1997-177E \WPDOCS \0RD\TAX
N015 Flrst Amendment - 0rdlnance No 2000-155
ORDINANCE NO ~ [~
AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT FOR THE
COLLECTION OF DELINQUENT PROPERTY TAXES, AUTHORIZING THE
EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS THEREFOR, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
~ That the Mayor, or zn his absence, the Mayor Pro
Tem, zs authorized to execute a contract for the collection of
delznquent property taxes, substantzally zn the form of the
contract whzch zs attached hereto and incorporated by reference
herezn
SECTION II. That the expenditure of funds as provzded zn the
contract are hereby authorized
~III That this ordznance shall become effective
zmmedmately upon its passage and approval
PASSEDAND APPROVED this the [~'~day of~-~ , 1997
J~/~ILLER, MAYOR
ATTES~
JENNIEER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY
BY
/
CONTRACT FOR THE COLLECTION OF
DELINOUENT PROPERTY TAXES
THE STATE OF TEXAS §
COUNTY OF DENTON
THIS CONTRACT is made and entered into by and between the City
of Denton, 215 E McKinney, Denton, Texas 76201 ("CITY"), acting
herein by and through its governing body, and Blair, Goggan,
Sampson & Meeks, 326-G E McKlnney, Denton, Texas 76201 and the Law
Office of Mike Gregory, 303 N Carroll Boulevard, Suite 100,
Denton, Texas 76201 ("FIRM")
I. EMPLOYMENT OF FIRM
CITY agrees to employ and does hereby employ FIRM, as an
~ndependent contractor, and FIRM hereby agrees to enforce by suit
or otherwise the collection of all delinquent taxes, penalty and
interest owing to CITY Current year taxes which become delinquent
within the period of this Contract shall become subject to the
terms of the Contract upon the following conditions and FIRM shall
perform the following services
A Taxes that become delinquent during the term of this Con-
tract, that are not delinquent for any prior years, become subject
to the terms of this Contract on July 1st of the year in which they
become delinquent
B Taxes that become delinquent during the term of th~s Con-
tract on property that is delinquent for prior years shall become
subject to ~ts terms on the first day of delinquency as defined by
the Texas Property Tax Code
C FIRM shall begin collecting current year personal property
taxes on March 1st of the year in which they become delinquent
CITY shall not owe FIRM a fee on the current year delinquent per-
sonal property taxes collected between March 1st and June 30th
unless attorney's fees are collected pursuant to Section 33 48 of
the Texas Property Tax Code
D FIRM shall perform all those services set forth in CITY's
Request for Proposals ("RFP") dated April 15, 1997 and FIRM's
response to the RFP dated May 13, 1997, which are attached hereto
and made a part hereof respectzvely as Exhibits "A" and "B" as
wrztten word for word herein, as well as all other servzces set
forth in the Contract
E If there ~s any conflzct between the terms of this
Contract and conditions of the attached exhzblts, this Contract
wzll control over the terms and conditions of the attached
exhibits
FIRM hereby agrees to perform the services herein with
dilzgence and an accordance wath the haphest professaonal standards
customaraly obtaaned for such servaces in the State of Texas
II. PROVISION OF INFORMATION
CITY agrees to furnish all necessary delinquent tax informa-
tion tlo FIRM on all property wathin the boundaries of CITY
III. INVESTIGATION AND ASSISTANCE
FIRM agrees to conduct lnvestlgataons as to the address of
each taxpayer and the locataon of the property where such lnforma-
taon may be incorrect on the delanquent tax record FIRM shall
bring to the attention of the appropriate tax official of CITY any
errors, double assessments, discrepancies, or inaccuracies in the
information provided on the delinquent tax record detected by FIRM
FIRM further agrees to provide CITY with any advice or assistance
an connection with updatang the tax rolls CITY shall make avaal-
able to FIRM lnformataon whach CITY may have with regard to the
name, identity, location of necessary parties and descriptions of
property in connection with each delinquent tax account upon
request by FIRM
IV. PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTION
Upon lnatlal receipt of the delanquent tax records by FIRM an
computer readable form, FIRM agrees to initiate procedures for the
collection of the full amount due from each taxpayer within a
reasonable time frame but not more than sixty {60) days from FIRM's
receipt of the delinquent tax records, FIRM hereby agrees to send,
by first class maal, a notice of delanquency to each and every
delinquent taxpayer where the taxes have not been deferred nor
involved in a lawsuit against the appraisal dastract to determine
value, requesting saad taxpayer to remit the full amount due and
owang to CITY
V. REVIEW AND AUTHORIZATION TO SUE
Following transmittal of the notice of delinquency as
speclfaed hereanabove, FIRM will commence procedures an antlclpa-
taon of litigation for aggressive pursuat of collection CITY
shall have absolute discretion over those accounts on which suit
shoul~ be faled The transmittal of the delanquent tax anformataon
to FI,RM from CITY shall constatute authorization to file suit
following the mailing of the ~nitlal notice of delanquency Upon
written notice, CITY may at any time withdraw authorization to file
suit CITY may at any time withdraw authorlzataon to foreclose and
sell the property and said withdrawal shall be in writing
VI. LITIGATION RESPONSIBILITIES
A FIRM agrees to commence lltlgataon, prosecute, and reduce
to ]udgment all delinquent accounts including all pending lawsuits
PAGE 2
that FIRM deems to warrant or on which CITY has specifically
requested action in writing Each suit filed shall seek personal
judgment against the individual taxpayer(s) for all taxes for which
the taxpayer can be held personally liable, penalty and interest,
foreclDsure of any tax lien which may exist by operation of law,
and any and all court costs incurred in prosecuting the lawsuit,
and any collection fees or attorney's fees which the taxpayer is
obligated to pay FIRM shall perform litigation responsibilities
and protect CITY's legal remedies including appeals, preparation of
any documents required, post-judgment activities, and any other
actions necessary in order to collect the delinquent taxes
B FIRM will assume the representation of CITY in all law-
suits, lnclud~ng all pending lawsuits, involving the collection of
delinquent taxes and enforcement of the tax lien including, but not
limited to bankruptcy l~tlgatlon, claims and actions required to be
filed with federal agencies such as FDIC, FSLIC and RTC, interven-
tions in su~ts f~led on behalf of any other taxing unit's current
su~ts, and any other su~t or litigation which may involve or relate
to the collection of delinquent taxes FIRM will inform CITY of
any counterclaims or cross-actions filed against CITY
C Upon request, provide legal advice and assistance to CITY
in the acquisition of property pursuant to the Property Code for
public purpose use
VII. TAXPAYER SERVICES
In addition to l~tlgat~on, FIRM further agrees to provide tax-
payer service w~thout charge As such, FIRM agrees (1) to provide
CITY ~ax collector legal advice and written opinions regarding tax
matters upon request, (2) to respond to taxpayer inquiries and to
advise CITY, in writing, or, and make any recommendations con-
cernlng ~nstallment payment agreements and settlement agreements
proposed by the taxpayer CITY shall have final determination in
acceptance of all installment payments or settlement agreements
within parameters established by CITY FIRM shall have discretion
to enter into installment agreements sub]ect to CITY's prerogative
of final determination In all demand letters and all communica-
tions,with taxpayers, FIRM shall inform and instruct the taxpayer
to remit its payment to CITY If remittance is received by FIRM,
it must be transmitted in ~ts entirety to CITY and received for
processing by 11 30 a m of the following business day Checks
made payable to FIRM shall be endorsed by FIRM to CITY No check,
cash ,or money order for payment of delinquent taxes shall be
deposited in any FIRM account
VIII. PROGRESS REPORTS
FIRM agrees to make delinquent tax collection progress reports
to CITY monthly and quarterly, in a format containing ~nformatlon
as requested by CITY's Executive Director of Finance Progress
reports may include, without llm~tatlon
PAGE 3
1 Flrst demand letters mailed,
2 Number and value of sults f~led,
3 Number and value of suits dismissed
a due to collection,
b other - specify reason,
4 Number and value of judgments entered,
5 Number and value of bankruptcies f~led,
6 Cop~es of judgments,
7 Copies of proof of claims filed in bankruptcy
court,
8 Copies of Foreclosure Sale Deeds, and
9 Number and value of delinquent accounts not col-
lected as a percentage of total delinquent accounts
provided by CITY for collection
Within parameters established at the Initiation of the collection
program, FIRM shall advise CITY of any case in which FIRM's
~nvest~gatlon has revealed that the taxpayer cannot be found, the
enforcement of the tax lien cannot be accomplished, or further
attempts at tax collection would be futile and FIRM's recommenda-
tion relative to the proper disposition of the case In such
cases, the CITY shall advise FIRM as to the appropriate disposition
of the account
IX. COMPENSATION
A As compensation for the services rendered hereunder by
FIRM, CITY hereby agrees to pay FIRM f~fteen percent (15%) of the
total amount of all delinquent taxes, penalty and interest for the
tax years covered by this Contract as authorized by §33 48(a) (5) of
the Property Tax Code Ail compensation set forth above shall
become the property of FIRM at the time payment of taxes, penalty
and interest are received by CITY The f~fteen percent {15%)
collection fee will only be paid on taxes which remain delinquent
after July i of the year on which they became delInquent, pursuant
to the Property Tax Code §33 07 Sa~d collection fee will only be
paid to FIRM after it has been received by CITY from taxpayer or
from forced sales FIRM shall not be entitled to the aforesaid
fifteen percent (15%) unless and until FIRM has taken some action
in connection with recovering delinquent taxes The transmittal of
a notice of delinquency shall constitute sufficient action in order
to entitled FIRM to the fee aforesaid As compensation for the
services rendered hereunder by FIRM for the collection of taxes
which are not eligible for the additional penalty as authorized by
Property Tax Code §33 07 and upon which suit has been filed, the
compensation shall be reasonable attorney's fees approved by the
court and not exceeding fifteen percent (15%) of the total amount
of taxes, penalties and interest due CITY In no event shall FIRM
be entitled to any fee unless and until CITY actually collects the
delinquent taxes, penalty, interest, court costs or collection
costs or attorney's fees from the taxpayer or from the proceeds of
a forced sale or foreclosure In no event shall FIRM be entitled
to any fee unless said fee is collected by CITY during the term of
PAGE 4
this Contract or fee is collected by CITY on account(s) upon which
FIRM is attorney of record at the time of judgment CITY shall pay
said fees to FIRM by check monthly No interest shall be accrued
on any late payment
B The compensation set forth in paragraphs IX, X, and XIV of
this Contract shall be the total compensation due from CITY to FIRM
for all services provided pursuant to this Contract and in no event
shall FIRM seek any additional compensation from CITY
X. COLLECTION OF OTHER DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS
FIRM shall, upon written request of City, undertake the
collection of delinquent accounts for paving assessment liens,
substandard housing demolition liens, and weed liens The
collection of these accounts shall be undertaken on the bas~s of
attorney's fees assessed to and collected from the debtors CITY
agrees to pay FIRM, as compensation, all amounts received as
attorney's fees on delinquent accounts for paving assessment liens,
substandard housing demolltlon liens, and weed liens which are
collected during the term of thls Contract as a result of FIRM's
collection efforts
XI. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
FIRM agrees not to represent any client who has an adversary
position with the City of Denton, engage in any conflict of inter-
est to fully comply with the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Profes-
sional Conduct (Subtitle G Texas Government Code) for the
duratlon of this Contract
XII. USE OF MUNICIPAL FACILITIES
CITY agrees to allow FIRM to use a tax office computer
terminal, and to provide a working area for use by FIRM employees,
provided such use is reasonable and does not interfere with CITY's
use of other computer terminals and work areas CITY also agrees
to provide FIRM with computer tapes and tax file access upon
request by FIRM FIRM agrees to pay CITY for use of the working
area, its computer terminal, computer tapes, and tax file access
The payment by FIRM for the above stated support services shall be
in the amount of Three Hundred Seventy-five Dollars ($375 00) each
month
XIII. TERM
Th~s Contract shall have a term of three (3) years, beginning
on July 1, 1997, and ending on June 30, 2000 This Contract may be
extended for two additional one-year terms upon the CITY giving
written notice to FIRM of Its desire to continue this Contract at
least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the initial
three-year term, This Contract shall continue in full force and
effect from month to month at the option of CITY, unless either
PAGE 5
party delivers written notice to the other party of its intent to
terminate this Contract at least thirty (30) days prior to the date
of the intended termination FIRM shall have an additional slx
months to reduce to ~udgment and sale all tax collection lawsuits
filed and collect all bankruptcy claims filed prior to the ter-
mination date, and shall have the exclusive right to compensation
of fees earned due to these suits during this slx month period
CITY shall have the right to sooner termInate th~s Contract by
giving thirty (30) days' written notice of such intention, or in
the event of any of the events taking place under Section XXXIV
"Termination of Agreement" In case of such termination, FIRM
shall be entitled to receive and retain all compensation due up to
the date of said termination Upon termination, FIRM shall
immediately deliver all files in their entirety to CITY at no cost
to CITY
XIV. ATTORNEY'S FEES
In eminent domain and other 3udlclal proceedings, FIRM will be
entitled to only those attorney's fees awarded by the court and
then only if collected by CITY In bankruptcy proceedings, FIRM
shall be entitled to a fee of 15% of the tax, interest, and penalty
actually collected by CITY FIRM agrees to file and diligently
pursue all claims on behalf of CITY in bankruptcy, eminent domain
and other ]udlclal or administrative proceedings whether federal or
state in nature
XV. TAX WARRANTS
Upon request and authorization of CITY, FIRM shall prepare and
pursue the issuance of tax warrants FIRM shall then coordinate
the seizure of personal property pursuant to warrant and actually
accompany the Tax Collector to the location of the personal
property which is to be seized to insure the necessary procedures
have been followed
XVI. SETTLEMENTS
No settlements or compromises of taxes, penalty or interest
shall be effected where prohibited by law and where authorized by
law, only upon approval by CITY If a taxpayer requested waiver is
upheld as provided by §33 011 of the Tax Code, FIRM will bear the
costs of suit if it failed to notify the taxpayer of the delinquen-
cy prior to filing of the suit
XVII. NOTICE
Any notice or other written instrument required or permitted
to be delivered pursuant to the terms of this Contract shall be
deemed to have been delivered, whether actually received or not,
when deposited in the United States mall, postage prepaid,
registered or certified, return receipt requested, addressed to
CITY or FIRM, as the case may be, at the following addresses
PAGE 6
CITY FIRM
City of Denton, Texas Stephen T Meeks
ATTN Executive Director of Blair, Goggan, Sampson &
Finance Meeks
215 E McKlnney Oil & Gas Bldg, Suite 1414
Denton, TX 76201 309 W 7th Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Either party may change its mailing address by sending notice
of change of address to the other at the above address by certified
mall, return receipt requested
XVIII. COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS
FIRM agrees to collect, between July 1, 1997 and June 30,
1998, not less than sixty percent (60%) of the total dollar value
of the adjusted base tax of the 1996 delinquency existing on July
1, 1997 FIRM agrees to collect, between July 1, 1998 and June 30,
1999, not less than sixty percent (60%) of the total dollar value
of the ad3usted base tax of the 1997 delinquency existing on July
1, 1998 FIRM agrees to collect, between July 1, 1999 and June 30,
2000, not less than sixty percent (60%) of the total dollar value
of the adjusted base tax of the 1998 delinquency existing on July
1, 1999 Furthermore, should the CITY invoke the option to extend
this contract beyond June 30, 2000 as prescribed in Section XIII,
then the FIRM agrees to collect between the July i and subsequent
June 30 t~me period, for each year the contract is extended, not
less than sixty percent (60%) of the total dollar value of the
adjusted base tax from the most recent tax year of the delinquency
exlstlng on July 1 of each respective year If FIRM does not
collect the above referenced amount each year, it shall provide
CITY with legal services, programming and computer services, or
data processing equipment with a value not less than Seven Thousand
Five Hundred Dollars {$7,500 00) or, at the option of CITY, FIRM
shall pay CITY the sum of Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars
($7,500 00) on or before August 15 of the year it falls to collect
the minimum amount specified here~n
XIX. VENUE
The terms, obligations and requirements of this Contract shall
be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas
The obligations and requirements of the parties hereto are
performable in Denton County, Texas Any litigation involving this
Contract shall be tried in a court of competent jurisdiction
sitting in Denton County, Texas
XX. ACCEPTANCE OF EMPLOYMENT
In consideration of the terms, covenants and mutual agreements
herelnabove stated, FIRM hereby accepts the employment of CITY and
undertakes the performance of this Contract as above stated
PAGE 7
XXI. DIRECTIVES
Ail directives between FIRM and CITY shall be confirmed in
writing
XXII. COVENANT NOT TO SUE
FIRM further agrees not to bring any cause of action against
CITY relative to this Contract Should FIRM bring any cause of
action against CITY, FIRM agrees the liquidated damages shall not
exceed $1 00 and the filing of such cause of action shall be
considered a material breach of this Contract
XXIII. AMBIGUITY
Any ambiguity within this Contract shall be liberally
interpreted in favor of CITY
XXIV. ASSIGNMENT
The rights and responslblllt~es of CITY under th~s Contract
may be assigned by the City Council to another governmental unit in
Denton County w~thout approval of FIRM It ~s understood and
agreed that this 1s a professional services contract and CITY ~s
contracting for the unique services of FIRM FIRM's rights and
responslbzllt~es under this Contract may not be assigned by FIRM to
another law firm or collection agency w~thout wrztten approval of
the assignment by the City Council
XXV. INDEMNITY AGREEMENT
The FIRM shall indemnify and save and hold harmless the CITY
and its officers, agents, and employees from and against any and
all l~abll~ty, clalms, demands, damages, losses, and expenses,
including, but not limited to court costs and reasonable attorney
fees incurred by the CITY, and including, without limitation,
damages for bodily and personal ~n]ury, death and property damage,
resulting from the negligent acts or omissions of the FIRM or its
officers, shareholders, agents, or employees in the execution,
operation, or performance of th~s Contract
Nothing ~n this Contract shall be construed to create a
l~ablllty to any person who 1s not a party to th~s Contract, and
nothing herein shall waive any of the parties' defenses, both at
law or equity, to any claim, cause of action, or litigation filed
by anyone not a party to thls Contract, including the defense of
governmental immunity, which defenses are hereby expressly
reserved
XXVI. INSURANCE
During the performance of the services under this Contract,
FIRM shall maintain the following insurance with an ~nsurance
PAGE 8
company licensed to do buslness zn the State of Texas by the State
InsuraDce Commission or any successor agency that has a rating with
Best Rate Carriers of at least an A- or above
Professional Llablllty Insurance with limits of not less than
$1,000,000 annual aggregate
The FIRM shall furnish insurance certificates or ~nsurance
policies at the CITY's request to evidence such coverages The
insurance policies shall name the CITY as an addltlonal insured on
all such pollcles, and shall contain a provision that such
~nsur~nce shall not be canceled or modified without 30 days prior
written notlce to CITY and FIRM In such event, the FIRM shall,
prior to the effectIve date of the change or cancellation, serve
substitute policies furnlsh~ng the same coverage
XXViI. EXHIBITS
RFP #2032 attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and the FIRM's
response to the RFP attached hereto as Exhibit "B" are incorporated
herein as 1f set forth at length and made a part hereof The
provl~lons of Exhibit "A" and Exhibit "B" shall set forth obliga-
tions and duties of the FIRM to the extent that they do not
conflict with other provisions set forth in this Contract, which
contractual provlslons shall control
XXVIII. ARBITRATION AND ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
The part~es may agree to settle any disputes under this
Contract by submitting the d~spute to arbitration or other means of
alternate dispute resolution, such as mediation No arbitration or
alternate d~spute resolution armslng out of or relating to thls
Contract, ~nvolv~ng one party's disagreement, may include the other
party~to the d~sagreement without the other's approval
XXIX. ENTIRE A~REEMENT
Th~s Contract, conslstlng of 13 pages and 2 exhibits,
constitutes the complete and final expression of the agreement of
the parties, and is intended as a complete and exclusive statement
of the terms of their agreements, and supersedes all prior con-
temporaneous offers, promises, representations, negotiations,
discussions, communications, and agreements which may have been
made in connection w~th the subject matter hereof
XXX. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS
The FIRM shall comply with all federal, state, and local laws,
rules, regulations, and ordinances applicable to the work covered
hereunder as they may now read or hereinafter be amended
PAGE 9
XXXI. DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED
In performing the services required hereunder, the FIRM shall
not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, age, or physical
handicap
XXXII. PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT
A The FIRM represents that it has or will secure, at its own
expense, all personnel required to perform all the services
required under this Contract Such personnel shall not be
employees or officers of, or have any contractual relations
with the CITY FIRM shall inform the CITY of any conflict of
interest or potential conflict of interest that may arise
during the term of this Contract
B Ail services required hereunder will be performed by the FIRM
or under its supervision Ail personnel engaged in work shall
be qualified, and shall be authorized and permitted under
state and local laws to perform such services
C The FIRM represents that it has or will secure, at its own
expense, the hardware, software, and other resources required
to perform, in a timely manner, all the services required
under the terms of this contract
XXXIII. ASSIGNABILITY
The FIRM shall not assign any interest in this Contract, and
shall not transfer any interest in this Contract (whether by
assignment, novation, or otherwise) without the prior written
consent of the CITY
XXXIV. TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT
A Notwithstanding any other provision of this Contract, either
party may terminate by giving thirty (30) days advance written
notice to the other party
B Th~s Contract may be terminated in whole or in part in the
event of either party substantially falling to fulfill its
obligations under this Contract No such termination will be
affected unless the other party is given (1) written notice
(delivered by certified mall, return receipt requested) of
intent to terminate and setting forth the reasons specifying
the nonperformance, and not less than 30 calendar days to cure
the failure, and (2) an opportunity for consultation with the
terminating party prior to termination
C If the agreement is terminated prior to completion of the ser-
vices to be provided hereunder, FIRM shall immediately cease
all services and shall render a final bill for services to the
PAGE 10
CITY wzthzn 30 days after the date of termination The CITY
shall pay FIRM for all services properly rendered and satls-
f~ctorlly performed and for reimbursable expenses to termina-
tion incurred prior to the date of termination, in accordance
w~th Article IX ,,Compensation" Should the CITY subsequently
contract with a new consultant for the continuation of
services on the Project, FIRM shall cooperate in providing
information The FIRM shall turn over all documents prepared
or furnlshed by FIRM pursuant to th~s Contract to the CITY on
or before the date of termination, but may maintain copies of
such documents for 1ts use
XXXV. MODIFICATION
No waiver or modification of this Contract or of any covenant,
condition, or limitation herein contained shall be valid unless in
writing and duly executed by the party to be charged therewith, and
no evidence of any waiver or modification shall be offered or
received in evidence in any proceeding arising between the parties
hereto out of or affecting this Contract, or the rlghts or
obligations of the parties hereunder, and unless such waiver or
modification is in writing and duly executed, and the parties
further agree that the provisions of this section will not be
waived unless as herein set forth
XXXVI. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR
FIRM shall provide services to CITY as an independent
contractor, not as an employee of the CITY FIRM shall not have or
claim any right arising from employee status
XXXVII. MISCELLANEOUS
A The following exhibits are attached to and made a part of this
Contract Exhibit "A" - Request for Proposals, Exhibit "B"
FIRM's proposal
B FIRM agrees that CITY shall, until the expiration of three (3)
years after the final payment under this Contract, have access
to and the right to examine any d~rectly pertinent books,
documents, papers, and records of the FIRM ~nvolvlng transac-
tlons relating to this Contract FIRM agrees that CITY shall
have access during normal working hours to all necessary FIRM
facilities and shall be provided adequate and appropriate
working space in order to conduct audits in compliance with
this section CITY shall give FIRM reasonable advance notice
of intended audits
C For the purpose of this Contract, the key persons who will
perform most of this work hereunder shall be Debra Patton
However, nothing herein shall limit FIRM from using other
qualified and competent members of its firm to perform the
services required herein
PAGE 11
D FIRM shall commence, carry on, and complete any and all
projects with all applicable dispatch, in a sound, economical,
efficient manner and in accordance with the provisions hereof
In accomplishing the projects, FIRM shall take such steps as
are appropriate to ensure that the work involved ~s properly
coordinated with related work being carried on by the CITY
E The CITY shall assist the FIRM by placing at the FIRM's
disposal all available information pertinent to the Project,
including previous reports, any other data relative to the
Project, and arranging for the access thereto, and make all
prov~slons for the FIRM to enter in or upon public and private
property as required for the FIRM to perform services under
th~s Contract
XXXVIII. TIME OF THE ESSENCE
Time is of the essence with respect to all matters covered by
this Contract
XXXIX. CAPTIONS
The captions appearing at the first of each numbered section
are inserted and Included solely for convenience and shall never be
considered or g~ven any effect ~n construing this Contract
This Contract ~s executed on behalf of CITY by the presiding
officer of its governing body who is authorized to execute this
instrument by order heretofore passed and duly recorded in ~ts
minutes and by a partner of FIRM who, by execution of this
Contract, represents and warrants that he or she has the authority
to execute th~s document on behalf of FIRM
WITNESS the s~gna~Dre of all p~rt~es hereto ~n triplicate
originals this the ~ day of~_ , 1997, Denton
County, Texas
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
ATTEST
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
PAGE 12
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY
BLAIR, GOGGAN, SAMPSON & MEEKS
LAW OFFICE OF MIKE GREGORY
BY M~
E \WPDOCS\K\DELINQUE TAX
PAGE 13
EXHIBIT "A"
~ITY OF DENTON~ TEXAS
April 15, 1997
Blmr, Goggan, Samson, & Meeks, and M~e Gregory
2323 Bryan Street
Dallas, TX 75201
REF RFSP//2032 - DELINQUENT TAX COLLECTION SERVICE
Dear Blatr, Goggan, Samson, & Meeks, and Mflce Gregory
The Ctty of Denton, Texas will receive sealed proposals consmt~ng of 3 cop~es unttl 2:00 _n.m.
