax billing and collection, delinquents and tax sales and e-government. Professional services consist of data conversions, installation, training, project management, hardware maintenance, forms processing and printing, consulting and appraisal services. Manatron is headquartered in Portage, Michigan and has offices around the United States. Manatron currently serves over 1,400 customers and manages approximately 30 million parcels. Information about Manatron, Inc. is available at the Company's site on the World Wide Web at www.manatron.com.
For more information on Manatron’s California integrated software solutions, please visit: www.manatron.com/ManatronCA.aspx.
About GRM: GRM is Manatron’s fully integrated property management suite of software designed to manage and support the entire property life cycle, which includes deed recording, land records, GIS (Geographic Information System) integration, valuation, assessment administration, personal property, business licenses, cashiering, tax billing and collection, delinquents and tax sales, and e-government. Manatron GRM automates the operational, information and planning needs for Assessors, Auditors, Treasurers, Tax Collectors, Recorders and other state and local governmental officials so that they can completely, fairly and efficiently assess real and personal property and bill and collect the related property taxes in their jurisdictions. More on this product is available at http://www.manatron.com/solutions/GRM.aspx.
About Santa Cruz County, California: Santa Cruz County has 254,538 residents including 100,000 real property and 10,000 personal property accounts. The County is located at the northern tip of Monterey Bay, 65 miles south of San Francisco, 35 miles north of Monterey, and 35 miles southwest of the Silicon Valley. For more information about Santa Cruz County, please visit: http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us.