Today, we highlight Prince George's County's Office of Finance. As its name would suggest, the Office of Finance is responsible for utilizing the county's available resources to provide financial services to a "wide range of internal and external customers of the County." Specifically, this department is responsible for:
Controlling all cash and investments to assure maximum safety, liquidity, and yield.
Collecting all revenues and receipts due to the County, including property taxes.
Conducting tax sales to collect delinquent property taxes.
Processing and/or monitoring payments to vendors, employees, or other payees for goods, services, and other liabilities.
Processing biweekly payroll for 6,000 employees and monthly payroll for 2,000 retirees.
Certifying availability of funds for payment of liabilities and obligations.
Maintaining a system of accounts and records for all financial transactions.
Reporting results of financial operations using established reporting standards and methods.
Facilitating annual financial audit process.
Supporting the legislative process - including composing and reviewing draft resolutions and bills, esp., those involving complex financial issues.
There are three divisions of the Office of Finance. First, the Accounting Division is divided into workgroups whose primary functions are administration, disbursements, payroll, reporting, and systems. The Administration Division manages all of the Office of Finance activities and has the functional responsibility for Risk Management and Debt Management. Finally, the Treasury Division, which collects all revenues and receipts due to the County, controls all cash and investments and conducts tax sales to collect delinquent property taxes. The Treasury Division is the entity responsible for collecting fees associated with evictions and selling properties at tax sales for delinquent taxes. The Treasury Division is also responsible for administering the semi-annual tax payment program and various tax credit programs, auditing tax adjustments, issuing tax certifications, and processing circuit breaker refunds.
On the Office of Finance's website, several resources should prove helpful to all Prince George's County residents. There are links to various tax forms to obtain tax credits and affidavits for transfer tax exemptions, links to unclaimed or abandoned property, links to the County's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports, among other usefully material. Perhaps one of the most valuable functions of the website is the "taxes" section, where they provide access to a helpful list of tax forms, applications, and documents from the Finance Department and provide a way to pay your property taxes online.
Office of Finance is open from 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM and is located at 1301 McCormick Drive
Suite 1100 Largo, MD 20774. If you want to contact the Office of Finance about any of their functions that can not be found online or to utilize their services, their phone number is (301) 952-5025; you can find a list of staffers to contact at the Office of Finance at this link.