May 13, ]~9~}7 for Delinauent Tax Collection Serwce
This request for proposal m not a b~d and will not be opened pubhcly The proposals wtll be
recetved by the Purchasing Agent and no part of this request for proposal wtll be made pubhc
except as required by State Statute after award
The C~ty of Denton staff and Ctty Council will remew and evaluate the proposals Selectmn will
be made by thru process as stated further m thru request for proposal
All mformanon, clarifications, or changes tn content or mstrucnons of this request for proposals
must be submitted m wrmng to the Purchasing Agent at 901-B Texas Street, Denton, Texas
76201, Phone Number (817) 383-7100
Addtttonal proposal documents may be requested by mall or ptcked up at the Ctty of Denton
Purchasing Department, 901-B Texas Street, Denton, Texas 76201
All questtons or requests for more mformatton regardtng this RFSP of the C~ty of Denton tax
collecnons must be submttted tn writing by 12 00 p m on May 1, 1997 Both quesnons and
responses will be sent to all potentml btdders
Attached Is a five year history of the Ctty of Denton's dehnquent tax collectton percentages
Please refer to thru mfonnanon when necessary
Dedtcated to Quaht~ Ser~ tt~
April 15, 1997
Page 2
We are sohcltmg a proposal from your fh'm because of your capabihtles m delinquent tax
collection Proposals should be as brief as possible and include the following
I A statement of firm's experience m delinquent tax collection, Including years ~n the
business, number of staff, office location, clients serviced (a list of clients with
addresses, phone number and contact person should be provided)
2 Resumes of key managerial staff to be assigned as the C~ty's representatives
3 Proposed scope of services to be offered based on the reformation attached
4 Suggested performance criteria for the C~ty to ut~hze ~n evaluating the success of the
contract and non-performance guidelines if collections do not equal sixty (60%)
percent of the delinquent tax base amount
Proposals will be evaluated based upon the attached criteria and ~ntervtews w~th selected finns
If your f'n'm is interested in malong a proposal to the City of Denton for these services, three (3)
copies of the proposal, m sealed envelopes marked on the outside RFSP #2032 - Delinquent Tax
Collection Service, should be submitted no later than May 13, 1997 at 2 00 p m to
City of Denton
Purchasing Department
901-B Texas Street
Denton, TX 76201
AttenUon Tom Shaw, Purchasing Agent
We look forward to receiving a proposal from your f'UTn for th~s very unportant service
Sincerely,
TomD Shaw, CPM
Purchasing Agent
wp
Attachments
AAAO~FEC
THE LAW FIRM WILL
1 Receive and review the delinquent tax mils
2 Substitute as attorney of record on all existing tax suits and interventions, pay all court
costs and filing fees related thereto
3 Perform all research and paperwork necessary to provide taxpayers and the City Tax
Collector with correct or corrected information to update the City files, including
forwarding addresses as located
4 Submit monthly status reports regarding suits filed on accounts and provide City Tax
Collector with duplicate letters sent to taxpayers
5 Provide a quarterly report to City staff in sufficient form that it could be submitted to the
City Council for review Provide monthly reports on pending suits, judgments and
foreclosures
6 File suits on delinquent taxpayers that do not respond in accordance with the demand of
and direct~ons provided by the City of Denton
7 Intervene In delinquent tax suits filed by Denton County and/or Denton Independent
School District, if applicable, pursuant to Sec 33 44, Property Tax Code
8 Ftrm shall be responsible for filing of delinquent tax clmms in bankruptcy proceedings,
including claims and acuons required to be filed with Federal age, ficles such as the FDIC,
and consult with the City of Denton City Attorney's office on such matters
9 File suits for collection of delinquent taxes pursuant to Secs 33 41 and 33 42, Property
Tax Code, or file suits of judiclal foreclosure of tax liens
l0 Pursue all suits diligently and provide reports to the City of Denton
11 Provide the City recommendations, for qualified individual taxpayers, pursuant to
Sec 33 02, Property Tax Code, regarding the advisability of an installment agreement
being entered into between City and taxpayer
12 Provide legal support and research to the City as needed
a Provide recommendations to not pursue a case if a case is legally barred, is weak, or
the hkehhood of collection is low or unhkelv
b Provide City of Denton's Assessor/Collector w~th legal advice and written opinions
upon request
13 Only, collect those groups or individual accounts x~h~ch the C~ty ot Denton determines m
its discretion are to be collected by firm
The Law Ftrm Will
Page 2
14 Provide all supplies and postage necessary to handle bllling and necessary ma~hngs
15 Obtmn appropriate tttle research and relevant ownership records of all property upon
whxch a stat is to be filed, at firm's expense
16 Provtde total and complete dehnquent tax collectton, including court fihng fees and all
other costs, pursuant to Sees 33 07 and 33 48, Property Tax Code, and will mdemmfy
and hold the Ctty harmless from any suxts or hab~Imes that may result from the firm's
d~hnquent tax collecUon acUvxtles
17 Propose a method of assunng that the amount of delinquent taxes collected by the Law
F~rm will be at least eqmvalent to the amount projected to be collected by m-house staff
for each fiscal year of the firm's engagement
18 Propose a method of payment
19 Be enUtled to fees on amounts actually collected while contract is m effect, pursuant to
Sec 33 07 of Property Tax Code
20 Provide mformauon concerning mmonty involvement regarding the work to be performed
by your firm pursuant to this engagement Indicate the ethnic makeup and the gender of
your staff, both at present and projected, if not presently fully staffed Also, md~cate ff
you would consider sub-contracting parts of this contract to minority contractors and, if
so, please descnbe your plan to do so Also md~cate your ~mphance with EEOC
regulations and gu~dehnes
21 Coordinate the fihng of all tax suits with the City Attorney and all tax collection efforts
w~th the C~ty of Denton Tax Department
22 Prowde for the orderly dehvery of cop~es of all complete tax files to be turned over to the
Cxty Attorney when the Contract is terminated
23 Make recommendations to the City Tax Department on accounts to be collected (l e,
mobde homes, a~rcraft and business personal property) by summary seizure (Tax
Warrants) and diligently perform all legal work necessary to reduce those accounts to
payment of taxes pursuant to Secs 33 21, 33 22 and 33 23, Property Tax Code
24 Mamtmn collection rate of at least s~xty (60%) percent ot the current dehnquent tax base
with a penalty clause lnmated on the firm should be the collection rate fail to research
60%
25 Provide concentrated effort toward the collecuon w~thm the statute ot hm~tatton period
of dehnquent mobile home business personal property accounts
The Law F~rm Will
Page 3
26 Upon request by the C~ty, undertake the collection of delinquent accounts for sl:~clal
paving assessment liens, substandard housing demolmon liens, and privileged (mowing)
liens
27 Upon reasonable request, represent the City m the acqmsmon of property pursuant to the
Property Tax Code for public purpose use
28 The firm should be willing to enter into a three year contract w~th the City w~th two
additional one year optional extension penods being provided for
i~-IE CITY OF DENTON WILL
Provide a roll of dehnquent accounts to be collected
Provide for updated lnformaUon (x e, adjustments, payments, errors, double assessments,
or other dxscrepancxes) on dehnquent accounts to be forwarded to the law firm
Be able to terminate contract for any reason, w~th or w~thout cause, upon thirty (30) days'
written notice to the firm
Pay the law firm fifteen (15%) percent of the amount of all delinquent taxes, (pursuant
to Sec 33 07, Property Tax Code), penalty and interest actually collected and paid the
collector of taxes dunng the term of this contract The collector shall pay said funds to
the firm monthly by check
Notify the law firm of any taxpayer that has filed bankruptcy, when the Cxty has been
notified of such
The Cxty will allow firm an addluonal slx (6) months to reduce to judgment all suits filed
prior to the exp~ratlon date of the contract
Prepare and ma~l tax statements at least thxrty (30) days [no more than sixty (60) days]
prior to dehnquency date, gxwng clear written not~ce to the dehnquent taxpayers of the
potentlal add-on costs of collection
CITY OF D, ,~WI'ON CRITERIA FOR SEL~_,CTING FIRM
In order for all prop?aais to be reviewed tn a consistent manner, please reference the following
criteria by its r~ference number ~t forth below
1 Please provide a summary tailed "Law Firm Summary," not to exceed three pages, that
addresses the following questions
a Is your law firm's pnnclpal business the collection of delinquent taxes?
b Please describe the extent of your law practice
c Please describe, tn demi, your firm's collecnon software and hardware and any
established systems whxch you have tn place regarding ad valorem tax collection
d Do you currently collect delinquent taxes for other taxing entities m Denton County'~
If yes, who?
e How many clients do you currently represent regarding the collection of delinquent
taxes?
f Where Is your nearest office location to the City of Denton9
g Is your law firm affiliated wah local counseP If so, who? How long has your firm
been so affiliated?
h What Is the total number of staff employed by your firm9 Please breakdown by the
following categories Attorneys, Law Clerks, Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal
Secretaries, Other Staff '
What is the number of staff that will be responsible for the City of Denton's collection
if your proposal is accepted?
What is the name(s) of the attorney(s) that will be responsible for the City of Denton's
collections?
k Is your law firm an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer9
Is your firm agreeable to a performance goal. which is equal to, but not less than,
60% of the total dollar value of the base taxes collected as of July 1 of each year of
the contract?
2 Firm must have an established history of expertise tn the delinquent tax collection field
and provide a complete list of past and current Texas clients including a five year
summary of delinquent tax collect:?ns listed as a percent of base tax, excluding P&I,
submitted to the firm for collection
3 Law firm has to show capabdity to staff and operauons sutfic:ent to etficientlv process up
to 25.000 dehnquent accounts annually
4 Firm ~,dl haxe or wdl estabhsh a Denton ?trice b~ the date the delinquent accounts are
turned over to firm and v~fll provide a 1-800 number or other toll-tree set, me to its
mare o/rice
EXHIBIT "B"
A PROPOSAL FOR THE COLLECTION
OF DELINQUENT AD VALOREM TAXES
FOR THE
CITY OF DENTON
Submitted by
Blair, Goggan, The Law Office of
Sampson & Meeks Mike Gregory
Attorneys at Law Attorneys & Counselors at Law
326-G East McKinney 303 N. Carroll Blvd., Ste 100
Denton, Texas 76201 Denton, Texas 76201
(817) 383-4460 (817) 387-1600
May 1997
BLAIR, BOP~BAN, SAMPSON & MEEKS
ATTORNEY~ AT law
May 13, 1997
The Honorable Jack Miller
Mayor, C~ty of Denton and
Members of the Denton C~ty Council
215 E McKmney
Denton, Texas 76201
Re RFSP #2032 - Dehnquent Tax Collectton Service
Dear Mayor Mdler and Members of the City Councd
Blmr, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks (BGSM) is very pleased to submit our proposal to resume
delinquent tax collection services for the C~ty of Denton Our previous representation of the City
of Denton and the Denton Independent School Dismct well positions our law firm to commit
substantial resources to the collection effort for the City in a manner to ensure maximum
collections
We are pleased to continue the affiliation between Mike Gregory and BGSM The Law
Office of Mike Gregory has asststed BGSM w~th our contracts m Denton County s~nce 1986 Mr
Gregory has practiced law m Denton since 1974 and maintains h~s own law office at 303 North
Carroll Boulevard, State 100 As a former Denton ISD Trustee and an active member of the
Denton commumty, Mr Gregory's assistance ~n our collection effort s~gnlficantly enhances our
program S~nce the beginmng of our serwce to Denton taxing jurlsdtctions, he has assisted BGSM
by acting as a l~mson w~th Denton officials and m our litigation of tax cases Mr. Gregory will
be dn'ectly revolved with our collection program by sharing responsibility for litigating the
City's tax cases w~th BGSM's attorneys and he will work directly with delinquent taxpayers
and their attorneys to resolve their delinquencies He will be assisted m these efforts by h~s
associate attorney, Charla Bradshaw
BGSM has maintained an office m Denton since 1986 and has contributed greatly to the
Denton connnunity during the past ten years We conservatively estimate that we have spent
more than $1.1 lmlhon in Denton during the past decade in support of our collection program
As shown on the chart following this letter, two-thirds, or 66%, of our attorney fees from
our Denton ISD contract stayed in Denton and were reinvested into the coinmumty In the
form of salaries, rent, office expenditures, community-based contrlbunons, etc The City of
Denton can expect this same level of "return" to the conunumty.
W~th an office estabhshed in Denton for more than ten years, employment of Denton residents and
extensive commumty participation, we believe BGSM has established itself as a local, Denton
law f'uan. Together, the Law Office of Mike Gregory and BGSM have served the Denton
comm~mtty for a combined 32 years. Our proposal offers the C~ty of Denton a continuat~on of
the premier tax collection program available ~n Texas Our collection efforts have been
customu~ed for Denton so they are carried out for Denton taxpayers by Denton citizens.
BGSM's Collection Experience in Denton
BGSM, in conjunction w~th Mike Gregory, represented the C~ty of Denton from July 1986
through June 1993 During that time, we collected $5,446,106 ~n dehnquent taxes, penalties,
interest and attorney fees for the C~ty, f~led 1,324 lawsuits and ma~led more than 19,000 demand
letters In spite of a current year "turnover" that decreased 43% over our last four years of
representation, we were still able to consistently increase delinquent collection effectiveness
In 1992, BGSM was successful m also being hired by the Denton lSD, which had been previously
represented by McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen During the first 12 months of our
representation of Denton 1SD, we achieved a 18% mcrease in collections, which resulted in
an additional $222,161 m revenue for the Denton ISD
We are proud of our success at both the C~ty of Denton and Denton ISD, however in July 1993
the City chose to change law firms to McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen, and thetr newly formed
joint venture w~th the local, poht~cally active f~rm of Hayes, Coffey & Berry tn a s~m~lar
manner, the Denton ISD School Board changed to the law f~rm of Sawko & Burroughs m January
1997 In both decisions to change law f'unns from BGSM, the elected body was divided m
its decision because BGSM's performance had been exemplary We beheve an object,ye
rewew of our performance w~ll affirm our ab~hty to provide the leading collection program in
Denton
We want to emphasize that we have always valued our relationship w~th the City of Denton We
greatly regret the C~ty and School Dlstr~ct chose to change law f~rms m sp~te of our excellent
performance and would welcome the chance to once again represent the C~ty of Denton BGSM's
estabhshed presence m the Denton commumty will immediately be put to use for the benefit
of our City of Denton collection program. We once again pledge to the C~ty of Denton to
provide the highest level of performance and conduct our program with the highest degree
of professionalism.
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks, along w~th Mike Gregory, ns proud of our past record of
collection performance for the C~ty of Denton We once again offer the City our exceptional
collection program which we beheve w~ll increase the C~ty's dehnquent revenue collections
We would consider it a prlvdege to again represent the City of Denton and look forward to
discussing this proposal with you and addressing any questions you may have If the City should
revise its criterm at any time during the selection process, we would welcome the opportumty to
negotiate any additional desired services or enhancements w~th the City We appreciate your
consideration of our proposal
Sincerely,
Stephen T Meeks ~ M~ke Gregory
Partner Attorney
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks Law Office of Mike Gregory
cc Tom Shaw, Purchasing Agent
Highlights of the Proposal
· Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks (BGSM) has achieved unparalleled success in the field of
delinquent tax collection m Texas, as evidenced by our 72 clients in North Texas, including
the cities of Dallas, Arhngton, Currollton and Sherman, in addition to Dallas, Tarrant,
Hunt and Grayson counties Because of our size, we have the depth of staff and computer
resources to tailor our collecuon program specifically to meet the needs of the Cny of Denton
· Because of our previous representaUon of the City of Denton and Denton ISD, no other law
firm ts more famlhar with Denton taxpayers and the community BGSM's estabhshed
presence in the Denton community ensures a smooth tran~tlon will be accomplished, with
no disruption to the Tax Office. BGSM ~s completely prepared to commit our substantial
resources and expertise to maplement a successful collection program for the City of
Denton.
· BGSM offices are strategically located in six (6) cities throughout North Texas, including
Denton, Dallas, Sherman, Fort Worth, Greenville and Austm Our Denton office, which
Is supported by our North Texas (Dallas) Regional office, will be assigned to represent the City
of Denton Mr. Steve Meeks, a BGSM Partner, will serve as our lead attorney responsible
for representation of the City.
· The Denton law firm of Mike Gregory will ass~ BGSM ~n providing the City of Denton
w~th the most effective tax collection services possible As local counsel, Mr Gregory
prowdes an increased level of local expertise which will enhance our dehnquent tax collection
program for the C~ty He will also play an important role in representing the City in
dehnquent tax collection httgatlon efforts by personally appearing m Court m dehnquent
tax cases.
· BGSM has maintained an office in Denton since 1986. Our law firm has expended $1 1
mflhon during the last ten years in Denton with local employees, vendors and supphers m
support of our collection program Furthermore, 66% of the revenue generated by our Denton
contracts is locally retained
· We believe that to represent our clients effectively, we must be revolved m the
community. Examples of our law firm's commumty involvement throughout the Denton area
are participation m Chamber of Commerce acuwues, the BGSM/Honeywell Teacher Mm~
Grant program, the Denton Special Olympics, our adopt-a-school program, contributions to
United Way and other community groups
· Our collection program comprises an innovative mix of diverse dtsclphnes ~nclud~ng
computer smence, telephone collecttons, property ownership and location research, traditional
trml advocacy, post-judgment enforcement, bankruptcy representation, federal agency
collection efforts and setzure actlmty Our collection program ts designed to serve as an
extension of the client's tax office and, by vmue of our complete collection services, will
be able to reduce the burden on the City staff.
· Our data processing capabilities are "second to none" in the field of delinquent property
tax collection. Our management reporting, case tracking and document production and
bankruptcy u'ack~ng systems all demonstrate the sophist~cat~on of our computer applications m
the field of delinquent tax collection We regularly provide information to our clients which
assists them in their budgeting, forecasting and management of their governments
· An Austin office ts maintained by BGSM to keep abreast of the latest legtslatlve matters,
Attorney General opinions, and interpretations of the Property Tax Division of the State
Comptroller's Office and the decisions of the Supreme Court of Texas Through this office
we are available to provide legislative assistance to all of our clients
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Transmittal Letter
H~ghhghts of the Proposal
I Law F~rm Summary (RFP Select,on Criteria 1-4) 1
II Introduction to the F~rms (RFP Selection Criteria 1 a-b, 2, 3) 7
III Collection Performance 9
Collection Experience ~n Denton 13
Chent References 18
IV Project Team and Offices (RFP Selectton Criterion 1 f-j, 3, 4) 19
BGSM's Denton Office 19
The Law Office of M~ke Gregory 20
BGSM's North Texas (Dallas) Regional Office 20
ProJect Team for the Cny of Denton 20
Resumes of Key Individuals 21
V Commumty Involvement 28
VI Scope of Services (RFP SelecUon Criterion 2) 31
Workplan and Methodology 32
Custom,zed Workplans 33
Taxpayer Not~ficauon Program 37
Address Research/Taxpayer Location Program 41
Taxpayer Assistance Program 45
L~t~gat~on Process 47
Bankruptcy 52
Federal Agency Collections 54
Pubhc Serv:ce Information 55
Miscellaneous Revenue Collecnons 55
Ancillary Legal Sermces 55
Management Information Reporting and Coordinauon 56
Vll Data Processing Capabfimes (RFP Selection Criterion 1 c) 57
VIII Equal Employment Opportumty and Affirmauve Acnon
(RFP Select~on Criterion 1 k) 64
IX Suggested Performance Cnterm 66
X Diws~on of Respons~bfl~ues 68
Responsibilities of the Law Firm 68
Responsibilities of the City of Denton 70
Performance Commitment (RFP Selection Criterion 1 1) 70
XI Attorneys Fees 71
Appendix A Client Listing
Appendix B Sample Letters
I. Law Firm $~mmary (RFP Sel¢¢lson Cntieria 1-4)
As requested by the RFP, the following pages are provided m direct response to the City's "Cr~term
for Selectmg Firm," (1.A-L).
A. Is your law fu'm's pnnctpai business the collection of dehnquent taxes ~
BGSM's principal and only business is the collection of delinquent ad valorem taxes and
governmental receivables Beglnmng in the early 1980's our law firm was one of the pioneers
m the field of delinquent tax collection Over the past 16 years we have grown to become the
largest and most successful delinquent tax collection law f'Lrm m Texas We have achieved
this status by limiting our practice exclusively to tax collection and by continually working to
improve our collection program Our law firm represents 8 of the 10 largest taxmg jurisdictions
m Texas. We have collected over $1.9 billion m delinquent revenue for Texas cities, counties
and school districts In the past s~xteen years
B Please describe the extent of your law practtce.
Our practice is dedicated to the collection of deimquent ad valorem taxes m Texas. Each
year our law fh'm processes more than 2,000,000 delinquent tax accounts for our clients
throughout Texas and annually collects over $185 mdhon m dehnquent taxes on a statewlde
basts. We mail approxunately 1,500,000 demand letters each year, in addition to preparing
more than 30,000 lawsuits. We employ more than 300 lndiwduals and serve taxing
jurisdictions from our 17 offices throughout Texas
C. Please describe, tn detatl, your ftrm's collectton software and hardware and any estabhshed
systems whtch you have tn place regardtng ad valorem tax collectton
Through our subsidiary computer company, United Governmental Serwces of America
(UGSA), we have developed customized tax collection software used by local governments
throughout Texas For delinquent tax collection purposes, we use our copyrighted Case Tracgang
System (CATS), DELTAX and Bankruptcy Tracking System (BATS) to support our collection
program UGSA also provides collection software to local tax offices for the collection of current
ad valorem taxes The system ts currently in place for Dallas County, the City of Dallas and
the Houston Independent School Dtstr~ct
The hardware which supplements our collection program and runs our software is best described
by the volume of services it ~s capable of providing Annually, UGSA processes over 2,000,000
delinquent tax accounts, ma~ 1,$00,000 demand letters and prepares 30,000 lawsuits.
Additional detail is provided in Section VII. Data Processtng Capabflttles of our proposal
Page 1
D Do you currently collect dehnquent taxes for other taxing enttttes tn Denton County ~ lfyes,
whoP
Our chents nn Denton County are Denton Levy Improvement D~tr~ct #1 and Denton Road
Utihty Dtstrict #1 In additnon, BGSM collects delnnquent taxes for the C~ty of Carrollton,
Prosper ISD and the City of Frisco which have accounts located m Denton County BGSM
represented Denton ISD until January 1997 and we are currently ~n the process of concluding our
collectnon efforts on behalf of the School Dlsu'lct We also have expernence representnng the Cnty
of Denton, the Town of Bartonvllle and the Cnty of Krugervnlle
E How many chents do you currently represent regarding the collectton of dehnquent taxes ~
BGSM currently represents 72 taxing jurisdictions m the collection of delnnquent ad valorem
taxes Because BGSM's operatnons are focused exclusnvely on North Texas, all 72 of these
chents are concentrated in Denton, Tarrant, Dallas, Grayson, Johnson, Colhn and Hunt
counties. A complete lnstmg of BGSM's clnents ns provnded m Appendix A. On a statewnde
basns, our law ftrm represents over 200 clnents, including 8 out of 10 of the largest taxing ent~t~es
m Texas We represent Harris, Dallas, Tarrant and Bexar counties, the City of Dallas and
Dallas ISD, Houston 1SD, the C~ty of San Antomo and San Antomo ISD
F Where ts your nearest offtce locatton to the Ctty of Denton ~
BGSM has manntmned an offnce nn Denton smce 1986. It ~s located nn Denton at 326-G East
McKinney Street (directly across from the Cnvnc Center)
G Is your iow ftrm affihated wtth local counsel? If so, who ~ How long has your firm been so
affihated ~
Our law fnrm has been affnhated wnth the law off, ce of M~ke Gregory as local counsel since
1986. In addmon to serving as a Inmson to local officials, Mr. Gregory will participate directly
m our collection program by representing the C~ty before the Court in tax ht~gatlon cases
H What ts the total number of staff employed by yourftrm ~ Please breakdown by the followtng
categories. Attorneys, Law Clerks, Paralegais; Ltttgatton Asststants, Legal Secretartes, Other
Staff
The combined staff of BGSM, operating m North Texas. and Heard, Goggan, Blanr & Wnlhams,
operating m South and Central Texas, ns composed of 300 ~n the following categornes
Attorneys 33 Legal Secretaries 16
Paralegals 22 Collectors/Researchers 74
Legal Assnstants 63 Admmnstrat~ve Support 35
Bankruptcy Assnstants 17 Data Processing Professnonals 40
Page 2
I What ts the number of staff that will be responstble for the Ctty of Denton's collectton ~fyour
proposal is accepted~
The following 11 individuals will have primary respons~b~hty for our collection program for
the C~ty of Denton:
Mtke Gregory, Local Counsel Debbte Patton, Denton Offtce Manager
Charla Bradshaw, Local Counsel Ralph Roberts, Abstractor
Stephen T Meeks, Partner Dana Markham, Denton Ltttgatton Asststant
DeMetrls A Sampson, Partner Gary Bennett, Attorney
Nancy R Prtmeaux, Regional Manger Edward Lopez, Attorney
Beth Weller, Bankruptcy Attorney
In addttton, the collectton efforts of our Denton staff wdl be supported by our North Texas
Regtonal Office m Dallas whtch ts staffed by 50 tax collection professionals Our computer
support staff totals more than 40 programmers and techmc~ans
J What ts the name(s) of the attorney(s) that wall be responstble for the Ctty of Denton's
collecttons?
The attorneys wtth primary respons~blhty for our Denton collection program w~ll be BGSM's
Partner Steve Meeks and Mr. Make Gregory They wtll be supported on an as needed basts by
Mr Gary Bennett, Mr. Edward Lopez and Ms. Charla Bradshaw In addtt~on, BGSM's
bankruptcy attorney, Ms. Beth WeBer, wdl be responsible for all of the Ctty's accounts tn
bankruptcy
K Is your law ftrm an Equal Employment Opportuntty (EEO) employer?
BGSM ts not only an Equal Employment Opportumty employer, we are the tndustry leader ~n
prowdmg opportunmes for mmormes and women As evidence of our commitment to Equal
Employment Opportumty, we offer our current staff d~str~but~on Of BGSM's 54 staff members
tn our Denton and Dallas offtces, 66% are m~norit~es and 76% are women. We are confident
that no other dehnquent tax collectton law firm can approach the parttc~pat~on level we have
achteved of mtnorttles and women For the past f~ve years, our North Texas offtce has expended
over $1.5 million annually w~th mtnortttes and women Section VIII Equal Employment
Opportumty and Aff'wmat~ve Action provides addmonal detail regardtng our Equal Employment
Opportumty and Afftrmat~ve Actton programs
L Is yourfirm agreeable to a performance goal, whtch ts equal to, but not less than, 60% of the
total dollar value of the base taxes collected as of July 1 of each year of the contract~
Based upon our past success for the Ctty and Denton ISD, we are conftdent that we wdl be able
to meet the C~ty's performance goal We commtt that our collections wtll total at least 60% of
the total amount of base tax of current year dehnquency that exists on July 1 (the new "turnover"
roll) by the end of the twelve month pertod beg~nmng July 1 and endtng June 30 We w~ll
maintain thts performance standard durtng each year of the contract
Page 3
2 Firm must have an estabhshed htstory of experttse tn the dehnquent tax collectton fteld and
provtde a complete ltst of past and current Texas chents tncludtng a ftve year summary of
dehnquent tax collections ltsted as a percent of base tax, excluding P&I, submttted to the ftrm
for collectton
Not only does BGSM have an estabhshed history m delinquent tax collection, we have a proven
history serving the City of Denton and Denton ISD specifically In the collection of taxes From
1986 until 1993 and from 1992 until 1997, BGSM and Mike Gregory provided collection services
to the City of Denton and Denton lSD, respectively
Junsd~ctmns of all sizes throughout North Texas have also contracted with BGSM for extended
periods of t~me after recogmzlng the quality of BGSM's collection program A list of BGSM's
72 chents ~n North Texas is prowded m Appendix A Some of our long-term clients include
· City of Dallas (since 1983) · Tarrant County (since 1982)
· Dallas ISD (since 1983) · Hunt County (since 1985)
· Dallas County (s~nce 1984) · C~ty of Sherman/Sherman ISD (since 1990)
Our law fnrm operates under the name Heard, Goggan, Blair & Williams (HGB&W) in South and
Central Texas HGB&W also has a r~ch history representing taxing jurisdictions for dehnquent
tax collection services
· Houston ISD (since 1984) · San Antomo ISD (since 1982)
· Harris County (since 1995) · C~ty of San Antonio (since 1985)
· Bexar County (since 1980)
A hstmg of our former chents is also provided in Appendix A.
As requested, we are submitting a five year snmmary of delinquent tax collections. Rather than
providing an aggregate of our total collections ($185 m:lhon each year) for our 200 chents
throughout the State, we felt it would be more meaningful and responsive to choose three
representative clients for the C~ty of Denton These chents are
Denton ISD Most similar to the City of Denton due to shared account base
C~ty of Dallas/Dallas ISD Largest jurisdictions in North Texas
C~ty of Sherman Similar C~ty ~n proximity to Denton
The following three tables detail our dehnquent tax collections (total tax plus penalty and interest)
as a percent of the base tax, excluding penalty and interest, that has been submitted to our law
firm for collection
P~e4
This summary of dehnquent tax collections also provides an excellent measure of effectiveness
We are pleased to be able to demonstrate that each of our three representative chents has
recogmzed an increased level of effectiveness over the past f~ve years Furthermore, we have
recently concluded our most effective/successful year ever for all three chents The 1995/96
effectiveness ratios are as follows
Denton 1SD 153 %
C~ty of Dallas/Dallas ISD 148%
C~ty of Sherman 135 %
In addition, deta;led and verifiable statistical ~nformat~on concerning our collecuons experience
m Denton and throughout North Texas Is prowded m our proposal These charts and tables
demonstrate the strong performance we have consistently prowded for jurisdictions which have
chosen BGSM's collection program
For additional ~nformat~on, please see Section H. Introduction to the Law l~rms and Section
HI. Collection Performance.
Page 5
3 Law ftrm has to show capabihty to stoff and operattons suffictent to efftctently process up to
25, 000 dehnquent accounts annually.
Through successful collections, BGSM has demonstrated that we have sufficient staff and
resources to process the dehnquent accounts of the C~ty of Denton Our Denton off,ce, at ~ts
current staffing level, prowded collection services to the Denton ISD from 1992 until January
1997, thereby affirming our ab~hty and capacity to process the City's dehnquent accounts
Furthermore, BGSM has the resources which allow our law f~rm to serve the largest taxing
jurisdictions ~n the State, including Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Harris counties
We process over 2,000,000 dehnquent accounts per year. Some of our larger chents ~nclude
BGSM Dallas County 78,635
City of Dallas\Dallas lSD 56,582
Tarrant County 59,155
Grayson County 11,499
HGB&W Hams County 244,027
Houston ISD 123,478
Bexar County 57,385
C~ty of San Antomo 43,516
San Antonto 1SD 17,552
BGSM employs a staff of over 75 and Heard, Goggan, Blair & Wdhams employs 175,
~nclud~ng 40 computer specmhsts that w~ll be responsible for the data processing support for the
C~ty of Denton contract For addlttonal mformat~on, please see Section II. Introduction to the
Law Firms, Section IV. Project Team and Offices and Section VII. Data Processing
Capabilities.
4 Ftrm wtll have, or wall establtsh, a Denton office by the date the dehnquent accounts are turned
over to ftrm, and wtll provtde a 1-800 number, or other toll-free servtce, to tts matn offtce
Smce 1986, BGSM has maintained a full-serwce office in Denton for the purpose of collecting
delinquent taxes In the past decade, BGSM has expended $1.1 million in Denton, an amount
equal to'66% of the revenue generated by our Denton contracts Our Denton staff ~s available
to work w~th taxpayers m person or by telephone (817-383-4460) to resolve their dehnquency
In addition, a toll-free phone number (1-800-441-0960) continues to be available to the residents
of Denton so that they can reach the taxpayer assistance umt m our North Texas Regional Off~ce
m Dallas The advantage prowded by BGSM's Denton office ~s the experienced staff which is
famlhar w~th Denton taxpayers In addmon, our Denton collection program has the reputation
for fair, yet sertous, pursuit of payment for dehnquent taxes
P~e6
II. Introduction to the Law Fu'ms (RFP Selection Criteria 1 a-b, 2, 3)
Blaw~ Go_o_oan ~am_n~on & M~ks
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks (BGSM) is a statewlde law firm principally engaged in the
collection of delinquent ad valorem taxes with extensive experience and credentials in collection
services and software BGSM is the leader in delinquent tax collections in North Texas by vu'tue
of collecting more tax revenue, by far, than any other law firm and has effectively collected
dehnquent taxes m Denton since 1986.
We originated the philosophy of designing tax collection programs that maximized revenue at the least
cost and administrative burden to the client By pioneering a high technology approach to the
delinquent tax collection process, our law firm became the first to offer a state-of-the-art collection
program that was aggressive, but fair, and met the individual needs of the client
Our collection program comprises an innovative nux of diverse disciplines including
telecommunications, mass and specialized mailings, address and ownership skip-tracing research,
traditional trial advocacy and post-judgment enforcement We tailor our collection program to meet
the individual needs of each client To ensure fairness and equity, BGSM provides taxpayer
assistance in each office and information for the taxpayer in both English and Spanish
BGSM's professional staff of 75 persons consists of attorneys, certified public accountants, system
designers, analysts, computer programmers, managers, finance specialists, public relations specialists,
paralegals, collectors, researchers, clerks and secretaries In order to serve our clients, the BGSM
staff is strategically located in six offices throughout North Texas All of our offices are dedicated
exclusively to the collection of delinquent taxes and other governmental receivables and are located
in
· Denton · Sherman
· Dallas · Greenville
· Fort Worth · Austin
The history of our law firm demonstrates the strength of our statewide operations In January of 1980,
the firm of Heard, Goggan & Biau' was formed for the sole purpose of collecting property taxes and
was successful in establishing regional tax collection centers in Dallas, Tarrant and Bexar counties
In January of 1986, Heard, Goggan & Blair merged with Houston-based Blair, Williams & Harrison
In June of 1993, Heard, Goggan, Blair & Williams reorganized and separated its North Texas
operations for management and administrative purposes This was done to achieve maximum
flexibility in focusing on local problems, concerns and opportunities and to recognize the increased
leadership roles of its resident partners DeMetris A Sampson in Dallas and Stephen T Meeks in Fort
Worth This reorganization was reflected in our law firm's North Texas name change to Blair,
Goggan, Sampson & Meeks
Page 7
Heard, Goggan, Blair & Williams (HGB&W) represents our Central and South Texas clients with
offices m the following nine (9) Iocat~oas
· Houston · Conroe · Angleton
· San Antomo · The Woodlands · Laredo
· Beaumont · Richmond · Brownsville
Our experienced and well-trained personnel contribute to our overall success in the industry The
combined strength of our law firm and its 300 employees throughout the State has made us the
leader m delinquent tax collection program~,
Collectively, our law firm collects more than $185 milhon in dehnquent property taxes each year for
taxing jurisdictions throughout Texas We have collected over $1.9 bflhon since 1980
The Law Office of Mike Gregory
The Law Office of M~ke Gregory consists of two attorneys, M~ke Gregory and Charla Bradshaw,
both graduates of Denton H~gh School The attorneys are supported by three legal assistants, one of
whom is a graduate of Denton H~gh School and two of whom currently have children ~n the Denton
Independent School D~StrlCt Co-counsel M~ke Gregory, a graduate of the Umvers~ty of Texas School
of Law, has maintained a law office ~n Denton s~nce 1974 He ~s a respected Denton attorney and has
previously served as president of the Denton Bar Association Charla Bradshaw graduated from the
SMU School of Law m 1993 and Is active in many legal and civic act~wtles Both Mr Gregory and
Mrs Bradshaw are cerufled medmtors In addition, Mr Gregory ~s a certified matrimonial law
arbltrator
Mr Gregory and Mrs Bradshaw have effective working relationships with judges, clerks, deputy
sheriffs and constables in Denton County, who are necessarily involved in the collection process Mr.
Gregory and Mrs. Bradshaw will represent the City ~n tax lawsmts in conjunction with BGSM's
attorneys. They will have direct involvement with taxpayers to assmt m resolvmg delinquencies
owed to the C~ty of Denton. Mr Gregory will also monitor the program's collection efforts and act
as a liaison w~th local officials
Page 8
HI. Collection Perfor.~ance
BGSM's ability to collect delinquent taxes has been demonstrated in the City of Denton, Denton ISD
and numerous other clients in North Texas The following charts compare our effecuveness to that
of the City's current firm, MeCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen (MVBA) and demonstrate the long term
effecnveness of our collection program The undemable conclusion to be drawn from these
comparisons confirms the superior collecnon performance of BGSM
Chart 1: F~rst Year Performance Comparison
We have found that chents which have switched to BGSM after retaining other law f'wms have
consmtently achieved significantly higher collection rates m the year following the change. This
trend has been evident throughout our history of performing dehnquent tax collecnons for the City of
Denton and Denton lSD Recognizing that the City of Denton is attempting to evaluate and quannfy
performance from various law fkms, we are including the following charts which capture performance
data for the C~ty of Denton and Denton ISD In each case, eaher after BGSM was retained or when
the C~ty switched from BGSM, collection performance dramaucally changed
As shown on the first chart on the following page, when the C~ty of Denton hired BGSM in 1986, we
were replacing a small Denton firm, Lewis & Coffey Upon being lured, BGSM increased
collections by 122%, resulting m an addRlon $357,551 m revenue for the City.
When the City of Denton changed to MeCreary, Veselka m 1993, collections decreased 16%, or
$69,406, from our last year of performance Th~s change is shown on the m~ddle chart on the
following page In our final year of representation of the City, BGSM collected $445,541 During
MVBA's first year, the City of Denton's collecuons dropped to $376,135 (Thts total does not include
the multi-year Peterbuflt account that was paid during MVBA's first year, after resolution of a value
lawsuit fried against the Denton Central Appraisal D~smct Upon resoluuon, the account was prod
umely, but through no effort of either dehnquent tax law firm, and was never considered a dehnquent
account )
Denton ISD also benefitted from the immediate ~mpact of our collecuon program when the School
D~strlct selected BGSM m 1992 In our first year of collections for Denton 1SD, we increased
collections by $222,161, an 18% increase. We continued to effectively collect delinquent taxes on
behalf of Denton ISD until the School Board changed law firms ~n January 1997 and ~nmte you to
contact Gilbert Bernsteln, Assistant Supenntendent, or Kathy Amngton, Tax Liaison, at the Denton
1SD to discuss any aspect of the program we prowded the School D~stnct
The evidence of this trend is overwhehning. Stated snnply' the City of Denton and Denton lSD
have cons~tently received higher collections w~th BGSM and lower collections when using other
law firms
Page 9
Chart 2. Collection Effectiveness Comparison
In addition to providing a more effective collection program in our first year of performance, BGSM
also consistently maintains a higher level of effectiveness in subsequent years The following chart,
entitled Collection Effectiveness Comparison, evaluates BGSM's performance for Denton ISD for
the period July 1995 through June 1996, the last complete collection cycle, to McCreary, Veselka,
Bragg & Allen's (MVBA) efforts for the City of Denton during the same period
Last year BGSM collected 64.44% of the current year base tax turned over to our law firm by Denton
1SD, while MVBA collected 63.14% for the City of Denton As demonstrated on the chart, BGSM
provides a 1.3% higher collection percentage than MVBA
The City has established a guideline that 60% of the current year base tax turnover will be collected
within the following twelve months This chart demonstrates our ability to meet this expectation and
outperform your current firm This is an especially meaningful comparison because the City and
the School District share many of the same delinquent tax accounts
Because the contingency fees are established by State law, a delinquent tax collection contract is
primarily about selecting the law firm which will collect more revenue for a taxing jurisdiction In
comparison after comparison, BGSM has demonstrated that it ts more effective than any other
law firm when it comes to collectmg delinquent taxes in Denton. Although the performance of
either law firm would meet the City's collection performance goal of 60%, the City would have
collected more revenue if the level of performance which BGSM's provided Denton 1SD had been
provided to the City.
Page 10
Collection Effectiveness Comparison
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks
VS.
McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen
July 1995- June 1996
IBGSM
Denton
City of ISD
Denton 64.44%
63.14%
60~
Current Year Base Tax Collections (7/95-6/96) expressed as a percent of
Current Year Base Tax Turnover on 7/1/95.
Charts 3-6: Historical Collection Performance
BGSM has represented the largest taxing jurisdictions in North Texas since the early 1980~s.
Year after year, we have exceeded our own h~gh level of service and collections for the City of
Dallas/Dallas 1SD and Dallas, Tarrant and Hunt counties which are presented on the following
charts These charts demonstrate additional evidence of our law fh-m's abdity to increase
coilect~om in our f'wst year of service for a taxing jurisdiction However, the charts also demonstrate
the "staying power" of our collection program Our chents can depend on BGSM to maximize their
dehnquent revenue collections
Page 11
Charts 7-10: F~rst Year Collection Comparisons w~th Other Law Ftrms
Recogmz~ng that maximizing revenue ns critical for all taxing jurisdictions, we are ~ncludmg the
following mformat:on and charts for taxing ent:t~es which have become BGSM chents w~thm the past
few years These comparisons graphically demonstrate the superior collection results achieved by
BGSM over each cheat's former law f~rm In every ~nstance, collection performance dramatically
increased after BGSM was retained BGSM's ~ncreased collections are shown below
I
CLIENT BGSM PERCENTAGE BGSM DOLLAR FORMER LAW FIRM
INCREASE INCREASE
C~ty of Carrollton 112 7% $309,203 N~chols, Jackson, D~llard,
Halger & Smith
Lancaster 1SD 15 2 % $91~094 Perdue, Brandon, F~elder
C~ty of Arhngton 11 3 % $210~579 Perdue, Brandon, Fielder
Grand Prairie ISD 41 3 % $260,233 Wright & Associates
We encourage you to contact any of these cheats concerning our cont:nued h~gh performance and
the level of service we prowde on their behalf These collection figures have been certified and
verified by our respective clients
Page 12
City of Carrollton Collections
Blair, Goggan,
Sampson & Meeks
Increases Collections Blair, Goggan, Sampson
112.67% . Meeks
in First Year after Nichols $583,647
$500
$274,444
$250
$O 3/86-2/87 3/87-2/88 ~
During Contract with Nichols
During First Year of Contract with BGSM
Lancaster ISD Collections
Blair, Goggan,
Sampson & Meeks
Increases Collections
15.20%
Blair, Goggan, Sampson
in First 'fear After PBF & Meeks
$750- Perdue, Brandon & $691,770
Fielder
$600,676
$500 -
$250-
10/92-9/93 10/93-9/94
During Contract with Perdue, Brandon & Fielder
During Contract with Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks
City ,f Arlington Collections
Blair, Goggan,
Sampson & Meeks
Increases Collections
11.31%
in First Year After PBF
Blair, Goggan, Sampson
& Meeks
Perdue, Brandon & $2,072,744
Fielder
$2,1OO $1,862,165
$1,600
$1,1OO
$1oo
?/s9-6~90 7~90-6/~
~ During Contract with Perdue, Brandon & F~elder
! During Contract with Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks
Grand Prairie ISD Collections
Blair, Goggan,
Sampson & Meeks
Increases Collections
41.27%
in First Year of Collections
$7so - $630,526
Ssoo -
$250 -
7/92-6/93 7/93-6/94
$o
Prior to Contract with BGSM
During First Year of Contract with BGSM
Collection E _x~erience ~n Denton
In order to fully describe the effectiveness of BGSM's collection program. ,t ~s necessary for us
to descr,be the program we developed and the results we have accomphshed m Denton In the
followang pages, we will prowde excerpts from our recent proposal to Denton ISD We include
th,s information to further demonstrate the comprehens,ve nature of the collection program we
have ~mplemented ~n Denton, the effectiveness of our program and our detailed knowledge of the
Denton dehnquent tax roll
The undeniable conclusion to be drawn from the result of our Denton lSD collectaon
program is that BGSM and Mike Gregory are prepared to provide the C~ty of Denton w~th
an excellent collection progrmn. As add~t,onal vahdat,on of our success on behalf of the School
D~str,ct. we have included a letter of recommendauon from Gilbert Bern. stein, Assistant
Superintendent for Admlni~tratlve Services for Denton lSD Mr. Bernste~n's letter confirlns
BGSM's su~sful perforraance on behalf of Denton ISD and verifies the School District's
dectsion to change law firms was not based on performance
As shown on the following page. entitled Program l-hghlights for Denton 1SD. BGSM prov,ded
the School D~stnct with a comprehens,ve and effect,ye collection program The results of our
program included
· Collections' We collected over $7 mllhon for the School D~str,ct from 1992 until 1996.
including almost $1,000.000 m early bus~ness personal property and mobile home collect,ohs
Our early collection efforts were the result of a custom,zed collect,on effort designed
specifically for Denton lSD m response to the h,gh level of business personal property and
mobile home dehnquenc~es m Denton
· Increasmg Revenue: When our proposal was subm,tted to Denton ISD m October 1996, our
collect,ons for the first rune months of 1996 were 29% h,gher than m the previous year. a s,gn
of the conunumg strength of our collect,on program
· Turnover Decline. We mmntmned a very effecuve collect,on program for the School D,stnct
despite betng g,ven fewer current year tax dollars to collect The School D~stnct's turnover
dechned 49% from 1991 until 1995 Our continued effectiveness despite the decllmng
turnover is another example of how our performance was not the reason for the change
m delinquent tax collection law firms.
· Comprehensive Collection Effort: BGSM takes pride m our complete collection program
As shown on the h~ghhghts page. we prov,de all types of collecnon acuwt~es, mclud,ng
Page 13
Denton Independent School District
Ofllce of the Assistant Superintendent
for Adm~mstralave Services
P O Box 2387
Denton, Texas ?6202
May 9, 1997
Gentlemen
During the years January 1, 1992 through December 31, 1996, the law firm of Blair,
Goggan, Sampson, and Meeks represented the Denton Independent School D~str~ct ~n
the collecbon of ~ts delinquent accounts The firm d~d a good job w~th delinquent tax
collections, and the d~stnct was very pleased with their work An independent analys~s
by the dmtnct's independent auditor indIcated that their percentage of collechons over
the prescribed t~me per~od exceeded the collecbon percentage of other firms h~red by
the d~str~ct ~n the past Blmr, Goggan, wdl do an excellent job ~n delinquent tax
collecbon
If there are any questions, please contact me
S~ncerely,
G~lbert Bernste~n
c Dr Albert Thomas
Ms Kathy Arrmgton
Program Highlights for Denton I.S.D.
January 1992 - September 1996
L Total Collections: ~
· Delinquent Collections $6,065,462
· Early BPP/Mobile Home Collections $983,401
Nine Month Collection Comparison (Jan-Sept):
Delinquent Early
Tax BPP/MH Total Increase
1/gs-0/gs $760,594 $246,757 $1,007,351 ~$291,165
1/96-9/~6 $1,053,770 $244,746 $1,298,51629%
Il. Turnover Decline: Current Year
Law Firm Date Delinquency Decrease
MVBA July 1991 $1,503,188 x
BGSM July 1992 $1,091,794 < ~7~,~4 >
BGSM July 1993 $1,047,300
BGSM July 1994 $929,916 < 49% >
BGSM July 1995 $767,954 5 Year
Dechne
BGSM July 1996 $843,065
III. Other Activities:
· Lawsuits Filed 958 lawsuits for $1,855,448
· Lawsuits Disposed 738 lawsuits 77%
· Tax Sales/Writs 13 since Jan 1996
· Bankruptcy 267 accounts for $374,560
· Demand Mailings18 mailings for 28,636 letters
litigation, tax sales, bankruptcy representation and demand mailings Any program element
desired by our clients can be prowded through our comprehensive collection program
Collection Effectiveness
The effectiveness of our collection program for Denton lSD was remarkable We are extremely
proud that the effectiveness of our collection efforts increased by 58% from the School
D~str~ct's previous law firm's efforts. This mcrease occurred despite the amount of
delinquent taxes being turned over to our law firm for collection having decreased by 49%.
The true measure of a successful collection program ~s the effectiveness ratio which measures
the relatlo~h~p between the total dehnquent collections (tax, penalty and interest) achieved for
a jurisdiction as a product of the amount of base tax turned over for collections Using this
measure, BGSM*s and M~ke Gregory's effectiveness increased from McCreary Veselka,
Bragg & Allen's performance of 95% for the 1991/1992 collection cycle to our 153% m the
1995-1996 collection cycle. In other words, of the dollars turned over to us for collections, our
efforts were 58% more effective over the past f~ve years This increase m effectiveness ~s
detailed on the following chart entitled BGSM/Mike Gregory Performance for the Denton ISD.
We beheve a similar increase in effectiveness will be acineved for the City of Denton.
Delinquent Tax Roll Analys~s
BGSM's knowledge of the Denton area dehnquent tax roll is unparalleled Our ~ndustry-leadmg
data processing capabilities allowed us to stratdy Denton ISD's delinquent tax roll over the last
five years Because the City and School District share the same dehnquent accounts, we present
this analysis of the School District's delinquent tax roll to demonstrate the knowledge we have
already accumulated regarding the City's delinquent tax roll
Collection performance is greatly determined by both the economy and the makeup (age, property
type and size) of the delinquent tax roll to be collected BGSM analyzes each client's
delinquent tax roll on a regular bas~s in order to custom~Te our collection program to
malamute collect~ous. As an example, we have included a Denton ISD September 1996 tax roll
analysis for your rewew This information illustrates both the depth of our familiarity with the
Denton tax roll and our ab~hty to analyze a tax role in a meaningful manner BGSM continually
momtors the status of the tax roll in order to customize our collection program This reformation
is useful in developing the collecttons and llt~gat~on strategies, assisting m forecasting revenue
projections, as well as enhancing our knowledge of the composition of our clients' tax roll
Page 14
As of September 1996, the dehnquent tax roll for which BGSM and Mike Gregory had the
respons~bthty to collect comprised tax years 1995 and prior Th~s delinquent tax roll for Denton
ISD/CED included 4,921 accounts that totaled $2,366,964 m base tax The respective amounts
of outstanding delinquency for Denton ISD and Denton CED were $2,141,389 and $225,575
The table below summarizes the delinquent tax roll for Denton ISD and Denton CED according
to property type The following chart, entitled Denton ISD/CED Dehnquent Tax Roll by
Property Type, graphically demonstrates the distribution of the tax roll
TAX ROLL ANALYSIS BY PROPERTY TYPE
Number of Total Percent of
Property Type Accounts Base Tax Base Tax Due
Real Property 969 $1,141,231 48 %
Personal Property 1,196 $759,521 32%
Mobile Homes 2.756 $466.212 20%
Total 4,921 $2,366,964 100%
The following tables were prepared using the September 1996 tax roll ~nformat~on and analyze
the Denton Independent School D~str~ct tax roll by property type, s~ze, d~str~but~on and degree of
delinquency This type of information is useful m developing our collections and litigation
strategy for our chents For example
· The report entitled Denton ISD Size of Dehnquent Account lnthcates that there are 275,
or 28%, of the total real property accounts which owe between $0 and $200 ~n
delinquent taxes, yet only represent 2 % of the total real property dehnquency In contrast,
272 accounts owe more than $1,000 In delinquent taxes Although the number of small
and large accounts are approximately the same, the accounts greater than $1,000 represent
$1,410,224, or 78% of the dehnquent real property tax roll These accounts, averaging
$5,185 m s~ze, were being aggressively pursued ~n our collection and ht~gat~on efforts
· The same S~ze of Delinquent Account report details that 2,101, or 76%, of the 2,756
m0bde home accounts owe less than $200 Only 10 accounts owe more than $1,000 and
represent 2 3 % of the mobile home dehnquency
· With respect to all dehnquent accounts, 439, or 8 9%, of the total 4,921 accounts owe
$2,372,149, or 57 2 %, of the total delinquency, as illustrated by the Size of Delmquent
Accounts report These accounts average $5,404 each By comparison, the s~ze of the
average account for the entire, total delinquent tax roll ns $843
· The report entitled Degree of Dehnquency indicates that there are 910 personal property
accounts (out of a total 1,196) totahng $594,246 m base tax that do not owe 1995 taxes
This usually indicates that the personal property has physically left the Denton Independent
Page 15
Denton 1SD/CED
Delinquent Tax Roll
By Property Type
Total Base Due as of September 1996
$2,366,964
Real Property 48%
$1,141,230
969 accounts
Mobile Homes
$466,212
Business 2,756 accounts
Property 20%
$759,524
1,196 accounts 32%
Total tax due includes 4,921 delinquent accounts for 1995 and prior base tax
due to the Denton 1SD and CED.
w
o_
,-, ~ ~ o ~
n,' n, W
._1 .-1
m 0
o 8§~
~ ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0
DISD/CED_DOD DENTON ISDICED
DEGREE OF DELINQUENCY
BEPTEMBER 1996
NUMBER OF BASE AVERAGE SIZ I
ACCOUNTS TAX PERCENTAGE OF ACCOUNT~,
REAL PROPERTY
FIRST TiME 342 199,925 44 17 52% 584 58
REPEAT 114 118,083 37 10 35% 1,035 82
CHRONIC 323 568,012 01 49 77% 1,758 55
NOT OWING 1995 163 174,466 41 15 29% 1,070 35
OTHER 27 80,742 88 7 08% 2,990 48
TOTAL 969 1,141,230 11 100 00% 1,177 74
PERSONAL PROPERTY
FIRST TIME 189 68,686 16 9 04% 363 42
REPEAT 46 24,599 72 3 24% 534 78
CHRONIC 47 69,351 15 9 13% 1,475 56
NOT OWING 1995 910 594,245 46 78 24% 653 02
OTHER 4 2,639 00 0 35% 0 00
TOTAL 1,196 759,521 49 100 00% 635 05
MOBILE HOMES
FIRST TIME 269 40,339 90 8 65% 149 96
REPEAT 73 18,041 69 3 87% 247 15
CHRONIC 49 33,380 50 7 16% 681 23
NOT OWING 1995 2,355 371 607 48 79 71% 157 80
OTHER 10 2,842 49 0 61% 284 25
TOTAL 2,756 466,212 06 100 00% 169 16
ALL ACCOUNTS
FIRST TIME 800 $308,951 50 13 05% 386 19
REPEAT 233 $160,724 78 6 79% 689 81
CHRONIC 419 $670,743 66 28 34% 1,600 82
NOT OWING 1995 3,428 $1,140,319 35 48 18% 332 65
OTHER 41 $86,224 37 3 64% 2 103 03
TOTAL 4,921 $2,366,963 66 100 00% 480 99
School D~stnct (ff ~t ~s no longer on the current year tax roll) and ~s uncollecuble
Furthermore, 2,355 of the 2,756 mobile home accounts, representing $371,607, do not
owe 1995 taxes, and therefore also can be considered uncollect~ble Together, 3,265
accounts (66 3 % of the total accounts) whmh represent 41% of the total dehnquency do
not appear to be collect~ble
The following p~e chart, enmled Denton ISD/CED Analysts of Dehnquent Tax Roll, graphically
demonstrates the following makeup of the tax roll
Account Status Base Tax Due Percentage
Lawsmts $552,075 23 %
Bankruptcy $374,560 16 %
Mobile Home Past Statute of L~m~t $271,218 11%
Prior Year Accts -Rec'd Sept Ltr $226683 10%
1995 Taxes-Rec'd Sept Letter' $225 184 9%
Uncollect~ble* $178 894 8 %
Judgment $134 932 6 %
Bad Address $136 994 6%
BPP Past Statute of Limitations $123 237 5 %
Exempt/Over 65 $83 676 4 %
Pay Arrangement $59 511 2%
Total $2,366,964 100%
' Includes 1995 tax mounts turned over to our firm m July 1996 which are not ~ncluded m any
other status
· Includes accounts wfuch are uncollectthle, less than $5, or residuals from defunct
corporations
The collectton of a s~gmficant port,on of the dehnquent tax roll ~s currently e~ther delayed, barred
by operauon of law or revolved m Imganon By grouping the accounts ~n th~s manner, these
categories break down as follows
Collecnous Delayed
Bankruptcy 16 %
Payment Arrangement 2 %
Bad Address 6 %
24%
Uncollect~ble/Barred by Law
Mobile Home Past Statute of L~m~tauons 11%
Personal Property Past Statute of L~m~tanons 5 %
Exempt/Over 65 4 %
Uncollecuble 8 %
28%
Page 16
Denton 1SD/CED
Analysis of Delinquent Tax Roll
Total Base Tax Due as of September 1996
$2,366,964
$374,560
16% Bankruptcy
Pay Arrangement 23% $552,075
$59,511 2% Lawsuit
$225,184
9%
1995 Taxes
Rec'd Sept Judgment
6% $134,932
$226,683 XXXx
10% MH Past Statute
Prior Yr Accts of Limitations
Rec'd Sept Letter 11% $271,218
$136,994 6%
Bad Address4% 8% 5% $123,237
$83,676 BPP Past Statute
Exempt/Over 65 $178,894
Uncollectible of Limitations
L~tigation
Lawsuits 23 %
Judgments 6 %
29%
Total 81%
A total of 81% of the dehnquent tax roll was e~ther Jn ht~gatlon, bankruptcy, uncollectible, or
otherwise barred or delayed from our efforts
Page 17
BGSM pr~des ~tself on ~ts long-term chent relationships and ~ts umque knowledge of the North
Texas area Our chents have found a successful, long lasting relationship w~th BGSM prowdes
the h~ghest quahty and best performing tax collection program avmlable By focusing our service
area on North Texas, we have developed extensive relationships w~th the court systems, federal
agencies and government officials of North Texas whxch benefit all of our chents
Included for your review are letters of recommendation from some of our chents We beheve
their affirmation of our effectiveness, profess~onahsm and ab~lmes is the best evaluation of our
capab~ht~es BGSM ~s proud of the services we deliver and to have earned the h~gh satisfaction
of our chents We encourage you to contact these individuals, or any of our other clients,
to discuss our law finn and approach to collections
David Childs, Tax Assessor-Collector Dallas County
Jayne Morrell, Tax Assessor-Collector C~ty of Dallas\Dallas ISD
Robert Tollison, Tax Assessor-Collector C~ty of Sherman\Sherman ISD
Gary Faunce, Former Asststant Superintendent for Business Lancaster lSD
Radean Herron, Tax Assessor-Collector Prosper 1SD\C~ty of Prosper
Ronme McClendon, Superintendent Community 1SD
Amta Hutson, Tax Assessor-Collector Rio Vista ISD
Tom Vandergriff, County Judge Tarrant County
Joyce Barrow, Tax Assessor-Collector Hunt County
John Ramney, Tax Assessor-Collector Grayson County
Donna White, Tax Assessor-Collector C~ty of Seagov~lle
John D. Gilliam, C~ty Attorney C~ty of Sherman
As requested m the RFP, we have provided a list of ail our current and former clients m
Appendix A
Page 18
DALLAS COUNTY
DAVID CHILDS
TAX ABSE880R-COLLECTOR
January 6, 1997
To Whom It May Concern
This ts to express the experience of fine Dallas County Tax Office w~th the law firm of Blair, Goggan, Sampson
and Meeks BGSM has served Dallas County since 1984, and the County has been pleased wtth their
performance Before the hiring of BGSM, the Dallas County Dlsmct Attorney collect~.xl an average of $6
walhon per year m delinquent taxes Since 1984, BGSM has averaged over $12 mflhon per year tn collecuons
A number of crees and school d~stncts have contracted w~th Dallas County for current collecuons and Blair,
Goggan, Sampson & Meeks for delinquent collections Each of these jurisdictions has bee extremely pleased
w~th the services and collection performance prowded by the law firm
Grand Prairie lSD C~ty of Seagovflle
C~ty of Grand Prairie C~ty of Coeh'ell Hill
Lancaster lSD C~ty of Wflmer
C~ty of Lancaster
As for tbe~r performance relative to competmg firms, Dallas County conducted a dehnquent tax bid in 1990,
a process ~n which BGSM and other firms competed The firms were scruumzed in several categories,
including 1) collection rates on behalf of their top 10 chents 2) specific collection rates ~n areas such as
bankruptcies, federal-setzed property, seizures and sales, etc 3) mtnonty pracuces 4) quahty of computer
system reporttng 6) testtmony of chent ent~t~es, and 7) comparative testtmony of ent~t~es that have replaced one
dehnquent tax firm with another Following a review of data collected, a b~d committee composed of rune
elected and appointed county officials, recommended BGSM over the other firm by a unammous vote On
further review of the b~ds, the County Commissioners concurred and voted 5-0 for BGSM
As a result of BGSM's ten-year performance and knowledge gamed flurmg the most recent renewal process,
Dallas County is convinced that BGSM currently offers the finest flehnquent tax collection services available
If you desire statlStmS or any other detailed data, feel free to call me at 214-653-6056
Respectfully,
David Childs
Dallas County Tax Assessor-Collector
RECORDS BUILDING · DALLAS TEXAS 75202 PHONE (214) 653 771'~
CITY OF DALLAS
To Whom It May Concern'
The law firm of Blair, Goggan, Sampson and Meeks has demonstrated
experience ~n the collection of delinquent ad valorem taxes The
firm has had the collection contract w~th the C~ty of Dallas and
the Dallas Independent School Dlstr~ct s~nce 1983 Millions of
dollars ~n delinquent taxes have been collected through their
efforts
During the course of our association w~th the f~rm, the City has
downs~zed the current collection operation and reduced associated
operating expenses. The firm provides an extension of the C~ty's
staff concentrating efforts on the collection of delinquent
taxes. The handling of customer service calls, correspondence
and l~t~gat~on ~s done w~th the same sensltlv~ty and courtesy as
· s expected from ~nternal staff
In addition to the subjective "treatment of taxpayers", the f~rm
provides measurable and significant results in collections We
have maintained consistently h~gh collection rates through some
s~gn~f~cantly bad economic t~mes. The f~rm has served us well,
and I can recommend their performance to other ent~tles ~n need
of collection services.
S~ncerely,
Mx Assessor/Collector
Department of Revenue and Taxation
\bgsm ref
GRAYSON APPRAISAL DISTRICT
CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR ~ MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
Robert H Tolhson ~ C E (Jack) Kretslnger
ASSISTANT CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR Harry R Reynolcis CPA
James E Bock Sandra Ancterson
Margaret Grynwald
M~ke McKinley
January 8, 1997 205 N Traws, Sherman Texas 75090
Telephone 903-893 9673
FAX 903-892-3835
To Whom It May Concern
As Tax Collector for the City of Sherman and Sherman Independent School D]smct, I work
closely with the firm of Blair, Ooggan, Sampson & Meeks I can heartily recommend them as
a f'n'm demonstrating professlonahsm and aggressiveness m collecting delinquent taxes
The fm'n conducts periodic mailings throughout the year to all delinquent taxpayers at their
expense In fact, the f'trm bears all the costs assoctated with their collect]on program Tl~s
serves to reduce the staffing I would need to conduct the same services
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks has conststently demonstrated a very lngh level of collections
They work the difficult cases dally and never just go for the "gravy" or easy money Durmg
theft representation, both the City's and School's delinquencies have declined Tins indicates
the firm ts doing a superior job of collecting the delinquent taxes, but they are also making good
taxpayers out of bad
The fn'm maintains a local off]ce, staffed with local cmzens TI'ns enables them to have dally
contact locally, as a convemence to our citizens To my know]edge, the f'n'm has always been
the leader m filing stats and obtaining and satisfying Judgments Also, the bankruptcy activities
performed by the fh-m are top notch They have obtained momes from bankruptcy court which
I would have not thought possible
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks is a very aggressive f~rm Yet, they have always worked
well with hardsl'up cases I beheve the McK]nney Independent School District would be well
served m selecting them as the School's delinquent tax collection firm Should you have further
questions, please don't hesitate to contact me
Sincerely,
Robert Tolhson
Tax Assessor/Collector
LANCASTER INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Robert L Payne Bill Ward Gary L Faunce C P A
Assr Supl/Instruc~on Supenntendent Assr Supt/Buslness
May 9, 1996
To Whom, It may concern
I would like to meke you aware that our Dlstrlot ¢~anged from Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins
& Mott, L L P to Blair, Goggm, Sampeon & Meeks (BGSM) for our delinquent tax collection
services ever 2 years ago I n retrospect, with the benefit of hindsight, we would make the same
decision again today We have experienced a significant increase in the effectiveness of
dehnquent tax collection efforts both in terms of dollars collected and es a percentage of
dehnquent taxes outstanding This effectweneas has also been apparent in the dechne In the
amount of current year tax turned over for collection each year since ~ took over
collections We have also appreciated the level of communication we have experienced with the
attorneys assigned to our District They have continuously kept us informed es to their
collection activities on our behalf as well es the results of those activities If I can be of any
other assistance or provide any other information please feel free to contact me
Sincerely,
Gary L Faunce
1105 Wes~'ldge o P 0 Box 400, Lancaster, Texas 75146
(214) 227-~]41 · Fax (214) 227 1102
TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR
RADEAN HERRON~ RTA
PROSPER I S D ~CITY OF PROSPER
May 9, 1996
To Whom It May Concern
The City of Prosper and Prosper Independent School Dlsmct retained the law fm'n of Blair
Coggan Sampson & Meeks m June 1990
As Tax Collector for the C,ty of Prosper and Prosper Independent School Dlsmct, I have worked
w~th BGSM closely over the last 5 years and I would like to make this recommendation on their
behalf
They have worked consistently and persistently m their efforts to collect taxes for Prosper We
have maintained a good working relationship with Gary Bennett, Attorney and Jeanette Butler,
Office Manager and are pleased wath their efforts tn minimizing the delinquent tax roll We feel
they are doing an outstanding job
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks are aggressive tn their collecuons, but have never failed to
work well with hardship cases and special situations Thel, have collected some large accounts
for our junsdmt~on and also work very diligently to collect the lesser amounts
I am pleased to recommend them to you for possible consideration tn the collection of your taxes
Sincerely
Radean Hen'on
Tax Collector
RH/
January 6, 1997
McKlnney lSD Board of Trustees
#1 Duvall Street
McKanney, Texas 75069
Dear S~rs
It ~s w~th pleasure that I recommend the law firm of Blair, Goggan, Sampson, & Meeks
Commumty Independent School D~stnet retained BGSM m July 1991, to collect dehnquent
taxes Dunng the period fi.om July 1991 through June 1994, BGSM collected over $440,000 an
dehnquent taxes, penalties, and interest for the school d~stnet
The representatives from the finn have always exlub~ted profess~onahsm, an understanding, and
a wflhngness to work w~th our d~stnct's tax colleetmn personnel and the taxpayers of the district
It ~s w~thout hesitation that I strongly recommend the law firm of Blair, Goggan, Sampson, &
Meeks
SlrlCOrO]y~
Ronn~e McClendon
Supenntendent
Pureuino Excellence
Rio Vista Independent School District
Dr. Sharron Miles, Supenntendent
Telephone 817/373-2241
Box 369
Rio V~sta, Texas 76093
Byron Cobb
Prestdent
Bush H~k~r
~ce P~st~nt
Darlene Dumas
~c~
Member
J~k~Mo~an To Whom It May Concern
Ca~ Rogers
M~eE~ore I sm pleased to write you in regard to your selection
Lou~ Homes~y
of a law firm to handle your delinquent tax collections
The law firm of Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks delinquent
tax collection program has proved to be highly sucessful
for the Rio Vlsta Independent School D~strlct
They leave you in complete control of your accounts wh~le
they pursue an agressive collection program The periodic
statements are followed by law su~ts, 3udgements and fore-
closures
Due to the diligent effort of Blair, Goggan, Sampson &
Meeks the school'delinquent taxes have decreased remark-
ably since beg~nnln~ w~th their delinquent tax collection
program ~n 1992.
The staff and attorneys are always courteous and willing
to assist our tax offzce beyong the lzmlts of their contract
I highly recommend the law f~rm of Blair, Goggan, Sampson
& Meeks, Attorney-At-Law to represent you ~n the collection
of your delinquent taxes.
Sincerely,
Anita Hutson
Tax Assessor-Collector
R~o V~sta ISD
COIJNT JUDGE
of
TARRANT COUNTY
TOM VANDERGR~'~' Noven~er [ 4, 19 ¢ 4 Cotm~ A~,~,~t~on B~
Co~ JU~e 1~ ~t W~the~ord
To Whom It May Concern:
Blair, Goggan, sampson & Meeks has represented Tarrant County
for a number of years in the field of delinquent tax
collections. In fac=, that contractual relationship has only
recently been extended for a new term of several more years
Our Tax Assessor and Collectors office is high in its praise
for the services of Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks. On behalf
of Tartan= Court=y, I can assure any interested party ~ha= the
firm Is conscientious and diligent in the pursuit of its
responsibilities and has been professional and productive in
its relationship with us. We have great respect for the firm
Sincerely,
· om Vandergrlff/L~/~'
HUNT COUNTY
POST OFFICE BOX 1042 · GREENVILLE, TEXAS 75403 1042
TAX ASSESSOR-COLlECTOR
JOYS[ J BARROW
(903) 408 41~0
FAX (s~a) 408 42B5
eMAIL-hotexOkoyoteoom January 18, 1996
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
May I take this opportunity to recommend to you the law firm of
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks & Associates.
For approximately 10 years, this law firm has served as delinquent
tax attorneys for the County of Hunt and for other 3ur[sdlctlons ~n
the county. At the present time it represents 10 3urlsd~ctlons tn
Hunt County.
Our working relationship with th~s f~rm continues to be excellent
due to
· Open lines of constructive communication,
· Its attorneys' high degree of professionalism,
· Willingness on its part to correct and assist with solving
problems in a timely manner,
· Its filing of tax suits promptly,
· Its aggressive seizure of mobile homes and bus~ness personal
properties, and
· Its mnstallatlon of a modem in 1ts office to access our tax
office computer system.
In addition to these attributes cited above, the firm maIntains an
excellent staff at the local level.
Should your require further information, please contact me
Sincerely,
//YC/J BARROW
~4unt County Tax Assessor-Collector
JJB/mp
Om¢~ O~
w.
cotmmousE ASSESSOR AND Cocu~croR oF T~s (~) 892-T~ (829~
I~W HOUS~N · Sbl'l~ 11 (~) 893-V~ (~3)
PO BOX 2107 G~YSON Co~ (~) 813~ (A~O)
S~, ~ ~1-2107 F~ (~) 89349~
Ou[y 1, ~996
Re Blair, Goggan, Sampson and Meeks
Grayson County's Del,nquent Tax Attorneys
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
I am writing this letter on the behalf of the law firm of Blair, Goggan, Sampson
and Meeks and their attorney handling the delinquent tax accounts for Grayson
County, Mr Gary Bennett This firm has represented Grayson County in the
collection of delinquent taxes for the past year
The firm maintains a local office and their office staff ~s always available and
wilhng to assist In every way possible I have found them to be very diligent and
competent while maintaining professionahsm
The percentage of delinquent collections has improved over the year The
collection goal set by Grayson County has been met which attr, butes to their
dedication and aggressiveness In their tax collection efforts
I have no reservations m recommending Mr Bennett and the law firm of Blmr,
Goggan, Sampson an0 Meeks to any entity demr~ng asms~ance ~n del,nquent tax
collections or related matters
Very truly yours,
'JO
r of Taxes
Grayson County
JR/kb
of SEAGOVILLE
GI-IWAY 175 - SFAGOVILLE, TEXAS 75159
050 F~x (~14) ~87 $891/287 1269
May 09, 1996
To Whom It May Concern
The City of Seagovllls contracted Blair, Goggan, Sampson, &
Meeks to collect delinquent taxes in August 1987 The!r firm
has served the Clty of Seagovllle well since that time
Blair, Goggan, Sampson, & Meeks is specialized in delinquent tax
collections, and their staff is highly qualified and utilizes
resources that a small City such as Seagovllle does not have
readily available
Their firm is very effectlve in coordinating with the Bankruptcy
Court in making sure we receive all tax payments due from Bank-
ruptc~es flied
In addition to the effective collection of delinquent tax pay-
ments, the firm provides a variety of useful management reports,
such as the summarizing of the delinquent accounts by categorles
of properties, dollar amounts, and age of delinquency
The staff of the City of Seagovllle can attest to the quality of
service that thls firm provides
Sincerely,
Donna K White
Tax Assessor/Collector
SH :Rn'U
-- LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Phone No (903) 892-7305
Fax No (903) 892-7394
May 9, 1996
Mr Gary Bennett, Esq
Blair, Ooggan, Sampson, and Meeks
125 North Travls, Suite B-I
Sherman, Texas 75090
Re L~ttcr of Recommendation
Dear Mr Bennett
It is with pleasure that I submit this letter of recommendation to Blair, Goggan, Sampson, and Meeks As
the City staffmember responsible for coordinating our delinquent tax collection program, I am mttmately
familiar with Bta~r, Goggan, Sampson, and Meeks' performance record on behalf of the City of Sherman
Since 1990, you and your firm have done an outstanding job m collecting the City's delinquent taxes Over
the past six years we have, through your efforts, recovered In excess orS1 6 mdhon The C~ty Council is
very pleased with your work as evidenced by their renewal in July, 1995, of your contract for an additional
three years
Sincerely,
J-DO pc
xc Jim Andrews, City Manager
PO BOX 1106'~ SHERMAN, TEXAS ?$091 1106 (903) 8927206
IV. ProJect Team and Offices (RFP Selection Criterion 1 f-j, 3, 4)
Reahzing the importance of accessibility to our clients and taxpayers, BGSM regularly estabhshes
offmes ~n our clients' junsdmt~ons These offices provide personal serwce to our clients and
taxpayers BGSM's Denton office has served the Denton conunumty for eleven years, thus
we have clearly met the City's criteria for estabitshtng an office tn Denton (RFP Selection
Criterion 4). Our North Texas Regional Office, located in Dallas, provides legal, administrative
and collection support to all of our offices
BGSM's Denton Office
Our law firm estabhshed an office in the City of Denton in 1986 The office is located at 326-
G East McKlnney Street (directly across from the Civic Center), and is accessible to taxpayers,
City Hall, County Tax Off~ces and the Denton County Courthouse
Mr Stephen Meeks, a partner ~n our law firm, ~s the attorney responsible for our Denton
collection program He Is assisted with our litigation efforts by Mr Gary Bennett, attorney, Ms
DeMetms A. Sarapson, partner, Mr. Edward Lopez, attorney, and by Ms Beth Weller,
bankruptcy attorney Ms. Nancy Primeaux serves as the Regional Manager for our law firm
The Denton office is managed by Ms. Deborah Patton, who has more than 15 years experience
in office management and ten years of experience in the collection of ad valorem taxes A
resident of Denton for 14 years, she is active in her community and is a member of the Denton
chapter of Business and Professional Women She has worked ~n the areas of dehnquent account
collecnons, telephone collections, skip-tracing and litigation Ms Patton manages the day-to-day
operations of the Denton office, coordinates BGSM's litigation efforts and assists taxpayers
Ms Patton is assisted by Ms. Dana Markham and Mr Ralph Roberts Ms Markham is a
resident of Denton and attends the University of North Texas where she ~s majonng ~n Early
Childhood Education As our legal assistant, she assists taxpayers with questions regarding their
delinquent accounts and payment arrangements In addition, her respons~bdmes ~nclude prepanng
and flhng legal documents and assisting ~n researching accounts
Mr Roberts performs abstracts on accounts targeted for BGSM's lawsuits filed on behalf of our
Denton area clients and serves as a client liaison He ~s a former Tax Assessor-Collector for
Swisher County and has 25 years experience in tax collections
Our local office has a positive financial impact on the Denton commumty We support many
local businesses, vendors and supphers and have spent over $1,100,000 in Denton since we
opened our office. Our Denton collection program is designed to maximize local participation
and involvement We estimate that 66% of every dollar we earn in attorney fees ts spent in
Page 19
Denton and positively impacts the community. Typical expenses include salaries, rent, office
supplies and services, research books and subscriptions, equipment purchases, leasing and
maintenance contracts, telephones, utditles and contributions to charitable organizations
The Law Office of Mike Gregory
It is our law firm's practice to associate with attorneys who bring a unique local perspective to the
collection of delinquent taxes and provide a broad range of liaison and oversight functions
BGSM has joined with the Law Office of M~ke Gregory to provide the highest quality collection
services for the City Mr Gregory assists BGSM in the monitoring and implementation of our
program by serving as liaison with the local bar, press, judicial and other courthouse officials
Mtke Gregory will be assisted in these responsibdmes by his associate attorney, Charla Bradshaw
Responsibilities for the City of Denton contract will be structured so that Mr. Gregory and
Mrs Bradshaw will share lead attorney responsibilities with BGSM attorneys m htigatlng
tax cases on behalf of the City. In addition, Mr. Gregory wtli act as an ombudsman for
taxpayers when necessary.
BGSM's North Texas (Dallasl Regional Office
Our North Texas (Dallas) Regional Office, established in 1983, has a fine reputation of
mammmng delinquent tax collections for taxing units throughout North Texas Its staff of 50 tax
professionals consists of attorneys, paralegals, litigation assistants, collectors, researchers, data
specialists and administrative personnel, who provide in-depth support to our Denton office and
thereby extends their managerial, collection, research and litigation capabilities We maintain
a toll-free telephone service (800441-0960) to the Dallas office for the use of Denton
residents (RFP Selection Criterion 4).
The collection efforts of our Denton office are further enhanced by the support of our statewlde
management, data processing and lawsuit production staffs Our data processing staff includes
over 40 programmers and technicians who perform mailing activities, produce lawsuits, conduct
tax roll analysis, provide lawsuit tracking information and create reports and listings utilized by
the Denton office in the collection of taxes In total, over 70 of the law firm's personnel will
be associated with the City of Denton collection program.
Pr~ect Team for the City of Denton
Blair, Goggan, Samson & Meeks (BGSM) and Mike Gregory are working together to provide
the best possible delinquent tax collection program m Denton BGSM Partner Stephen T
Page 20
Meeks, Mike Gregory and Charla Bradshaw will serve as the lead attorneys to represent the
City.
The management ~eam who will be responsible for the design and implementation of the Denton
workplan is provided below
Mike Gregory Local Counsel - Responsible for Denton lSD
Charla Bradshaw Local Counsel - Responsible for Denton ISD
Steve Meeks Partner - Responsible for Denton ISD
DeMetns Sampson Partner
Nancy Pnmeaux Regional Manager
Debb~e Patton Denton Office Manager
Gary Bennett Attorney
Edward Lopez Attorney
Beth Weller Bankruptcy Attorney
Peggy McCormick Data Manager
Gary Coleman Collection Manager
Gloria Holmes Litigation Manager
Sharon Fordmal Bankruptcy Coordinator
Resumes of Key Individuals
We have included for your review the resumes of all key managerial staff which will be assigned
to our C~ty of Denton collection efforts Throughout the year, BGSM utilizes many part-time
employees to assist with collections, research and specml projects, however, all positions listed
in this section are full-time in nature
In total, over 70 of our law fh'm's personnel will be associated w~th our C~ty of Denton
collection program in one capacity or another BGSM's collection program ~s the combined
effort of our Denton employees, North Texas (Dallas) Regional Office employees, our Metroplex
attorneys, bankruptcy and management team, computer professionals, administrators and the
BGSM partners
Our data processing support is provided by our subsidiary company, United Governmental
Services of America, Inc. (UGSA). Our law firm has pioneered the apphcat~on of high
technology m the field of dehnquent tax collections and has invested millions of dollars to develop
the latest and most successful computer and communication technology for the specialized purpose
of collecting taxes Key members of our staff of 40 computer professionals are also listed,
together with their qualifications and biographical reformation
Page 21
The resumes of these key individuals are included for your revtew m the following order
Local Counsel The Law Office of Mike Gregory
BGSM Partners and Attorneys
Denton Office Personnel
North Texas Management Team
Data Processing Specialists
Local Counsel. The Law Office of Mflte Gregory
M~ke Gregory, Local Counsel, moved to Denton tn 1946 and graduated from Denton High
School m 1963 Mr Gregory then earned his B B A m Finance from the Business Honors
Program in 1967 and graduated from the Umverstty of Texas Law School with a J D m 1970
Mr Gregory was admitted to the Texas Bar m 1970 and then served as a lawyer and mtlltary
judge in the United States Marine Corps He is admitted to practme before the Texas Supreme
Court, United States Supreme Court and the Umted States District Court, Northern Dtstrlct of
Texas He has maintained a law practice in Denton s~nce 1974 and became Board Certtfied in
Famtly Law by the Texas Board of Legal Spec~ahzatton m 1976 Mr Gregory ~s a member of
the American Bar Associat~on and a member and Past-President of the Denton County Bar
Assoctatlon He is a Past-President of the Texas Academy of Famtly Law Spectahsts and a
former Director of the North Texas Family Law Assoctatlon Mr Gregory ts a Fellow m the
Amerman Academy of Matrlmomal Lawyers and an AV rated attorney by Martmdale-Hubbell
National Directory, the highest rating g~ven by Martmdale-Hubbell He has been a member of
the Form Book Revision Commtttee, Texas Family Law Practme Manual, from 1991 to present
Mr Gregory has taught Business Law courses at TWU and UNT and has taught a course at TWU
entttled "Women and the Law"
Charla Bradshaw, Attorney, graduated from Denton H~gh School m 1980 and from Texas
Women's University m 1987 wtth a B S m Human Relanons Summa Cum Laurie Mrs
Bradshaw received her J D degree m 1993 when she graduated from Southern Methodtst
Umverslty School of Law where she was on the Dean's Adwsory Council, Trtal Advocacy
Program and directed a research on divorce mediation She received her Texas law hcense tn
1993 and Is hcensed to practice before the Texas Supreme Court and all other Texas courts Mrs
Bradshaw has written articles for continuing legal education seminars and Is presently servtng on
the Advanced Famlly Law Planning Committee for the State Bar of Texas She has been an
associate attorney m the Law Office of Mike Gregory for two years and thoroughly enJoys trial
work
Page 22
BGSM Partners and Attorneys
Stephen T. Meeks, Partner and Responsible Attorney for Denton County Operations, was
admitted to the Bar in 1975 after receiving h~s B B A and J D from Baylor University where he
was President of the Student Bar and a member of Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity He has been
engaged in the private practice of law since 1975 and has 18 years litigation experience and seven
years delinquent tax collection experience Mr Meeks' community involvement includes serving
on the YMCA Board of Directors and as a member and former Secretary of the Hurst-Euless-
Bedford Independent School District Board of D~rectors He teaches "The Texas Property Tax
System," an education course designed by our law firm and certified by thc Texas Education
Agency for school board member accreditation Mr Meeks is admitted to practice before the
U S D~str~ct Court, Northern D~strict of Texas His professional memberships include the State
Bar of Texas and Tarrant County Bar Associat~on
DeMetris Aquiila Sampson, Partner and Managing Attorney for Dallas County Regional
Office, was admitted to the Bar in 1980 after receiving her B B A and her J D from the
Umverslty of Texas at Austin She also received her L L M (Taxation) from Southern Methodist
University School of Law tn 1986 She ~s responsible for general ad valorem tax litigation m the
Dallas area Ms Sampson's experience includes serving as an Assistant City Attorney for the
City of San Antomo, serving as Chief Counsel to the Texas House of Representatives Judicial
Affairs Committee, serving as an Assis~ant D~strict Attorney m Dallas County, and being engaged
m the private practice of law She is admitted to practice before all courts of the State of Texas,
the U S Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U S District Court, Northern District, and the U S
Tax Court Her professional involvement includes and has included active participation in the
Dallas Bar Association, Dallas Bar Foundation Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation Fellow, Inn of
Court, and the Past-President of the J L Turner Legal Association and the Dallas Association
of Black Women Attorneys Ms Sampson's commumty involvement is extensive and includes
serving on the East Texas State University Board of Regents, the City of Dallas' Domestic
Violence Task Force, the St Luke "Community" United Methodist Church Board of Trustees and,
until recently, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board She has received many awards for her
community service Most recently Ms Sampson was honored with the 1996 Dr Martin Luther
King Jr Justice Award by the Dallas Bar Association, the Asian American Bar Association, the
Dallas Women Lawyer's Association, the J L Turner Legal Association and the Mexican-
American Bar Association She has been named as a 1990 Outstanding Young Texas Ex of the
University of Texas Ms Sampson resides in Dallas and has nine years experience in delinquent
tax collection
Stephen S. Blair, Partner, was admitted to the Bar in 1967 after receiving his B A and
J D from the University of Texas at Austin Mr Blair serves as the Affirmative Action Officer
of our law firm He served for several years as General Counsel and Affirmative Action Officer
to the Texas Education Foundation, Inc, where he gained substantial experience in administering
multlmllhon dollar government contracts Mr Blair is a former Assistant District Attorney for
Page 23
Jefferson County and is admitted to practice before the U S District Court, Northern Dlstrmt of
Texas He has 17 years of dehnquent tax collection experience and has lectured on ad valorem
taxation for the State Bar
Thomas S. Goggan, m, Partner, was admitted to the Bar in 1967 after receiving hts B A and
J D from the Umverslty of Texas at Austin Mr Goggan has more than 17 years of experience
tn dehnquent tax collection and ts active tn the estabhshment of our law firm's httgatlon pohmes
and represents our chents at the appellate level in complex tax cases He Is Board Certified in
Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Spec~ahzatlon, and has llttgated complex tax cases.
both jury and non-jury, in the Dtstnct Courts, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Texas,
and the Supreme Court of the Umted States Mr Goggan ~s a former member of the Civil
Appellate Law Adwsory Commission for the Texas Board of Legal Spec~ahzation and has also
served on the State Bar's Committees for Contlnmng Legal Education. Administration for Jumce
and Admmtstrattve Law He is an author and lecturer for the State Bar of Texas Professional
Development Programs, and lectured on ad valorem taxes for the State Bar Advanced Real Estate
Law Course
Gary Bennett, Attorney, was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1980 after receiving his J D from
the University of Texas School of Law at Austin He has served as President of the North Central
Texas Council of Governments and as a member of the Sixth Congressional District Advisory
Committee during the 99th and 100th Congresses Prior to jo~mng the firm, Mr Bennett served
as County Judge for Navarro County He is currently a member of the State Bar Committee on
Ad Valorem Taxation, hamng served on the Committee since 1989 Mr Bennett has over slx
years experience ~n tax lmgatlon and the general practice of law
Edward Lopez, Attorney, earned hts B B A tn Finance at Southwest Texas State University and
his J D from Southern Methodist Umverslty School of Law Mr Lopez is well versed ~n tax
collecuon law, hamng clerked with BGSM for several years while he was in law school Prior
to joining our firm, Mr Lopez was associated with several local law firms and has worked in
private practice He is licensed to practice in all state courts and in the federal courts for the
Northern and Southern Districts of Texas Mr Lopez has three years delinquent tax collection
experience
Beth Weller, Bankruptcy Attorney, represents our clients m bankruptcy matters Ms Weller
received her B A in Business Admlmstratlon from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill and her J D from Wake Forest Umverslty School of Law She previously served as Staff
Attorney in the Office of Staff Counsel for the Umted States Court of Appeals for the Fourth
Circuit in Richmond, Vtrglma Ms Weller has extensive bankruptcy and litigation experience,
havmg served as Law Clerk in both the Eastern D~strict of Virginia and the Northern District of
Texas Umted States Bankruptcy Courts She Is admitted to practice in the State of Maryland, the
U S D~str~ct Court for the Middle Dtstrlct of North Carohna, State of Texas and the U S District
Court for the Northern District of Texas Ms Weller has three years of tax collection experience
Page 24
l~nton Office Personnel
Debble Patton, Denton County Manager, has more than eighteen years experience in office
management and ten years experience in the collection of ad valorem taxes She has worked in
the areas of delinquent account collections, telephone collections, skip-tracing and litigation Ms
Patton is the mother of two, a member of the PTA and the Professional Women of Denton and
is active in the Denton County FFA program, Denton County Youth Fair and Pee-Wee League
Sports Association
Dana Markham, Litigation Assistant, joined BGSM in 1996 Ms Markham assists with the
litigation efforts of our Denton office and she works with taxpayers in person and on the telephone
to resolve their delinquency Prior to joining BGSM, Ms Markham gained extensive customer
service experience working as a Senior Sales Support Spec~ahst for Software Spectrum and as a
telemarketer for Five Senses, Inc In addition to working for BGSM, Ms Markham IS attending
the University of North Texas where she is pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education
Ralph Roberts, Abstractor, has been associated with BGSM since 1993 Mr Roberts is a
former Tax Assessor-Collector for Swisher County and has over 25 years experience of tax
collection experience Prior to joining BGSM, Mr Roberts owned Equitable Appraisal Services
and also worked In public relations and collections for a tax law firm He conducts abstracts on
all real property lawsuits filed by BGSM on behalf of our Denton area clients
North Texas Management Team
Nancy Primeaux, Regional Manager, is responsible for the management and coordination of the
firm's tax collection program and operations for the City of Carrollton Ms Prlmeaux's
responsibilities include client relations and management reporting and she works closely with our
clients to asstst in revenue projections She is the former Tax Assessor-Collector for the City of
Dallas and Dallas ISD Ms Prlmeaux holds a B A m Plan II (a liberal arts honors program) and
an M S S W In Planning and Policy Development from the University of Texas at Austin She
is active In several statewide tax organizations and has over fourteen years of tax collection
experience
Peggy McConmck, Data Manager, is responsible for coordinating the transfer of tax roll data
and demand mailings and assisting in management reports Ms McCormick is a former Tax
Collection Manager for the City of Grand Prairie She holds a B B A from the University of
North Texas and has fourteen years of experience in the collection of ad valorem taxes Ms
McCormick is a certified instructor for Texas Association of Assessing Officers (TAAO) and is
a Certified Tax Admlmstrator (CTA)
Gary Colenmn, Collections Manager, holds a Bachelors in Business Administration in Finance
Page 25
from the Umverstty of Texas at Arlington Prior to jolmng our firm, Mr Coleman was a Vice-
President with NatlonsBank He has 13 years of collection experience and has been with BGSM
since 1995 Mr Coleman ts a member of the North Texas and Colhn County chapters of TAAO
Gloria Holtnes, Litigation Manager, is responsible for overseeing the htigauon filed by our firm
on behalf of the City Ms Holmes, a Certified Legal Assistant, holds a B A degree m political
science with an emphasis m pre-law studies from East Texas State University She is a member
of the State Bar of Texas Division of Legal Assistants, the El Cemro College Legal Assistants
Assoc~ation and the Dallas Associat~on of Legal Assistants Ms Holmes has 13 years of
delinquent tax collection experience
Sharon Fordlnal, Regional Bankruptcy Coordinator, earned her B S m Accounting Bus~ness
Management and her Legal Assistant Certification from Lamar Umversity m Beaumont, Texas
She also has attended Durham Business College m Beaumont Ms Fordmal has 17 years
bankruptcy experience on both debtor's and creditor's sides and over 20 years experience in
Business Management She coordinates all bankruptcy matters for the North Texas Regional
Offices Her responsibilities include assisting m resolwng taxpayer d~sputes revolving apphcat~on
of bankruptcy payments, coding new cases, tracking existing cases, referring cases to htigat~on
and collections when appropriate, training personnel ~n bankruptcy tracking system, preparing
correspondence and assisting In drafting pleadings
Data Processln~ S_neclalrsts
David J. Dartez, Systems Operations Manager, started with our law firm 15 years ago and was
instrumental m coordinating the development of the first computer technology designed for the
collection of delinquent taxes on behalf of our law firm He continues to momtor our law firm's
development of new software technology and improvements on existing systems Mr Dartez
provides consulting services to our clients on their software and computer needs for tax collection
and other governmental functions He has served as D~rector of Informanon Services for Bexar
County, Project Leader for Philco-Ford at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center and was Senior
Systems Analyst for the City of Houston
R~chard H. Pachecano, Dn'ector of Data Processing, received a B B A in Accounting and
Business Data Systems from the University of Texas at San Antomo He joined our law firm m
1983 and is responsible for the d~rect~on and management of all phases of the law firm's computer
support organtzation and manages a staff of 43 computer professionals Mr Pachecano also
part~cipates in marketing efforts of the firm by working w~th semor cheat staff members and
elected officials on computer-related issues and conducting or participating m software
demonstratloas and tax system development workshops Mr Pachecano prewously served as
Deputy Director of Information Systems for Bexar County and as Apphcatlons Manager
responsible for the County's Financial, Tax Collections and Automobile Registration Systems
Page 26
He ~s a member of the Texas Association of Assessing Officers
Don O'Brien, Dehnquent Operations Manager, holds a B S from M~am~ University of Ohio
Mr O'Brien is responsible for managing the Delinquent Operauons staff He provides the
dtrecuon for the maintenance and development of our firm's dehnquent tax eollecnon systems and
regularly confers w~th our f~rm's managers to ~dentffy their lnformauon needs and possible
solutions Mr O'Bnen also works w~th chent staff members to facilitate the processing of the
client's and our law firm's delinquent tax data He has been employed with our firm since 1986
and bas held responsible positions mvolwng all the department's computer systems Mr O'Bnen
was previously employed as a hardware and software representative for Valcom Computer Center
Fehx Lopez, Manager of Production and Maihng Control, holds a B B A from St Mary's
University and an M B A from the Umvemty of Texas at San Antonio Mr Lopez joined our
firm m 1987 and ~s responsible for d~reetmg the daffy data processing production funcnons,
controlling and verifying accuracy of mailings, and repomng acnwty and reviewing and analyzing
statistical data for all dehnquent tax rolls He supermses rune data processing employees and
allocates personnel and equipment resources as needed to complete assigned projects m a timely
manner H~s respons~bflmes include the coordination of all the steps m the marling process Mr
Lopez was previously employed at Omm Interest, Inc as Manager of Data Processing
Paula Starnss, Mailing Coordinator, received her B A m Management from Southwest Texas
State University She joined our firm in 1988 and is responsible for delinquent and current
mafl~ngs by coordinating mad~ngs w~th the respective client, regional office and post office Ms
Starnes was premously employed as senior production analyst at Alamo Commumty College
D~stnct
Martin Rangel, Progrananer, received h~s A A from San Antonio College m Computer
Sciences and currently ns pursmng bls B A In Computer Smence Mr Rangel joined our law firm
m 1986 and Is responsible for researching and analyzing techmcal Information for new delinquent
systems and delegating program and/or system modifications of ex~stmg systems to other
delinquent programmers He also superwses three other programmers on assignments, time
schedules, spemal projects and requests He ensures that system unhty programs modlficauon
problems are assessed and reported immediately He was previously employed as the lead
computer operator at GPM Life Insurance Company for five years
Page 27
V. Cornmnmty Involvement
Blair. Go~_~an~ Sampson & Meek~ Community Involvement
The presence of BGSM in Denton has had a very positive impact on the commumty during
the past decade. BGSM values and encourages good "corporate c~nzensh~p" through community
and professional service Our law firm has been a member of the Denton Chamber of Commerce
since 1987, working m cooperation w~th the Chamber to obtain volunteers for the school "Speaker
Bureau" and other act~wt~es We also support local chanties ~ncludmg the Umted Way, Denton
Jaycees, Denton Special Olympics and the D A R E program BGSM has supported, through
its partners and staff, a variety of worthwhile c~vic, professional, business and charitable
endeavors Our law firm ~s also committed to the concept of businesses suppornng local
performing arts programs and have provided support to the Denton Commumty Theatre We are
proud of our involvement ~n Denton and have supported the following act~wtles s~nce 1986
· Adopt-a-School Program
Denton ~ School was adopted by BGSM m 1993 We have worked closely with Mr
Wallace to determine the high school's needs and to promde assistance When ~t became
apparent that the school was ~n need of classroom dictionaries, we donated 250 Webster
Dmt~onanes and hve Enghsh-Spamsh dmt~onanes In 1993 BGSM was the rec~pient of
the Certificate of Merit and we received the Denton ISD Certffmate of Appreciation for
exemplary efforts m support of the Denton Pubhc Schools ~n 1995 and 1996
In addloon, we developed, in cooperation w~th the Denton Chamber of Commerce, a list
of md~viduals and orgamzatlons who have agreed to speak to the Denton H~gh School
students regarding their job or vocation as part of the "Careers Think About It Now"
program The range of speakers we contacted included mumclpal officials, court officmls,
elected officials, data processing managers and representatives from the D. ml~a_Ke_c, ox_~-
Chromcle
· Teacher M~m-Grant Program. Teacher of the Year Award and Other DonaUons
For the past three years, our law firm has presented the D~stnct w~th a check for
the Classroom Teacher Mmv-Grant Program We are especially proud of our
part~c~pation ~n the Teacher Mmv-Grant Program, which began m 1992 with a
$1,000 contribution and was tncreased to $2,000 m t994 Our participation ~n the
"selection process" of those projects funded has been particularly rewarding,
because ~t has allowed us to be a part of the classroom learning experience
Each year s~nce 1992 we have donated a $200 award to the Denton High School
Teacher of the Year and contributed to the annual Project Grad Nlte
Page 28
In January 1994, BGSM also contributed $200 to purchase ~ncentlves for students
to participate ~n the Accelerated Reading Program
BGSM gave Denton H~gh School $200 to assist with payment of PSAT tests for
several students
In 1996 we contributed over $200 toward Denton H~gh School's enrollment fee m
the STAR (Student Action for Recychng) Program
Contributed $100 to the Renaissance Program
Our law firm makes an annual contribution to the Umvers~ty of North Texas
general scholarship fund
BGSM ~s a contributor to the Denton ISD Scholarship Program
BGSM has participated m the Texas Women's Umvers~ty Cooperative Education
Program each year since 1992
In addition, we have offered to conduct taxpayer education seminars, prowde speakers and/or
contest judges and to provide legal assistance to the Denton ISD Education Foundation
Mike Gre_~ory's Community Involvement
M~ke Gregory has maintained a very active commumty involvement over the past 22 years
m C~ty, school, c~wc and church activities as follows
C~wc Act~wtles · Past-President and member of the Board of D~rectors of B~g Brothers and S~sters
of Denton County
· Former Btg Brother with B~g Brothers and S~sters of Denton County
· President of Denton County Bar Association, 1983-1984
· Past member of Board of D~rectors of SPAN
· Past Pro Bono Legal Adwsor to SPAN
· Current Pro Bono Legal Adwsor to Friends of the Family
· Pro Bono legal work for TWU legal chmc and West Texas Legal Serwces
· Past member of the Board of Directors of Denton County Umted Way
· Past Meals on Wheels dr~ver
· Present member of the Denton Chamber of Commerce
· Present Denton State School volunteer
· Former Boy Scout Troop committee member
Page 29
· Past Director for Denton County Seat Saturday Fun Run for two years
· Past member of Denton County Seat Saturday Planning Committee for two years
· Fund raiser for YMCA, Boy Scouts, Umted Way, Big Brothers and Sisters,
Summer Summits, Campus Theatre and Denton Arts Guild
· Past-President of Denton County Texas Exes Association
Denton ISD Activities · Past School Board Trustee
· Treasurer of 1985 Task Force Committee supporting passage of the 38 8 million
school bond package which passed on February 23, 1985 In this capacity, Mike
Gregory raised funds and gave numerous presentations to PTAs and civic groups
· While on the School Board, gave presentations with other School Board members
and staff to Moody's and Standard and Poor's on successful bond rating trips
· Supported 1996 Denton ISD bond package by writing a Letter to the Editor
· Volunteer speaker for grades 7-12, speaker at Career Days, past volunteer reader
at Hodge Elementary
· Former Adopt-a-School participant
· Graduate of Denton High School
· Both of Mike Gregory's children have graduated from Denton H~gh School and
both of his parents were Denton ISD teachers
Church - First United Methodist Church · Past Chair of Board of Trustees
· Member of Administrative Board
· Past youth sponsor
· Summer Youth Mission ProJect m Mexico
· Past member of Staff-Parish Relations Committee
· Dtrector of F~rst United Methodist Church Foundation
· Past member Nominating Committee
· Past member Finance Committee
· Past-President of Sunday School class
· Member of Building Committee for Fellowship Building, 1978-1980
· Present participant m New Member Sponsor Ministry
Charla Bradshaw's Community Involvement
Charla Bradshaw has been an active Girl Scout Brownie leader for three years She volunteers
all day every other Monday in her childrens' elementary school In October 1996, Mrs Bradshaw
was Chair of the PTA Fall Carmval Silent Auction that raised approximately $22,000 She ~s a
volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels and ~s on the Advisory Board of Christ's Haven for
Children Mrs Bradshaw is a frequent guest lecturer at Texas Women's University
Page 30
VI. Scope of Services (RFP Selecuon Crner~on 2)
Our collection program merges the disciplines of law and coliect~ons with inghly
sopinst~cated computer capabilities. Most law firms in this field mall demand letters and file
lawsuits However, the standards which d~sungmsh Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks from
others m the field are personal telephone contacts, taxpayer research and correspondence,
comprehensive bankruptcy, federal agency collections and the aggressive prosecution of lawsuits
from fihng to execution of judgments Whde our collection program rehes heawly upon data
processing techmques to manage a large volume of accounts, our efforts are successful largely
because of the extent of personal attention we expend in our htigat~on and collectaon efforts.
All taxpayers are treated with politeness and professional courtesy. Although our collection
strategy ~s based upon the maximum automation that technology w~ll permit, the most advanced
state-of-the-art technology cannot furmsh the d~scret~on, judgment or compassion necessary to
prowde the level of service on which BGSM pr~des ~tself Therefore, our approach to deahng
w~th taxpayers' responses to a mathng reflects our keen awareness of their concerns By notdy~ng
all taxpayers, regardless of amounts due, and prowd~ng a well-trained staff, we endeavor to
fac~htate the payment of taxes Written and verbal information ts provided to taxpayers m
both Spamsh and English.
M~ke Gregory and Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks beheve that a successful collection
program must be multifaceted, fle~dble and tailored to each chent's specific needs. Our
comprehensive collection program combines telephone collection, address and problem account
research, taxpayer correspondence, ht~gat~on, bankruptcy proceedings and federal agency
collections One of our most ~mportant and effective tools ~s coordination of our ma~hngs,
lawsuits and med~a attention to create credlb~hty for our collection letters
The following secuon details Blatr, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks' abd~ty to legally provide services
described under the Texas Property Tax Code and other relevant laws Included m the following
pages ~s a descr~ptwn of our scope of services, workplan and methodologies that we have
successfully employed for our chents throughout North Texas A flow chart on the following
page, entitled Delinquent Tax Collection Process, g~ves an overview of our tax collectmn
program.
Page 31
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks
Delinquent Tax Collection Process
No ResponseS----- Problems Return Mail
No R~pon,~ Problem~ Return
Abstrac~ Telephone Sp~tat Seizure
Lawsuits
Sate Sale
Service Setting ~tift=atior
Next Cycle
The City of Denton can be assured that the collection and litigation strategies and techniques
utilized by BGSM on behalf of our clients are both legal m nature and courteous and professional
in manner Our staff is knowledgeable and trained to follow collection and litigation strategies
as prescribed by the Texas Property Tax Code Furthermore, while property taxes do not fall
within the def~mtlon of "consumer debt" as defined by the Fair Debt Collections Act, our law
firm, nevertheless, adheres to the guidelines set out by the Act w~th respect to the manner in
which we contact dehnquent taxpayers
Workplan and Methodology
BGSM beheves that a successful delinquent tax collection program must be multl-faceted, flexible
and tailored to each client's specific needs Blmr, Goggan, Sampson and Meeks provides the
comprehensive collection services listed below to all of our chents
· Customized Workplan for Each Client
· Taxpayer Notification Program
Written Notd~catlon
Telephone Notification (Collection Calls) and Personal Contact
· Address Research/Taxpayer Location Program
Identification of Accounts Requiring Research
Reference Sources
Maintenance of Records on F~le
Business Personal Property Accounts Researched Prior to Suit Flhng
Tttle Verification Conducted Prior to Filing of Real Property Tax Suits
· Taxpayer Assistance Program
Phone Bank (Incoming Calls)
· Litigation Process
Procedures Followed in Preparation and Filing of Lawsuits
Service of Citations
Timely Prosecution of Lawsuits
Collection of Judgments by Execution and Sale
· Seizure of Delinquent Business Personal Property Accounts (upon client approval)
· Bankruptcy Collections
· Federal Agency Collections
· Public Service Information
· Ancillary Legal Services
· Management Information Reporting and Coordination
Page 32
Customized Workplans
BGSM develops and utilizes workplans as a management tool for both ~mmedlate and long-
range plznnmg. The workplan developed for each chem is based on our monthly analysis of
the chent's dehnquent tax mil and is customLzed to take into consideration the collectJon style and
approach advocated by the Jurisdiction Two types of workplans have proven effective an in-
depth Six Month Workplan that targets special collectJon strategies and variable Monthly
Workplans to achieve our overall goals A detailed profile of the dehnquent tax roll Is produced
monthly to assist m the tracking of collections and the identification of target areas reqmr~ng
special attention
The North Texas (Dallas) Regional Office management team regularly develops m-depth slx-
month workplans for our chents We use this management tool m directing our collection,
research and htlgatlon efforts This workplan, along w~th monthly workplans and management
reports, assists m the determination that we are directing our collection efforts and our personnel
to the highest dollar and most problematic groups of accounts After confirming the target group,
the managers develop dally operational plans ~n an effort to meet our goal of maximum tax
collections We emphasize not only working hard, but working smart. We use our
technology to analyze the tax roll and ~dent~fy areas where we can maxunlze the revenue
collected for each chent.
We have chosen a slx-month t~me frame as appropriate for long-range planning purposes In
January and July of each year a new slx-month, m-depth workplan is developed The basic
workplan is customized to meet the collection needs of our chents and ~s continually momtored
for results and varied when necessary
Included below are examples of the S~x-Month and Monthly Workplans that we follow
Slx-Month Workplan (July - December)
Input Dehnquent Tax Roll
· Conduct complete analysis of dehnquent tax roll
· Structure slx month workplan
Prepare and mall sample (5%) notdlcat~on letters to ehg~ble accounts
· Receive taxpayer response to sample malhng
Identify and correct potential data errors
Prepare and mall (95%) notification letters to all remalmng ehglble accounts
· Respond to taxpayer Inquiries and correspondence
Respond to return ma~l
· Estabhsh and momtor payment agreements
Page 33
Inmal ownership and address verification on business personal property accounts
lmtlal telephone collection actlvmes directed toward high dollar accounts
· Promde chent and media briefing 0f desired by chent) of collecnon program
· Continue lmgatlon actlvmes from preceding year
· Conduct Sheriff's Sale of foreclosed property
August O~eeuves. · Conduct ownership and address research on business personal property for lawsmt
flhng
· Conduct title research on real property accounts for lawsmt fihng
· Increase telephone collecuon acuvmes
· Estabhsh and momtor payment agreements
· Respond to taxpayer correspondence and inquires
· Inmal preparation for second reading
· Inmal utle search and verification of real property accounts
· Continue htlgatlon activities
· Conduct Sheriff's Sale of foreclosed property
September O~eenves.
· Prepare and mall second notlficauon letter to all eligible accounts
· Respond to taxpayer lnqumes and correspondence
· Respond to return mad
· Initial batch hhng of business personal property lawsmts
· Imtlal research on potenml tax seizure candidates (upon chent approval)
· Connnue lmganon acnwtles
· Conduct Sheriff's Sale of foreclosed property
· Analyze remaining dehnquency
· Prepare real property lawsmts from current year dehnquency
· Continue w~th lawsmt f~llng and htlgat~on act~mt~es
· Prepare and mall special seizure nonhcat~on (upon chent approval)
· Conduct lnmal tax seizures (upon client approval)
· Conduct Sheriff's Sale of foreclosed property
· Prepare and mall special notification letters to high dollar accounts
· Prepare and mall special not~flcauon letters to mulnple account owners
· Continue lawsmt fihng and lmgat~on acuwnes
· Conduct Sheriff's Sale of foreclosed property
Page 34
Prepare and mall other special notification letters as necessary
Continue with lawsuit and htlgatlon activities
· Conduct Sherdf's Sale of foreclosed property
· Analyze remalmng delinquency and develop comprehensive workplan for next SlX
months
Activities Durmg the Remalmng Six Months of the Year (January - June) · Prepare and mall other special nouflCatlon letters as necessary
· Conduct ownership and address research on business personal property for lawsuit
flhng
· Conduct title research on real property accounts for lawsuit flhng
· Continue with lawsuit and htigatlon activities
· Continue telephone collection activities
· Conduct tax seizures with appropriate media coverage (upon chent approval)
· Analyze dehnquent tax roll
· Analyze collection and performance goals
· Prepare and mall five-year notice, when apphcable
Sample Monthly Workplan
· Conduct tax roll analysis
- Identify bankrupt accounts
- Identify federal agency accounts
- ldentlfy appraisal and assessment problems
· Conduct title research on real property accounts
· Conduct ownership and address research on business personal property
· Set monthly collection and case disposition goals
· Conduct tax dockets
- Set cases for trial
- Prepare and enter judgments
- Prepare and set motions for summary judgment
- Prepare and file dismissals
- Prepare and file disclaimers
- Process interventions fried by non-BGSM's chents
- Prepare and send pre-default letters
- Prepare and enter default judgments
- Prepare and enter agreed judgments
- Prepare abstracts of judgment and writs of execution
· Conduct Sheriff's Sale of foreclosed property
· File lawsuits
Page 35
· Prepare and mail intent to seize letters (upon client approval)
· Conduct pre-seizure telephone notification program
· Prepare and mall special mailings (l e , multiple property owner letters, etc )
· Conduct tax seizures (upon client approval)
· Prepare chent collection reports (as requested)
· Update Bankruptcy Tracking System daily
· Review federal agency and bankruptcy collections
· Review overall performance and collection goals
· Review status of payment arrangements
· Analyze delinquent tax roll and prepare for next monthly workplan
Page 36
Taxpayer Notification Program
Objectives
To implement a collection strategy winch begins with effective
notification to taxpayers of their tax obhgat~ons, including an accurate
statement of the current amount of delinquent tax, penalty, and
interest and tax account number.
To build a foundation for multiple collection strategies based on the
initial accurate notificatmn of the proper owner or taxpayer.
To make personal contact with delinquent taxpayers and to expedite
payment.
To design and implement specialized collection strategies that target
high dollar, multiple, complex or sophisticated accounts
To ensure that all taxpayers receave at least five written notices of
dehnquency prior to sale of property.
Written Not~fieatmn
BGSM has developed an extremely sophisticated and effective written notification program
Beg~nmng m July m each year, our top priority Is to notdy taxpayers of their outstanding dehn-
quent taxes Our entire staff ~s revolved w~th this process during the peak period Th~s project
continues throughout the year on a parallel bas~s w~th our other collection strategies
BGSM has developed an efficient laser pnnted, computer ma~lmg operation which enables our law
f~rm to process the necessary volume of correspondence wlth a high degree of accuracy and
dependabthty We are able to prepare and send an accurate statement of account, together
with a personalized mdiwdual letter quoting demand for payment from our law firm, to
every targeted lndlwdual on the tax roll witinn a 72 hour period
and Produetmn of Demand Letter~
Upon rece:pt of the delinquent tax roll, we send a tax collection letter to every ehg~ble account
This revolves the ~mplementat~on of a computer program integrating tax mformat~on with the text
of a letter We accomphsh this procedure through the use of a Xerox 9790 laser printer which
generates letter-quality documents at the rate of 7,200 per hour
Page 37
Simultaneously a color-coded remittance document is prepared which detads the dehnquency in
a way most convement to faclhtate payment processing when ~t is returned to the chent's
collecting tax office m an enclosed w~ndow envelope The use of separate color coding for each
client permits instant identification of the Surlsdiction for which payment ts bemg made.
We carefully orchestrate the law firm's mailing act~wty to ma~nmi~e the unpact and sharply
focus the attention of the public on each malimg. We choose a mathng date so that most
taxpayers receive the demand for payment near a payday when funds might be available for
prompt payment If our chent desires, we send press releases in advance to all the area media
We make every attempt to choose a mmhng date that avoids other metha events which would
detract from coverage
We make every effort to assure the h~ghest level of quahty control. Before we marl not~fmauon
letters we randomly select 20 accounts from the enure tax roll that represent thfferent types of
accounts, exempnons and condmons Sample letters are generated and sent to the chent's tax
office which verifies all the mformauon and total dehnquent amounts These same letters are
edited and verified by our staff for accuracy Before the mass malhng, a final producuon tape ~s
genera[ed and a new set of sample letters from th~s tape is again printed and venhed by our data
processing staff Before all letters are pnnted, we again do a final check of the letters To assure
the quahty control of our letters, a thorough review is made of stattst~cal reports which are
generated from the t'mal mailing production tape.
After the chent's tax office approves the samples, we mall 5 % of all the letters Response to the
5% mathng ~s momtored to ensure that no problems exist w~th the malhng before we mall the
ennre file Within three days of the sample mmhng, the remalmng 95 % of nouce letters are
mmled
Response to Demand Letters
Our chents tax office's ~mmedtately begin to receive payments from dehnquent taxpayers, and our
office receives hundreds of telephone and written mqmnes from the dehnquent taxpayers within
the first few weeks of our lmtlal malhng
The response to the malhng allows us to qmckly stratify the remmmng dehnquent tax roll to
facthtate collection assignments to different components of our law firm All returned mail ts
assigned to our address research staff to perform skip-tracing Bar coded remittance
documents are scanned by a wand reader to produce hstlngs of bad addresses m descending dollar
order
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After our inltml mailing we begin to target delinquent taxpayers and unpaid lugh-dollar
accounts for stat filing. Within 45 days of the first mailing, we have absorbed the impact of the
response At this point we plan a second mailing to real property accounts that have not yet
responded and to personal property accounts that have not been identified for suit filings We
target personal property accounts of operating businesses for expedited lawsuit filing To maintain
credibility for the second mathng, we file dozens of lawsuits simultaneously with the second
mailing
Accounts that remain unresolved after receipt of our first two demand letters require more
specialized collection efforts We carefully analyze the profile of the remaining delinquency and
implement a detailed workplan to maximize collections
To augment the regular mass mailings, we target select accounts for special mailings which occur
from time to time throughout the collection process These include specialized mailings to
multiple property owners, absentee owners, business taxpayers, et al Each mailing is designed
to focus the taxpayer on the imperative need to promptly address his or her delinquency
Examples of these specmhzed, targeted mailings include
· Intent to Foreclose
· Intent to Seize letters
· Intent to Sue letters
· Intent to Sue letter after abstract, with copy to henholders and other owners with
copies of lawsuit petition attached
· Letter to payment arrangement violators
· Letter to lawsuits set for trial notifying all defendants of hearing dates, Including
default cases where such notification is not legally required
· Letter notification regarding judgment granted and "Abstract of Judgment" being
entered
· Intent to Sell letter with copy of the Order of Sale
Every delinquent taxpayer receives at least five notification letters prior to judgment and sale
of property. Sample letters and statements detailing the dehnquent tax amounts are
included in Appendix B. Please note that our demand letters inform delinquent taxpayers
to send payments directly to the client's tax office and to dn'ect any mqunoies, by phone or
writing, to our BGSM Denton office. In th~s way, we ensure that the money ts available as
Page 39
soon as possible to the client, while it is our job to field the mqmrles from the taxpayers in
a way neither the tax office nor client's staff will be burdened by this additional workload
Telephone Notfficatmn and Personal Contact
BGSM has found that personal contact ~s an essenual component of an effective collecuon
program BGSM employs a team of professional collectors whose job ts to collect delinquent
accounts through direct contact with taxpayers. Our collectors have been trained and are
knowledgeable of the Texas Property Tax Code, the Fair Debt Collections Act and each
client's collection policies and guidelines.
High-dollar and complex accounts, ~nclud~ng accounts ~nvolwng federal agencies, are assigned
to our specmhzed phone collecuon umts The ~nd~mduals wnhln our Denton and North Texas
Regional telephone collection units are trained to be courteous and understanding, yet persistent
During mmhngs and other peak season act~wues, our collectors receive hundreds of incoming
telephone calls and are trmned ~n tax matters to promde taxpayers wnh complete and concise
mformaUon Our telephone collecuon unit tracks assigned dehnquem accounts unUl the tax
balance ~s sausfied Our collecuon staff uuhzes targeted hst of accounts prepared by our data
processing department that straufy each chent's dehnquem accounts both ~n high dollar
fleseending and alphabetmal order These tools are unhzed by our collectors w~th great
effectiveness
Our management team works w~th each chent to determine the approach most statable to that
junsdmt~on For example, homeowners are approached d~fferently than commerctal, industrial
or undeveloped property owners Most often a dehnquent tax on a home ~s a result of an escrow
problem or recently reured loan, m which case we notify the homeowner of the dehnquency and
assist them m working w~th the mortgage company and/or the Tax Office
Assessment problems, posting errors and other problems ~denufled during the collection process
are g~ven to our research staff to be resolved Pertinent ~nformatlon ~s promded to the Apprmsal
D~stnct and Tax Office Th~s process ~s someUmes lengthy because of the necessary ~nteracnon
between the taxing jurisdiction, the appraisal d~stnct, the taxpayer and our law firm
Page 40
Address Research/Taxpayer Location Program
Objectives
· Conduct address and ownership research on accounts identified as having
ln~orrsct information
® Prior to the filing of buainea$ personal property lawsuits, verify address and
ownership information contained on the tax roll
· Conduct title research on all real property accounts prior to litigation to
identify all owners and lienholders and to verify address reformation.
· Conduct research on problem accounts that unpede the collection of taxes.
· Notify Tax Office and Appraisal Di~trict of changes in addresses and
ownership as identified by BGSM.
A successful tax collection program requires an mtens~ve and soplustmated research and
slap-tracing effort. Letters cannot be dehvered or citations served without proper addresses for
the delinquent taxpayers We have developed our research system to effecnvely and efficiently
identify and resolve problems that impede the correct property owner from receiving our legal
notices Correct property owner identification is crmca] to the following
· Delivery of demand letters,
· Ability of telephone collection personnel to contact the person responsible for the tax,
· Determinauon of current registered agents, residents, and owners of companies and
corporations m order to properly file business personal property lawsuits or request
tax warrants,
· Determination of henholders,
· Proper service of citations
BGSM has developed the capacity to meet this need through deed and address research In
addition to manual resources, BGSM has direct on-hne computer access to numerous information
sources
Our staff performs research at various stages in the collection process, including correcting
addresses from return mall, providing location and phone numbers to our telephone collection
staff, identifying registered agents, corporate officers or assumed name holders and providing
better addresses for service of citation This lnformanon is provided routinely on behalf of our
Page 41
chents, their collecting tax office and the appraisal dlstr~ct Listed below is a synopsis of
BGSM's address research and skip-tracking process
ld~ntifJentinn of Accounts Requiring Research
Returned mall received from malhngs,
· Subsequent to filing of stat, accounts of defendants who have not been served because
of inadequate address lnformauon,
· Business personal property accounts,
Real property accounts,
· Accounts on tax roll lacking address mformauon, and
· Identification of telephone numbers to be used by tax collectors
· Book/D~rectory Resources
- Telephone D~rectory and D~rectory Assistance
- Cole's Cnss Cross Directory
- Polk's City D~rectory
- Rand McNally Credit Umon Directory
- Umted States Savings & Loan Directory
- Post Office box holder lnformauon, forwarding orders and change orders
· Computer Access
- County Deed Records
- County Assumed Name Records
- County Marriage License Records
- District and County Court Records
-Zebec
- AccuSearch
- Phone D~sk - Power Finder (CD Rom)
- County Probate Records
- County, City, School Tax Roll
- C~ty Water/Utility Records
- Records of the Secretary of State
- Tram Umon Credit Bureau
- Voter Registration Fries
- Motor Vehicle Registration Fries
- Most Recent Tax Roll Created by the Appraisal District
· Other Sources
Page 42
- Uniform Commercial Code Records
- Telephone contact with taxpayers, neighbors, relatives or descendants of property
owners
Maintenance of Records on File
· Address corrections are entered on our files, and an "N" code Is placed on the account
noting a new address In subsequent mailings, our updated address is used in place of the
outdated address on the tax roll
· Address corrections are routinely provided to the client's collecting tax office and the
appropriate appraisal district for their use
Beanng in mind that the goal is to maximize revenue for our client, we lmtlally place special
emphasis on larger dollar accounts and on taxpayers who own multiple properties However,
during the course of our collection act~vmes, we give all available accounts proper attention All
dehnquent accounts deserve attention, therefore, we diligently research accounts of all cate-
gories (i.e., current and prior year delinquent, real estate and business, high and Iow
dollar)
Numerous computer capabilities exist to facilitate the search for addresses Accounts identified
as hawng a bad address, as well as accounts identified by our law firm through returned mail or
taxpayer contact, are compiled within our system and cross-referenced by taxpayer name, address,
account number and amount owed Name sort and address sort listings of the enure tax file are
also used for multiple account research Accounts in this category may have a good address on
one or more accounts but not all, thus, the existing file can be used as a research tool
Address research is an ongoing process As new addresses of delinquent taxpayers are found, the
information is coded and applied to our in-house file, and sent to our client's tax office and the
appraisal district for update
Business Personal Property Accounts Researched Prior to Suit Fdm~
Some law firms file business personal property tax suits using the ownership information and
address contained on the tax roll Because the status of business accounts changes rapidly, BGSM
has determined that effective collection of business personal property accounts requires specialized
research of accounts prior to suit filing
All personal property accounts are researched by our staff for identification and ownerslup.
A high dollar listing of personal property accounts is prepared for use by our Denton office The
Page 43
research s~aff finds the correct name and address of the owner, resident or registered agent for
these personal property accounts Each mthv~dual account ~s then contacted and taxpayers are
made aware of the rexes due If the dehnquem rexes are not pa~d m full, or placed ~n an approved
payment arrangement, lawsmts are then f~led Payment arrangements are closely momtored, and
d defaulted, the account is immediately placed ~n l~t~gat~on
Page 44
Taxpayer Assrstance Program
Object,yes
· Provide professional and courteous assistance to all taxpayers
· Provide and manage payment arrangements accordmg to the gmdelines set
forth by our clients
· Provide verbal and written bihngual assistance, when necessary
Our collectton acttvmes, and parttcularly large ma~hngs, generate a huge number of telephone
calls and letters Each call or letter presents an opportunity to solve a concern or answer a
question and thereby cause an account to be paid Ltkew~se, each call or letter creates an
opportumty to dtscredtt our effort d tt ~s not handled properly Thus, we place great emphas~s
on the training and attitude of our front line staffs. In our Denton and North Texas (Dallas)
Regional offices we have 54 members of our staff available to answer taxpayer lnqun'les
Th~s number ts tncreased durtng peak seasons when we handle more than 1,000 taxpayer inquiries
per day Our attorneys are avatlable to answer taxpayer questions and handle special s~tuattons
as they artse
All taxpayers are treated with politeness and professmnal courtesy. Although our collection
su'ategy ts based upon the maxtmum automation that technology will permit, the most advanced
state-of-the-art technology cannot furmsh the dtscretlon, judgment or compassion necessary to
prowde the level of servtce on which BGSM pr~des ~tself Therefore, our approach to deahng
wtth taxpayers' responses to a mathng reflects our keen awareness of their concerns By
notifying all taxpayers, regardless of amounts due, and providing a well-trained staff for
personal interaction, we endeavor to treat all taxpayers equitably Written and verbal
~nformatlon ~s provtded to taxpayers tn both Spamsh and Enghsh
We offer a taxpayer assistance program whereby taxpayers can request payment arrange-
ments allowing them additional time to resolve their delinquent accounts. Our payment
arrangement programs are based on guidelines authorized by our clients
Phone Bank (Incom~n_~ Calls]
During peak periods our phone bank in our North Texas (Dallas) Regional Offtce responds to up
Page 45
to 1,000 calls per day In Denton, we routinely receive between 50 and 100 calls per day in
response to our demand mailings The nature of the incoming calls vary, including ownership
changes, mortgage company problems, bankruptcy, appraisal problems, exemptions and
hardships All incoming calls are handled by a well-trained staff whose attitude is to help
taxpayers meet their financaal responsibilities. Each phone inquiry is documented on a written
taxpayer asslslance form with reformation that includes the name of the person calling, date called,
delinquent taxpayer's name and account number, amount due, nature of the call and response
given to the person calhng We maintain th~s reformation until the account is paid so that we may
quickly respond to future inquiries
Page 46
L~tigat~on Process
Objectives
· Conduct thorough research prior to the fling of each lawsuit
· Conduct a litigation program that lends cred~bihty to the entire dehnquent
tax coflection program
· Target dehnquent accounts for litigatmn that would not get paid unless
they are sued
· Prosecute aH lawsuits fled to judgment and foreclosure, if necessary
· Conduct, if necessary, seizure and sale of business personal property to
recover delinquent taxes
A successful collection effort must have an effectsve lit~gatton component While every
reasonable effort is made to collect a delinquent account without resorting to legal action, ~t often
becomes evident that legal action is the only viable method to collect taxes Our philosophy Is
that an aggressive, Inghly visible legal campaign lends wtal cred~bihty to the collection
process and therefore renders the demand letter and telephone contacts more effective We
choose accounts carefully for suit, emphasizing high dollar/mulnple year accounts
Our task is to educate non-taxpayers to understand that disregarding their tax obligations will
~newtably result in sale of their property and lmposmon of heavy penalties, ~nterest, court costs
and attorneys' fees An effective delinquent tax program makes good taxpayers out of bad
taxpayers, resulting ~n many delinquent taxpayers paying their subsequent year's property taxes
before they become delinquent
Re~ons to File a Lawsuit
In our experience lawsuits are necessary
1 When Alternatives Are Exhausted Our law firm marls several warning letters to, and
often makes personal telephone contact with, delinquent taxpayers These efforts trigger
a clear s~gnal of ~mminent lmgat~on If disregarded, a lawsmt must follow
2 To Establish Credibihty Lawsuits lend credibihty to the entire collecnon program
Page 47
Typically, dehnquent taxpayers are persons who have d~sregarded repeated notices from
the tax office The prosecution of tax lawsuits ~s integral to a successful collection effort
3 Where Perishable Property ts Present Certain business personal property accounts are
~dentffled through research and telephone contact to be on the verge of going out of
bus~ness, thereby putting the clmm at risk Once ~dent~fied, these accounts are
lmmedtately prepared for stat or seizure
4 To Collect H~gh Dollar/Complex Delinquency Very often h~gh-dollar accounts are
complex tn nature If payment cannot be reahzed through demand mailings and personal
contact by a professional collector, a lawsuit is often necessary to attain the ws~blhty and
results necessary
5 For Problem Resolution Occasionally an account Is so complex (e g, unknown heirs)
that the only way to resolve ~t ~s to allow the court to ~ntercede and force a foreclosure sale
for payment of taxes to put the property producuvely back on the tax roll
BGSM recognizes that the mere filing of iawsmts ts not sufficient. Process must be served
and cases must be set and tried to judgment. Judg~nents must be collected by executaon and
sale if necessary.
It ~s very ~mportant that the taxpaymg pubhc not be able to discern a pattern for the fihng of
ht~gat~on Therefore, cases must be selected across the economic and geographic spectrum
However, to optmuze the use of our resources, as well as the resources of the Court, we give
greater weight to lugher dollar amounts as well as accounts with multaple years of
delinquency when pr~or~t~zmg our lawsmt fihng efforts.
Procedures Followed an Preparation and Fdlng of Lawsmts
Our law firm has the capacity to generate by computer as many lawsuits as the local court system
can effectively handle BGSM enjoys an excellent working relationship wnh the District Clerk's
off~ce and prowdes many services m order to expedite lmgauon We prepare the peutlons and
c~tauons ~n accordance w~th the Texas Rules of Court, Texas Property Tax Code and local court
rules
Informatmn Gather~nn
Before personal property lawsmts are fried, mformat~on extracted from the dehnquent tax roll
~s merged with the updated ownership and address data obtained by our collecuon/research staff
Our system is such that hterally hundreds of personal property lawsuits can be prepared wnh~n a
Page 48
matter of days
Before the filing of real property lawsuits, every account is abstracted for title verification We
then merge the title information, together with the last known address of the defendant, with
accounts receivable information extracted from the delinquent tax roll Unlike other law firms
that file lawsuits "off the tax roll" without performing title research prior to Issuing citat~ons, our
law stats are well researched m order that they can be prosecuted as expeditiously as possible
¥orification Procedures
Before fihng, all legal documents are approved by our attorneys and subjected to stringent
verification procedures All defendant data are rechecked and accounts are once again checked
for payment This procedure chromates any blind filing errors The lawsuits are then assembled
into suit packets that contain a copy of the petition and citation for each defendant and a file copy
of each document
The lawsuit documents are hand-dehvered to the District Clerk's office after assembly and
verification is complete In accordance with each chent's preference, copies of the lawsuit l,sts
are delivered to the client's tax office
We utilize local sheriffs' and constable's offices and, when necessary, private process servers or
certified mall to obtain service on the defendants m our lawsuits It has been our experience that
fifty percent (50%) of the accounts are paid when the defendants are served, therefore, we place
great emphasis on quick, effective service In certified mall cases, our law firm provides the
district clerk's office with pre-addressed envelopes to assist the clerk's staff In marling the citauon
as soon as possible and to ease the workload As allowed by law, the costs for service of cltauons
are borne by delinquent taxpayers and included in the court costs assocmted with the flhng of the
lawsuit Our clients bear no additional costs related to the service of c~tat~ons for dehnquent
tax lawsuits.
T~melv Prosecutmn of Lawsuits
Every lawsuit we file m Dlstrmt Court is prosecuted as quickly as logistics permit We have an
effective, proven system for service of process and contmmng review of pending files for service
on all defendants Once service of process is obtained on all defendants in a particular case, we
immediately set the lawsuit for trial
Page 49
Collection of Jud_mnents by Execution and Sale
At t~mes ~t becomes necessary to reduce a judgment to sale This is an integral part of our
program Thirty (30) days from the date of judgment, real estate judgments have an order of sale
issued and the property ts then put up for sale wtthm the legally prescribed time hmlts Again,
thts is the normal procedure tn obtammg payment on an unpatd judgment, which ~s coordinated
at vartous intervals with our chents so they can exercise appropriate dlscreUon
With our client's approval, wins of execuuon can be utthzed to collect personal property taxes
In personal property lawsmts, tf the taxpayer is snll available and has property that can be levted
upon for payment of hts taxes, a writ of executton ts tssued for such property to be taken and later
sold, stmflar to the tax warrant process described on the followmg page Often, obtatmng the writ
of execuuon and appearance of law enforcement officers at the taxpayer's place of bustness w~ll
result tn payment
Page 50
~eizure of Delina_uent Business Personal Property Accounts
In addition to sale under execution, the Texas Property Tax Code provides for summary seizure
and sale of business personal property under the authority of a tax warrant No suit or judgment
is necessary Because of the perishable nature of personal property taxes, BGSM has found it
effective to use tax warrants and conduct seizures on a llmtted basis
Due to the rather drastic and summary nature of the seizure remedy, we hm~t this remedy to a
relanvely small number of well-researched and documented accounts Before property Is seized,
special nonhcauon warning letters stating our "intent to seize" are mailed to all accounts and
physical surveillance is conducted In addition, telephone collectors attempt collection and
determine that the property subJeCt to setzure still exists Each year BGSM targets hundreds of
seizure candidates, yet very few tax warrants result ~n the actual seizure of property
We feel that we are umquely qualified to advise the taxing enutles regarding the legahty of seizure
and sale BGSM has twice successfully litigated the const~tutlonahty of this remedy before the
Supreme Court of Texas m the cases of Shaw v Phtlhps Crane & Rigging, et al, 636 S W 2d
186 (Tex 1982) and QuernerTruckLmes, Inc v State, etal, 652 S W 2d 367 (Tex 1983) The
judgment of the Supreme Court of Texas m the Phtlhps case was appealed to the Supreme Court
of the United States Upon Motion to Dismiss or Affirm filed by BGSM, the Supreme Court of
the Umted States dismissed the appeal for want of a substant,al federal quesnon
Page 51
Bankruptcy
Complete representation in bankruptcy matters is provided to our clients as part of our basic legal
services
Objectives
· Momtor bankrupt accounts
· File proof of clatma
· File claims for payment of post-petition taxes as administrative
expenses
· Represent our clients at creditorst meetings
· Prepare and file all necessary legal docmnents
The number of bankruptcy cases filed in Texas exploded in the mid~1980's due to the downturn
~n the energy and real estate sectors of the State's economy Although the economy has stabd~zed,
a high number of bankruptcies continue to be filed each year The bankruptcy cases filed today
tend to be more comphcated and lmg~ous, and debtors are increasingly targeting ad valorem taxes
for reduction or disallowance
Once bankruptcy is filed, ordinary collection techmques cannot be used Federal law prohthits
any attempt by creditors to collect from a bankrupt debtor by means other than those specifically
provided for ~n the Bankruptcy Code S~nce a large portion of many junsd~cnons' dehnquent tax
rolls have been placed under the jurlsdmt~on of the Umted States Bankruptcy Courts, BGSM
devotes slgmficant resources to assuring that the proper procedures are followed to maximize our
clients' collecnons from bankrupt debtors
The vast majority of the bankruptcy cases whmh involve our clients' accounts are filed in the
Eastern D~stnct of Texas ~n the Piano D~ms~on or ~n Sherman, Dallas, Fort Worth or Houston
BGSM has bankruptcy attorneys su'ategteally located ~n offices across the state to ensure a prompt
response to any developments m cases in these courts BGSM is also currently representing its
chents ~n bankruptcies ~n almost every state, from New York and Florida to Arizona and Oregon
BGSM's Metroplex Bankruptcy Department includes a full-time attorney, a bankruptcy
coordinator, three bankruptcy assistants, and a full-nme bankruptcy clerk The primary
Page 52
responslblhty of thts department ~s to oversee the collection of dehnquent tax accounts ~n
bankruptcy, but they also act to protect current year taxes of our clients when necessary The
Bankruptcy Department researches dehnquent accounts to determine the amounts owed, f~les
proofs of claim, momtors case progress, oversees the dtstr~but~on of funds from debtors and
trustees to our chents, rewews pleadings, and flies whatever motions or pleadings are necessary
to protect our chents' r~ghts The Bankruptcy Department ut~hzes a soph~sticated computer,zed
bankruptcy tracking system which enables it to provide the maximum service to BGSM's chents
In all bankruptcy cases the f~rst step is the ~dentd~catlon of the bankrupt entity BGSM uses a
variety of resources to ldenufy the debtor and accounts in bankruptcy, such as
· Notices and pleadings received from the debtor or the court,
· Phone contacts made by our collections staff,
· Newspaper articles,
· Information found m our pending state court lawsuits,
· Responses to our massive mmhngs
· Subscriptions to bankruptcy reports, and
· Contacts ~n the bankruptcy legal commumty
Once the debtor and accounts are properly ldent~fied, a proof of claim ~s promptly filed Chapter
7 hquldat~on proceedings are then momtored for passage of assets subject to our hens to a non-
bankrupt entity and for the personal dtscharge of the debtor When e~ther of these events occur,
BGSM proceeds to collect the dehnquent taxes ~n rem, based on the hen on the property which
was e~ther exempt from the bankruptcy or which is no longer part of the estate being administered
by the Trustee Chapter 13 individual reorganization cases are monitored to ensure that the plan
of reorgamzat~on (1) properly classifies the tax claim, (2) provides for the payment of the secured
claim amount w~th ~nterest, and (3) does not affect the later enforceability of the tax hen(s)
Chapter 11 business reorgamzatlons are closely monitored to protect our chents' rtghts and
remedies BGSM actively paroc~pates ~n the plan approval process to make sure the plan provides
for the highest recovery possible under the Bankruptcy Code
Although many law firms follow a defensive strategy ~n collecting through the bankruptcy process,
BGSM's policy ~s to be proactive As part of this pohcy, the payment of pre-pet~uon taxes under
a plan of reorgamzat~on and the d~rect payment of post-petition taxes are monitored so that proper
collection activity can be ~nst~tuted upon default When necessary, BGSM objects to
reorgamzat~on plans which do not meet its standards, fries appropriate motions to allow
foreclosures to proceed during the bankruptcy, attends creditors' meeungs and questions the debtor
about the accounts owed, and appears at hearings which m~ght affect our clients' ablhty to be pa~d
the full amount owed In addition, BGSM defends against objections to our chents' clmms and
attempts to reduce the amount of taxes owed
BGSM's representation of taxing umts m bankruptcy courts throughout the country has resulted
Page 53
~n the development of highly skilled attorneys and support staff ~n th~s field This experience has
been d~ssemmated throughout the other departments of the law firm through written guidelines,
workshops,and seminars BGSM has held several bankruptcy seminars for our chents so that all
systems and procedures can be fully integrated The expertise of BGSM's bankruptcy attorneys
~s recognized throughout the state and our attorneys are often featured as speakers at bankruptcy
and tax seminars
Federal Agency Collections
The nationwide collapse of the banktng and savings and loan ~ndustr~es has presented new
obstacles to the collection of dehnquent tax accounts over the past few years As fa~led
institutions were taken over by the federal government, the agencies charged w~th the task of
hquldatmg their assets have become major henholders and landowners ~n North Texas BGSM
has been at the forefront In f~ghting the efforts of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) to avoid ~ts hab~hty for ad valorem taxes Our law firm has developed comprehensive
collection strategies, based m part upon our bankruptcy experience, whereby we have been able
to recover taxes, penalties and ~nterest that may have otherwise gone uncollected
In the early 1990's BGSM's focus was on defending its chents' ~nterests in htlgat~on such as Irvlng
1SD v PackardPropentes In September 1992 the Umted States Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit ruled m our favor ~n th~s case and held that the FDIC cannot ext~nguish tax hens, including
penalties and ~nterest, that attached prior to the FDIC's actual ownership of real property BGSM
also prevatled agmnst the FDIC's attempt to halt foreclosures on property where the government
Is merely a henholder
Currently, BGSM works through the federal agencies and t~tle compames to insure that all taxes,
penalties and interest are paid as soon as possible BGSM has established an admimstrative claims
process that has been successful in collecting payments on behalf of failed institutions from the
government Additionally, although federal law proh~bits the sale of government owned property,
BGSM works with the federal agencies and keeps them aware of the tax hens and the fact that the
sale or other transfer of the property w~ll be d~fflcult without clear t~tle, i e , the taxes, penalties
and interest are pa~d in full prior to the transfer
BGSM has been recogmzed as the leader m the field of federal agency collections We
regularly sponsor seminars on federal agency collection strategies, and our attorneys are often
speakers on this topic at non-firm sponsored tax seminars Because of our experttse m th~s
specialized area of collections, and the substantmi contacts we have established witlun the
federal agencies, BGSM's clients benefit by a greater and earlier recovery of revenues.
Page 54
Public Service Information
BGSM has found that coorthnatlng collecuon acuvmes with local med~a coverage can have a very
beneficial impact on collections Metha coverage ns designed to reform property owners of
collecuon efforts and deter delinquency If our client desires, and with thew approval, BGSM
will prepare press releases and/or press conferences to announce our annual madmg and
hUgatlon efforts This can be done on a regular bas~s, 1 e, on the first ma~hng, imual suit fihngs,
seizure operations, etc, or on selected occasions such as winning a major lawsmt
Miscellaneous Revenue Coliectaons
BGSM will assist the City, as requested, m the legal collecUon of other dehnquent revenue
accounts To meet our clients' needs, we have adapted our tax collecuon systems to collect other
dehnquent receivables, including paving, weed, demohtion and secured closure liens To create
a successful m~scellaneous receivable collect:on effort, we design programs umque to the needs
of each client for the collection of these accounts These efforts generally occur on a hm~ted, and
as needed bas~s We will be happy to explore with the City how we can provide add~uonal
collect:on services
Ancillary Legal Services
BGSM represents our clients ~n lawsuits arising from collection acuv~ues, lncludtng the collection
of taxes through lawsuits filed by pubhc entities in the acquisition of property pursuant to the
Property Tax Code for public purpose use We represent taxing entities in all levels, trial and
appellate, m state and federal courts
We maintain an Ausun office wMch facd~tates advising our chents on property tax law and
practice emanating from acts of the Legislature, opinions of the courts, op~mons of the Attorney
General, and ~nterpretat~ons of property tax law promulgated by various state agencies including
the State Comptroller's office (Property Tax Division)
Page 55
Management Information Reporting and Coordination
Management reporting is another key to effective client coordination and collection success We
provide our clients with reports concerning collection results, workload and status of accounts
Management of our mult~-faceted services requires reliable control of Information and accurate
reporting Because of our computer capablhty, we can provide ~nformat~on that serves as a
valuable tool in budgeting and revenue forecasting Reports can be generated which can be used
for the following purposes
· To provide a profile of the dehnquent tax roll (by property type, dollar range, years of
dehnquency and frequency of delinquency),
· To track collection progress,
· To track lawsmts and the litigation process,
· To track bankruptcy, and
· To hlghhght problem areas requiring special work programs (e g, bad address,
appraisal problems)
Upon request, our staff wxll provide annual revenue estimates to the City of Denton as part of the
City's budget process We will also assist ~n providing tax related Information should the City
of Denton be involved ~n a bond rating review process
In addition, BGSM will provide the City w~th quarterly performance reports wluch could
be submitted to the City Council for review. If desired, we will appear before our C~ty Council
to discuss our collection efforts and address any questions they may have
Page 56
VII. Data Processing Capab~hties (RFP Selection Criterion 1 c)
Our law firm has ptoneered the appheatlon of h~gh technology to the dehnquent tax collection
process since entering the field in 1980 From our beglnmng, representation of the largest taxing
jur~sdictions in Texas has caused us to invest milhous of dollars to develop the very latest,
state-of-the-art data processing and eonnnunieation technology for the speclahzed purpose of
collecting taxes, both dehnquent and current Th~s technology has enabled our law firm to
develop software apphcat~ons that meet the changing needs of our chents for both tax and
miscellaneous collection support
Recognizing our clients' growing needs for advanced software appheatlon, we organized
Umted Governmental Serwces of America, Inc. (UGSA), a computer service company which
~s wholly owned by our law firm Taxing jurisdictions of all s~zes throughout Texas have
benefited from the technology that we have developed These capabflmes are described m much
greater detail below Also included m thts section ~s an ~tem~zat~on of our hardware and software
resources
Each year UGSA processes over 2,000,000 dehnquent tax accounts for our chents throughout
Texas We marl approximately 1,500,000 demand letters annually m addmon to preparing more
than 30,000 lawsmts BGSM's Dallas Office is equipped to handle m excess of 1,000 taxpayer
mqutnes per day during peak per~ods Our data processing staff designs and creates specmhzed
reports and hsungs that aid our staff ~n Denton and Dallas m thetr collection, research and
lmgauon efforts
We determined early ~n our practice that delinquent tax collection ~s a h~ghly specialized area of
data processing However, extensive research revealed that ex,sung software fa~led to meet our
chents' reqmrements for a h~gh volume collection effort Consequently. from our reception, we
have employed our own systems designers and computer programmers to develop spectahzed
apphcauons of the latest technology for the specific needs of our law firm and our chents The
result has been the development of DELTAX and CATS, copyrighted software systems specially
designed to support all aspects of the dehnquent tax collection and Imgatlon programs Most
recently, the staff has developed and installed BATS, a statewlde bankruptcy tracking system
As we service our chents throughout the state, we are continuously developing, testing,
applying and perfecting our system methods. As new procedures are developed, every chent
benefits from these new developments and ~deas
Data Processing Approach
The design of our dehnquent tax collection support software ~s predicated on the belief that the
ultimate repository of all tax information is, and should be, the tax records of the taxing
Page 57
jurtsdict~on Therefore, no attempt is made within our system to parallel the dynamic files
maintained by our client's tax office Rather, our system ~s based upon receipt of periodic,
preferably monthly, copies of the Tax Office files reflecting outstanding dehnquency During
periods of more intense delinquent collection act~wty revolving high taxpayer contact, more
frequem copies of the dehnquency files may be requested to allow our customer service staff and
legal asststants to have more timely records of payments and adjustments to the files This access
provides the most t~mely mformat~on on a tax account for purposes of customer service mqutrles,
htlgat~on research or other direct contact with taxpayers
Our system retains a complete lustory of all collection aetlwt~es related to each dehnquent
account. Th~s history system includes the tracking of address changes, increases or decreases in
base tax owed, taxpayer inquiries received by our office, the date and type of each malhng, as
well as codes to indicate If a letter was returned undehvered If a jurisdiction has a requirement
for special types of h~story information, such as property value or telephone contact, our system
can easily be adapted to those reqmrements
Delinquent Tax Collection Support Systems
UGSA uses DELTAX, a software developed and refined by our own staff through years of actual
use to support all aspects of the delinquent tax collection system The software has been
opt~mtzed to take advantage of the best features of computer systems ranging from large
mainframes to desktop micro-computers This d~verse eombmatmn of hardware and software
allows us to combine efficiency with personalized taxpayer service
The computer technology interfaces with all facets of the collection program including taxpayer
assistance, telephone collection, bad address and ownershtp research, lawsuit generation and
management reporting Based on the workplans for each client, the following products are
generated
· Regular Mathngs - high volume personahzed mmhngs accompamed by detailed tax
statements, used for all accounts subject to mass ma~hng acuwty,
· Special Mathngs - highly personalized low volume maihngs usually consisting of 200 or
fewer letters to taxpayers falling within selection criteria targeted ~n the workplan,
· Lawsutts- tax database and automated t~tle report information merged to produce laser
generated petitions, citations and automated updates to the lawsu:t tracking system,
· SpectaltzedLtstmgs - reports detading the status of various portions of the dehnquent roll
such as bad address accounts, returned mall, accounts available for lawsuit, accounts
Page 58
available for malhng, hardship accounts and other subsets of the roll,
Management Repons - analytical reports of tax roll Information that enable our law firm
to design a workplan that maxlm~es collecuon efficiencies The reports may also be used
to forecast collections for budgetary purposes
Automated Case Tracking System
To more effectively process lawsmts through the court system, our law firm has developed a
sophisticated on-hne Case Tracking System (CATS) designed for the specific use of our law firm's
attorneys, paralegals and ht~gat~on assistants CATS ~s an on-hne computer tracking system
designed to track the movement of cases in the courts and generate legal documents This system
gives the htlgaUon staff the ablhty to require ~nto and update all lnformanon regarding defendants,
pla~nnffs, tax amounts, legal descriptions, account numbers and the general hngatlon status of
each lawsmt Th~s state-of-the-art system provides BGSM w~th the ability to determine needed
acuons to prosecute each lawsuit to final d~spos~Uon
Automated Bankruptcy Tracking System
The Bankruptcy Tracking System ~s an on-hne bankruptcy tracking and document generation
system The system's centralized file design allows for the consolidation of multiple chent and
account cases into one bankruptcy case entry Th~s permits BGSM to track, analyze and prepare
documents for all pending bankruptcies and chant accounts on a statewlde basis
Data Processing Hardware Resources
Th~s section of our proposal itemizes our data processing hardware and related resources
IBM 9377 Model 90 Mainframe
1 - IBM 9377/90 Il Mainframe with 16 Megabytes of Mare Memory and 16
Megabytes V~rtual Memory Storage
4 - IBM 3480 Tape Cartridge Drives
4 - STC 4500 Series Dual Density Tape Drives, 1600/6250 BPI
8 - IBM 3380 Disk Drives
1 - STC 1800 LPM Pnnter
1 - XEROX 4050 Laser Pnnter capable of prmung 50 pages per minute
Page 59
Operating Systems
DOS MVT/VSE
Languages
CICS 1 5 COBOL 74
ASSEMBLER DYL-280
VSAM
The IBM 9377 Mainframe operates DELTAX, CATS and BATS to process delinquent tax lnfor-
mauon for each client we represent on more than one million dehnquent accounts statew~de Our
North Texas (Dallas) Regional Office has on-hne access to the system through h~gh-speed data
lines We currently have 75 terminals statewlde that access the system s~multaneously on a daily
bas~s, while the system can accommodate up to 300 terminal users at one time
The system allows our law firm to merge account information from different taxing ent~tles within
a regional area (~ e, county) Th~s enables us to provide the taxpayer with a total balance of taxes
owed to all taxing entrees and the total amount owed by a single taxpayer w~th multiple properties
(~ e, real estate developer) The system is also helpful in researching bad addresses by comparing
addresses of various taxing junsd~cuons within one county
Hewlett Packard
UGSA has developed and operates the Tax Office Collection and Management System used with
the Hewlett Packard equipment described ~n this section The Hewlett Packard Systems are
accessed by h~gh-speed telephone lines from tax offices across the state who utilize the system
Both HP Series computers can collectively process more than one mtlhon accounts
Th~s configuration Is currently used by the City of Harhngen Tax Office, Harhngen CISD and Los
Fresnos ISD for remote processing of tax mformat~on The system can be configured to
accommodate 64 terminal users s~multaneously on a daily basis
HP3000 Series 68 consisting of:
16 MegaBytes of Main Memory
2 - General 1/O Channel, allowing up to 6 external dewce each 0 e d~sk
dr~ves, tape drives, printers)
1 - ATP System Interface Board
2 - ATP Direct Connect Port Controller, supporting up to 30 terminals each
10 - 7937 571MB disc drives
Page 60
1 - 1600/6250 Characters Per Inch Tape Drive
1 - 1600 Characters Per Inch Tape Drive
1 - 600 Lines Per Minute Printer
2 - Remote Printers
2 - Penni VCX Intelhgent Networking Multiplexors
4 - Black Box Multiplexors
4 - Black Box 9600 Modems
HP3000 Series 935/XL consisting of:
100 MegaBytes of Mare Memory
3 - HPIB I/O Channel, allows up to 6 external dewces
1 - Ethernet System Interface Board
2 - 7937 571MB D~sc Drives
2 - HP6000 1 34FL 1351MB D~sc Drives
3 - HP 16MX DTC allowing up to 16 users on each
1 - F~ber L~nk interface
1 - 300 Lines Per M~nute Pnnter
Novell Network System consisting of:
Server:
486-66Mhz PC
1 G~gabyte of Hard Drive Space
SCSI-II Controller
Arcnet Network Interface Card
Novell 2 22 Network Operating System
Workstations:
Include 386, 486 & Pentmm CPU's
M~mmum 2MB of RAM, maximum 16MB
Hard Drive space ranges from 100MB to 800MB
Dual floppy drives, h~gh density
101 Enhanced AT Keyboards
Super VGA Non-lnterlaced Momtors
Arcnet Network Interface Cards
120 & 250MB Tape Drives
M~crosoft DOS 6 22
Some PC's include M~erosoft W~ndows for Workgroups 3 11
· M~crosoft Ergonomic Mouse
Page 61
This Local Area Network was used to implement the UGSA Tax Collection System operating on
both the Dallas County and the City of Dallas mainframe IBM compatible computer UGSA has
developed and installed software to replace both the Dallas County and the City of Dallas tax
collection software
North Texa~ Regional Office Support Equipment
Personal Computers:
Include 386, 486 & Pentlum CPU's
Minimum 2MB of RAM, maximum 16MB
Hard Drive space ranges from 100MB to 800MB
Dual floppy drives, high density
101 Enhanced AT Keyboards
Super VGA Non-Interlaced Monitors
120 & 250MB Tape Drives
Microsoft DOS 6 22
Some PC's include Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3 11 or Windows 95
· Microsoft Ergonomic Mouse
· Fax and Remote Access Capabiht~es
Some PC's ~nclude full mult~-media, exceeding MPC standards · double & quadruple speed CD-ROM's
· 16 bit sound cards, 44 1 Khz sampling rate
· stereo speakers
Prmters:
Hewlett Packard LaserJet Series ll's
Hewlett Packard LaserJet Series III's
Hewlett Packard LaserJet Series IV's
Hewlett Packard Color Printer 560C
Memorex/Telex 5038 Departmental Printer
Terminals:
ADDS 3220 Terminals
ITT Courier Terminals
Graphics Equipment
1 - Perq P2 Workstation with Cipher Tape Drive that runs the lntran Metaform
Graphics software The Intran Metaform system has four ~nteractive components
Page 62
1) Graphic Builder - Allows the user to design and edit graphic ~mages,
signatures, and logos on the screen
2) Font Bmlder - Enables the user to create new fonts by moddylng fonts that
have been brought in the system from a laser printer or other med~a
3) Form Builder - Allows the user to design, edit and modify mdlwdual forms
on the screen
4) F;le Manager - Flexible database management system that lets you control
how all the pieces of your system integrate w~th each other It also allows
the user to receive and transfer files from other media devices
Page 63
VIII. Eq~m! Employment Opportunity and Amo-onve Action
(RFP Selection Criterion 1 k)
Blair, Goggan, Sampson & Meeks ~s an Equal Opportumty Employer The law firm has always
comphed with not only the letter but the spirit of the law regarding the C~wl R~ghts Act of 1964,
and related equal employment opportunity leg:slatlon DeMetr~s A Sampson, a partner m the law
firm, serves as BGSM's AffirmaUve Action Liaison Officer for our North Texas Regional Office
Our firm demonstrates strong support for minority and women bus~ness enterprises, as well as to
our commitment to prowdmg ownership and career opportunmes for minorities and women w~thm
our firm BGSM's Affirmative Action Program and Minority/Women Business Enterprtse
(M/WBE) Expenditure Plan includes minority and female participation m the following ways
· Partnership/Ownership Interest: Ms DeMetns A Sampson Is an African-
American female who has been a partner ~n the law firm since February 1989
· Employment of Minorities and Women Withm BGSM: Our firm employs a high
percentage of minorities and women, ~ncludlng the ranks of attorney, managerial
and professional staff
Total Minority 66%
African American 67 %
H~spamc 27 %
Other Ethnic M~norltles 6%
Anglo 34 %
Female 76 %
Male 24 %
Attorney. Managerial and Supervmorv Staff~
Minority 27 %
Anglo 73 %
Female 67 %
Male 33 %
Page 64
· Minority Law Clerkship Progrmn: In addition to providing career opportunities
through permanent employment, we have also provided a Minority Law Clerkship
Program each summer since 1987
· Subcontractors: Our Dallas office contracts with minority and women-owned firms
for legal assistance, process service and abstract and title research 100% of all work
subcontracted has been with minority or female businesses
· Vendors and Supphers: Our t~trm's pohcy is to give preference to M/WBE companies
M/W'BE have provided the following goods or services office supplies, bulk purchase
of envelopes, engraved stationery and printing, computer services and equipment,
travel needs, temporary labor, refreshment supplies, florists, catering and media
relations
During the 1995-1996 f'tscal year, our Dallas office expended over $1.8 mdhon w~th nunor~t~es
and women Our commitment to Affirmative Action and the inclusion of minorities and women
In all aspects of our contract is unparalleled by any other delinquent tax collection law firm
Page 65
IX. Suggested Performance Criteria
Because an effective dehnquent tax collection program is comprised of a comprehensive set of
serwces, we recommend that numerous cnterm should be utilized by the C~ty of Denton m
evaluating the success of a contract However, revenue production ~s the reason the contract crests
and therefore, should be the key element of consideration
tn response to the RFP's request for suggested performance criteria, we have detailed a number
of items which the C~ty of Denton can quantff~ably measure the success of the contract These
Include
· Revenue producuon
· Quahty and success of the lmgat~on program
· Scope of services prowded
· Degree of account resolution
· Degree of law firm's responsiveness to taxpayer concerns
· Quahty of the data processing capabfl~ties and support provided
· Quahty and extent of overall staffing and assistance to the C~ty of Denton
· Quahty of management reporting
The most important criterion for the City Denton to utilize m evaluation of the success of the
contract is revenue production. Thrs ~s the primary goal of the contract and can be measured
by the C~ty on a monthly and annual bas~s A proven and predictable track record rs critical
as both a selection criteria and performance measure.
The overall qnolity and success of the law firm's litigation program can be measured through
reporting techmques The quahty of the lawsmt preparation, the umehness by which the cases
are handled and the drspos~t~on are all ~mportant performance criteria
The scope of services prowded ~s indicative of the success of the program A comprehensive set
of legal, collection, research and support services should result ~n a greater amount of revenue
A workplan should be continually momtored and updated based on collection results and
~nformat~on prowded ~n management reports Addmonal performance criteria related to scope
of services include the amount of generahzed and targeted mailings to dehnquent accounts, the
amount of successful telephone collection calls made, the success of the ht~gatlon conducted and
the support services prowded to the C~ty
Page 66
The extent to which problem accounts are resolved, and the law f~rm's efforts result in
~mproved collect~bll~ty of a tax roll, is an ~mportant performance criteria The results of various
research efforts ~nvolwng bad addresses, lawsmt service and unloeatable taxpayers can be
measured
The degree of a law f'n~n's responsiveness to taxpayer concerns can be measured by the quahty
and t~mehness of the law firm's correspondence sent m response to taxpayer inquiries, by
measuring the volume of taxpayer complaints and resoluuon of these problems and by observing
the staff assigned to th~s project It goes w~thout question that the staff must conduct bus~ness w~th
taxpayers on behalf of the C~ty ~n a professional, fair and equitable fashion
The data processing support that the law f~rm makes avadable to the C~ty ~s another ~mportant
performance criteria It ~s cr~t~cal that the law f~rm's technology be state-of-the-art, the hardware
adequate to handle large quantities of data rapidly and the programming staff knowledgeable
The staff'mg that the law f~rm dedicates to the project ~s an ~mportant performance criteria The
quahty and experience of the staff assigned to th~s project are both ~mportant determinants The
extent to which the project team is responsive and ~s capable of serwng as an extension of the C~ty
staff is wtal to the success of the program The City can measure the extent of d~rect and lnd~rect
assistance ~t receives from the law f~rm and quantdy the amount of C~ty staff t~me that can be
redirected to other projects
The quahty and t~melmess of the management reportmg ~s ~mportant Reports that detail
collection results, workload statistics, status of accounts and lmgatJon tracking are helpful to the
monltor~ng of a collection program and serve as valuable tools m revenue forecasting and
measuring the success of the law f~rm's performance
Page 67
X. D~v~sion of Responsibilities
We have attempted throughout our proposal to describe our law fnrm, staff, data processnng
expertise and the scope of servnces we employ to collect delnnquent taxes for the Cnty of Denton
The purpose of thns section ns to recap the ponnts hsted m the Cnty of Denton's Request for
Proposals under "The Law F:rm Wnll" and "The C~ty of Denton Wnll"
l~esponsibilities of the Law Finn
BGSM and Mtke Gregory affirm their willingness to provnde the following servnces and functnons
as stated m the RFP
1 Recenve and revnew the delnnquent tax rolls
2 Substitute as attorney of record on all exnstmg tax sunts and interventions, pay all court costs
and fd~ng fees related thereto
3 Perform all research and paperwork necessary to provnde taxpayers and Cnty Tax Collector
wnth correct or corrected reformation to update the Cnty f~les, mcludnng forwarding
addresses as located
4 Submnt monthly reports regarding sunts fnled on accounts and provnde C~ty Tax Collector
wnth duplncate letters sent to taxpayers
5 Provnde a quarterly report to Cnty staff m sufficient form that it could be submntted to the
C~ty Councd for rewew Provnde monthly reports on pending sunts, judgments and
foreclosures
6 Fde sunts on delinquent taxpayers that do not respond ~n accordance wnth the demand of and
dnrectnons provnded by the Cnty of Denton
7 Intervene m delinquent tax sunts fnled by Denton County and Denton Independent School
Dnstr~ct, if applncable, pursuant to Sectnon 33 44, Property Tax Code
8 F~rm shall be responsible for fnlmg of delinquent tax claims nn bankruptcy proceedings,
mcl~ldlng claims and actnons required to be flied wnth Federal agencnes such as FDIC, and
consult w~th C~ty of Denton Cnty attorney's off~ce on such matters
9 F~le sunts for collection of delnnquent taxes pursuant to Sections 33 41 and 33 42, Property
Tax Code, or fnle sunts of jud~cnal foreclosure of tax hens
10 Follow through on all su~ts and provnde reports to the Cnty of Denton
11 Provnde the Cnty recommendatnons, for qualnfled nnd~vnduals, pursuant to Sectnon 33 02,
Property Tax Code, regardnng the advnsab~lnty of an installment agreement benng entered
~nto between Cnty and taxpayer
12 Provnde legal support and research as needed
a Prowde recommendatnons to not pursue a case nfa case ns legally barred, ns weak, or
the lnkelthood of collecUon low or unhkely
b Provnde Cnty of Denton's Assessor/Collector wnth legal advnce and wrntten opnnlons
upon request
13 Only collect those groups or nndnvldual accounts which the Cnty of Denton determines mnts
Page 68
discretion are to be collected by firm
14 Prowde all supplies and postage necessary to handle bflhng and necessary mailings
15 Obtain appropriate t~tle research and relevant ownership records of all property upon which
a su~t ;s to be flied, at firm's expense
16 Prowde total and complete dehnquent tax collection, ~ncluding court filing fees and all other
costs, pursuant to Sections 33 48 and 33 07, Property Tax Code, and will mdemmfy and
hold the C~ty harmless ~n any suits or habihty that may result from the firm's delinquent tax
collectton act~wt~es
17 Propose a method of assuring that the amount of dehnquent taxes collected by the Law Firm
will be at least eqmvalent to the amount projected to be collected by ~n-house staff for each
fiscal year of the firm's engagement (See method of assurance at end of this section )
18 Propose a method of payment
19 Be entitled to fees on amounts actually collected while this contract ~s m effect, pursuant to
Section 33 07 of Property Tax Code
20 Prowde information concerning minority involvement regarding the work to be performed
by your firm pursuant to th~s engagement Indicate the ethmc makeup and the gender of
your staff, both at present and projected, ~f not fully staffed Also md~cate if you would
consider sub-contracting parts of this contract to minority contractors and, ff so, please
describe your plan to do so Also ~nd~cate your compliance w~th EEOC regulations and
gmdehnes
21 Coordinate the fihng of all tax stats with the C~ty Attorney and all tax collection efforts w~th
the City of Denton Tax Department
22 Prowde for orderly dehvery of all copies of all complete tax files to be turned over to the
C~ty Attorney when the contract is terminated
23 Make recommendations to Tax Department on accounts to be collected (l e mobile homes,
a~rcraft and bus~ness personal property) by summary seizure (Tax Warrants) and perform
all legal work necessary to reduce those accounts to payment of taxes pursuant to Secuons
33 21, 33 22 and 33 23, Property Tax Code
24 Mamtam collection rate of s~xty (60 %) percent of delinquent tax base, with penalty clause
~nmated on the firm should the collection rate fail to reach 60%
25 Prowde concentrated effort toward the collecOon, w~th~n the statute of hmltatlon period, of
delinquent mobile home and business personal property accounts
26 Upon request by the C~ty, undertake the collection of delinquent accounts for special paving
assessment liens, substandard housing demohtlon liens, and privileged (mowing) liens
27 Upon reasonable request, represent the C~ty m the acquisition of property pursuant to the
Property Tax Code for pubhc purpose use
28 The firm should be wflhng to enter into a three year contract with the C~ty with two
addmonal one year optional extension periods being provided for
Page 69
Res_nonsibihtleS of the City of Denton
BGSM and Mike Gregory accept that the City will perform the following functions
1 Provide a roll of dehnquent accounts to be collected
2 Prowde for updated ~nformat~on (i e adjustments, payments, errors, double assessments,
or other discrepancies) on dehnquent accounts to be forwarded to the law f~rm
3 Be able to terminate contract for any reason, with or without cause, upon thirty (30) days'
written not,ce to the f~rm
4 Pay the law f~rm fdteen (15 %) percent of the amount of all dehnquent taxes (pursuant to
Section 33 07, Property Tax Code), penalty and interest actually collected an paid to the
collector of taxes during the term of this contract The collector shall pay said funds to the
f~rm monthly by check
5 Notdy the law f~rm of any taxpayer that has filed bankruptcy, when the City has been
notified of such
6 The City will allow f~rm an additional SlX (6) months to reduce to judgment all suits filed
prior to the expiration of the contract
7 Prepare and mall tax statements at least thirty (30) days [no more than sixty [60] days] prior
to dehnquency date, giving notice to the delinquent taxpayers of the potential add-on cost
of collection
l~erfonnance Commitment (RFP Selection Criterion 1 1)
Based on our law f~rm's proven experience from 1986 to 1993 m collecting dehnquent taxes for
the City of Denton, and our recent representation of Denton ISD, we are in a umque posmon to
make collection projections We commit that our collections will total at least 60 % of the total
amount of base tax of current year dehnquency that exists on July 1 (the new "turnover" roll) by
the end of the twelve month period begmmng July 1 and ending June 30 We will maintain this
performance standard during each year of the contract
If we do not meet this commitment, we wdl supply the City $4,000 worth of legal services,
programming and computer services or a cash payment, according to the City's preference If the
City should revise its criteria at any time during the selection process, we would welcome the
opportunity to negotiate any additional destred services or enhancements with the City
BGSM pledges to exercise good faith and due dlhgence in the collection of delinquent taxes for
the City of Denton and m our efforts to meet this performance goal It should be recognized that
the law f~rm should not be penahzed d adverse economic conditions or other factors beyond its
control cause a material reduction in the collection percentage
Page 70
XI. Attorneys Fees
We propose to collect dehnquent taxes for the City of Denton for a fee m the amount of fifteen
percent (15 %) of the amount of taxes, penalty and interest actually collected (Secuons 6 30, 33 07
and 33 48, Texas Property Tax Code) No fee w~ll be payable until the dehnquent tax money is
collected and in the C~ty's treasury Our fee would be payable on a monthly bas~s
This is a standard arrangement throughout the state and was previously promulgated by the State
Property Tax Board At no addmonal cost we will prowde legal representation m connecuon w~th
all phases of collection activity as descrthed previously
It is the considered legal op~mon of BGSM that contracts and compensation for private attorneys
m the collection of dehnquent taxes are strictly governed by Texas Property Tax Code Secuons
6 30 and 33 07 It has been consistently held by the Courts of Texas and Office of the Attorney
General of Texas that t~xlrlg Ul~lB have no authority to h~re or compensate attorneys except by that
authority expressly conferred by statute
Page 71
Appendix B
Sample Demand Letters
AMOUNT DUE:
JURISDICTIONS:
DENTON I. S. D.
DENTON C E.D.
Dear Denton Independent School District Taxpayer:
Our law firm has been retained t¢ institute forced collection procedures to
collect delinquent taxes owed to the Denton Independent School Dlstrzct on
the above referenced account. Thls letter and the detailed tax statement
enclosed are your notice that these taxes are delinquent and have been
turned over to us for collectzon.
You must make payment wsthln ten days from the date of this letter or face
foreclosure proceedings designed to satisfy your tax delinquency by selling
your property to the hzghest bzdder for cash. Upon filing sust against you,
we will request of the Court that you be requsred to pay all related costs,
including attorney's fees, sn addition to your delinquent taxes, penalty
and ~nterest.
In order to avoid the above proceedings w~th associated costs and
znconven~ences, please return the enclosed statement along w~th your check
payable to:
Denton County Tax Assessor/Collector
Attn: Denton I.$.D. Collections
P.O. Box 1249
Denton, Texas 76202-1249
Please notlfy our off~ce immediately If th~s property is ~nvolved ~n
l~t~gatlon or bankruptcy.
If you believe that you do not owe thzs tax, or that you are entxtled to an
exemption, or ~f you do not own the property, please call our Collectzons
Department at (817) 383-4460 or wr~te this law off~ce at P.O. Box 1527,
Denton, Texas 76202-1527 and ~nclude the ACCOUNT NUMBER along wlth your
comments and supporting documsntatzon.
S~ncerely,
Stephen Blair
SB:rs Attorney at Law
Enclosure
RETURN THIS STATEMENT WITH YOUR PAYMENT
0R CA~H~5 C~ PAYA~ ~0
DENTON COUNTY TAX OFFICE
MAKE SURE ;HE ADDRESS A~EARS IN "HE WINDOW ~NVELOPE WHEN
MAI~I~ PAYM~ ?0
P 0 BOX 124~ */
DE~ON, ~XA3 76202-1249 ~Date
YEASTS [IA~ TAX PENALTY & ~NT~REST ?O'I'AL" ~ I; P'~lO"
~g4 ~. g2 ~ · 77 .....
...........
, I
PAY ~IS
llllllllll ,,,.,, I
October 16, 1996
ACCOUNT NUMBER
AMOUNT DUE: $213.01
JURISDICTIONS:
DENTON I. S. D.
DENTON C. E. D.
Dear Denton I.S D. Taxpavert
By our letter Of July 17, 1996, you were advised that delinquent taxes
were owed to Denton ISD as indicated above. The records of the Tax
Assessor/Collector's Offzce state that you remain in default and
currently owe tax, penalty and ~nterest as shown on the
above-referenced account.
Lawsuits will be filed on behalf of Denton ISD to enforce the
collectzon of these delznguent taxes. With the azd of a title company,
we are verzfying the ownership of your property zn preparatzon for a
lawsuzt. Any court judgment taken agalnst your property could result
zn a tax sale of the property on the Courthouse steps. Attorney's fees
and other costs contznue to increase as additional legal steps become
necessary.
In order to avozd this costly process, zmmedzate payment must be made
by returnzng the enclosed statement and your check payable to:
Denton County Tax Assessor/Collector
Attn: Denton I.S.D. Collections
P. O. Bux 1249
Denton, Texas 76202-1249
DO NOT HESITATE. This final not~ce does not ensure that you have not
already been sued; there is no grace period. If you believe that you
do not owe this tax, or that you are entitled to an exemption, or if
you do not own this property, please write or call our law office at
{817) 383-4460. Provide the account number with your comments. Thank
you for your assistance ~n resolving th~s matter.
S~ncerely,
BLAIR, GOGGAN, SAMPSON & MEEKS
SE:rip Attorney at Law
Enclosure
RETURN THIS STATEMENT WITH YOUR PAYMENT
MAKE YOLIfl GHECK MONEY ORDER
OR CASHIER S, CHECK PAYABLE TO
DENTON COUNTY TAX OFFICE
MAKE SURE THE ADDRESS APPEARS IN THE WINDOW ENVELOPE WHEN
MAILING PAYMENT TO
DENTON COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR/COLLECTOR
ATTN: DENTON I S D COLLECTIONS
P 0 ,BOX 1249
DENTON, TEXAS 76202-1249
ACCT NO:
PROPERTY DESCRIPTION.
DENTON lSD/CED
YEARS SASE TAX PENALTY & INTEREST TOTAL DUE IF PAID
DURING OCTOBER 1996
1995 153.08 59.93 213.01
TO~AL $153.08 $59.93 $213 01
IF YOU HAVE PAID THIS ACCOtJNT IN FULL, Pr. EASE DISF~'GARD THIS NOTICE.
PAY THIS I
ORDINANCE NO ~
AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE FIRST
AMENDMENT TO THE DELINQUENT TAX ATTORNEY CONTRACT WITH THE LAW
FIRM OF LINEBARGER, HEARD, GOGGAN, BLAIR, GRAHAM, PE~A & SAMPSON,
L L P, AND THE LAW FIRM OF GREGORY & BRADSHAW, P C EXTENDING THE
CONTRACT FOR AN ADDITIONAL ONE YEAR TERM ENDING ON JUNE 30, 2001,
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO GIVE WRITTEN NOTICE TO THE FIRM OF
ITS DESIRE TO EXTEND THIS CONTRACT, AMENDING THE FIRM NAME AND
MAKING ADDITIONAL CHANGES TO THE CONTRACT, AUTHORIZING THE
EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS, the lnmal term of the City's Contract for the Collection of Dehnquent
Property Taxes with the law firm of Llnebarger, Heard, Goggan, Blair, Graham, Pefia &
Sampson, L L P (formally known as Blair, Goggan, Sampson and Meeks), and the law firm of
Gregory & Bradshaw, P C (formally known as the Law Office of Mike Gregory) expires on
June 30th ofthlS year, and
WHEREAS, Section XIII "Term" of the Contr~,ct authorizes the City Council to extend
the contract two additional one year terms upon the City giving written notice to the law firms at
least 30 days prior to June 30, 2000, of its desire to continue the contract, and
WHEREAS, the City Manager has recommended that the Contract be extended for an
additional one year term commencing July 1, 2000 and ending June 30, 2001, and
WHEREAS, the City Manager has recommended that the Contract needs to be amended
to reflect the change in the firm name, and by subsUtutlng for the phrase "Executive Director of
Finance" the phrase "Assistant City Manager for Finance and Municipal Services", and
WHEREAS, the City Council deems it in the public interest to extend and amend the
contract, NOW,, THEREFORE,
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS
SECTION 1 That the Contract for the Collection of Dehnquent Property Taxes between
the City and the law firm of Llnebarger, Heard, Goggan, Blair, Graham, Pefia & Sampson, L L P,
and the law firm of Gregory & Bradshaw, P C, executed June 17, 1997, as hereby amended
(Contract), be extended under the same terms and conditions for an additional one year term
beginning July 1, 2000 and ending on June 30, 2001 That the City Manager is hereby
authorized to execute the First Amendment to th~s Contract in substantially the form of the
attached First Amendment to the Contract for the Collection of Delinquent Property Taxes which
is made a part of this ordinance for all purposes
Page 1 of 2
SECTION 2 That the City Manager ~s hereby directed to g~ve written notme to the law
firms at least 30 days prior to June 30, 2000 of the C~ty Counml's destre to extend tlus contract
for an additional one year term enclosing a tree and correct copy of thru ordinance
SECTION 3 C~ty Manager ~s authorized to undertake the expenditure of funds and to
perform the other obhgat~ons as set forth ~n the contract
SECTION 4 That tbas ordinance shall become effective ~mmedmtely upon ~ts passage
and approval
PASSED AND APPROVED th~s the
-- day of ,2000
JAC~LER, MAYOR
ATTEST
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY
By ~/~~~~
/
Page 2 of 2
P ~shared~dcpt~LGL\Our Documents\Contracts~OO~Dehnqu~nt Tax Amendment doc
FIRST AMENDMENT TO CONTRACT
FOR THE COLLECTION OF
DELINQUENT PROPERTY TAXES
STATE OF TEXAS §
COUNTY OF DENTON §
Th~s F~rst Amendment to that certmn Contract made and entered ~nto between the C~ty of
Denton, Texas, 215 E Mcganney, Denton, Texas 76201 C'C~ty"), acting herein by and through
~ts govermng body, and the Law F~rm of Lmebarger, Heard, Goggan, Blmr, Graham, Pefia &
Sampson, L L P, and the Law F~rm of Gregory and Bradshaw, P C 303 N Carroll Boulevard,
State 100, Denton, Texas 76201, heremaRer referred to as the "F~rm"
WHEREAS, the C~ty Cotmcfl has authorized the extension of the contract for Collection
of Dehnquent Property Taxes between the C~ty and the F~rm for a one year period ending on
June 30, 2001, and
WHEREAS, the contract needs to be amended to reflect the changes ~n the F~rms name
and to amend Section VIII "Progress Reports" to substitute for the phrase "Executive D~rector
of F~nance" the tRle "Assistant City Manager for Fiscal and Mumc~pal Servmes",
In cons~derataon of the following terms and condlt~ons the Contract for the Collection of
Dehnquent Property Taxes between the part~es ~s hereby amended as follows
1
The first paragraph on the first page of the contract ~s hereby amended to read as follows
Tbas contract ~s made and entered into by and between the City of Denton, Texas, 215 E
McKanney, Denton, Texas 76201 ("C~ty"), acting hereto by and through ~ts governing body, and
Lmebarger, Heard, Goggan, Blmr, Graham, Pefia & Sampson, L L P, ("F~rm") and the Law
F~rm of Gregory and Bradshaw, P C, 303 N Carroll Boulevard, State 100, Denton, Texas
76201
2
That Section VIII "Progress Reports" ~s amended by substituting for the phrase "Executive
D~rector of Finance' m the first sentence the phrase "Assistant C~ty Manager for F~scal and
Mummpal Services"
F ~S HARI]D~DI~T'J.,GL\Our Documen~Contract~0OkDehnquont Tax An~ndn-em do~
3
That save and except as mended hereby the remmnmg sections, sentences, clauses and phrases
of the above-referenced contract for Collection of Dehnquent Property Taxes between tho pames
shall remain in full force and effect
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the C~ty of Denton, Texas has caused tins Agreement to be
execu_ted b3, ~ts duly authorized City Manager, and Fu'm has executed flus Agreement on flus the
.~O:rt~_ .-- day of c~z2~.--. ,2000
"CITY"
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
MIC/FI'A~L W ~EZ, ~t~MANAGER
ATTEST,
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY
F ~HARED'~DEPT~LGL~Our De~uments~Contracts~00~Dehnquent Tax Amc'ndment doc
LINEBARGER, HEARD, GOGGAN,
BLAIR, GRAHAM, PEfi'A &
SAMPSON, L L P
BY
GREGORY AND BRAI)SHAW, P C
BY