How to Eliminate Duplicate Payments and Save Staff Time
Key takeaways from our “Catalis Escrow Payment Management in Action” webinar on preventing duplicate payments, reducing escrow inquiries, and simplifying payment posting.
Tax offices face growing pressure to deliver exceptional service, even with capable property tax administration software in place. Escrow payment management remains one of the most persistent drains on staff time, from answering requests from mortgage servicers to researching duplicate property tax payments. For anyone who missed the webinar, here is how agencies are catching duplicate payments before the money ever arrives.
Why Escrow Payment Management Is a Growing Challenge for Tax Offices
For many tax collectors, treasurers, and revenue offices, the escrow payment process begins long before money reaches the bank account.
Throughout tax season, staff field calls and emails from escrow companies seeking information such as:
- Current tax balances
- Parcel ownership changes
- Payment due dates
- Transfer information
- Payment status updates
Each request may take only a few minutes, but the volume adds up quickly, especially during peak collection periods.
The challenge doesn’t stop there. Many agencies also spend considerable time researching duplicate payments made by taxpayers, lenders, or multiple escrow companies. Once an overpayment arrives, staff must determine the source, reconcile records, process a refund, and answer follow-up questions. That is unnecessary work that pulls attention away from higher priorities.
What Is Escrow Payment Management?
Escrow payment management is the process of receiving, validating, reconciling, and posting property tax payments submitted by escrow companies and mortgage servicers on behalf of taxpayers.
An effective escrow payment management solution helps agencies:
- Reduce duplicate property tax payments
- Improve payment accuracy
- Simplify bulk payment processing
- Minimize escrow-related phone calls and emails
- Increase staff efficiency
- Improve visibility into payment activity
Catalis Escrow was designed specifically to help tax offices achieve these goals while requiring minimal changes to existing workflows.
How the Process Works
The process builds on tax files that agencies already produce. First, the tax office shares a tax file, often the same one already provided to escrow companies today. Once uploaded, the information becomes available through a secure cloud-based portal used by participating escrow companies.
When an escrow company prepares payments, its files are validated against the most recent tax data from the agency. This step identifies issues such as parcels that have already been paid, which significantly reduces the likelihood of duplicate payments reaching the office.
Once finalized, payments are sent directly to the agency by wire transfer, e-check, or paper check, depending on the office’s preferred method. Agencies can then export payment files and import them into their tax software for streamlined processing, a simple example of how property tax software integrations can reduce manual work.
Preventing Duplicate Property Tax Payments Before They Reach Your Office
Traditionally, tax offices discover duplicate payments only after the funds arrive. At that point, staff must investigate the payment, determine ownership, initiate refunds, and reconcile records.
Strong duplicate payment prevention means catching the error before money moves. When an escrow company submits a payment file, it is compared against the agency’s latest tax file. If a parcel has already been paid, the discrepancy is flagged and that parcel is removed before funds are transmitted. The escrow company receives a corrected file containing only valid, unpaid parcels.
Rather than spending time fixing errors after they occur, agencies can prevent many of them from reaching the office at all.
Reduce Escrow Company Calls and Emails
Another major source of administrative burden is the volume of routine inquiries from escrow companies.
Questions such as “Has this parcel already been paid?” or “What is the current balance?” often require staff intervention despite the information already existing within agency systems.
Catalis Escrow provides participating escrow companies with self-service access to parcel information through a secure online portal. Instead of contacting the tax office directly, escrow users can independently search balances, ownership information, transfer records, and other parcel details.
For agencies that receive large volumes of escrow-related inquiries, this capability can significantly reduce interruptions and free staff to focus on taxpayer service. For many offices, this self-service model is a practical step toward tax office workflow automation.
Real Results from Tax Agencies Across the Country
During our recent webinar, Catalis Escrow Payment Management in Action, attendees heard several examples of how agencies of all sizes are benefiting from Catalis Escrow. To hear directly from agency leaders, watch this video testimonial by Lori Roberts, with Fluvanna County, Virginia.
A Virginia county reported that even with weekly file uploads, the platform reduced duplicate payments by approximately 90%.
One county in Indiana prevented nearly 1,800 duplicate payments in a single year, representing approximately $1.37 million that never needed to be researched, refunded, or reconciled.
Another county avoided nearly 1,500 duplicate payments and approximately $1 million in unnecessary payment processing activity.
Even smaller jurisdictions are seeing meaningful results. One county in South Dakota prevented more than 100 duplicate payments, saving valuable staff time in a lean operation.
Agency leaders also reported substantial time savings. One county reduced a reconciliation process that previously required more than two days of work to approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Another estimated savings between 250 and 300 staff hours annually through reduced duplicate payment processing.
Complete Visibility and Simple Payment Posting
Transparency remains critical for tax collection operations.
Catalis Escrow provides agencies with visibility into escrow payment activity at both the summary and parcel levels. Users can view payment details, monitor finalized transactions, and receive automated email notifications when payments are ready for processing.
Once funds have been received, agencies can export payment files directly from the platform and import them into their tax collection software.
This streamlined process reduces manual data entry while keeping accuracy through the payment lifecycle.
A Cloud-Based Solution with No Cost to Tax Offices
When evaluating new technology, one of the first questions agencies ask is whether there will be additional costs, hardware requirements, or software installations.
Catalis Escrow eliminates those concerns. The platform is cloud-based, requiring no additional hardware purchases or local software installations. Agencies simply access it through an internet connection.
Even better, there is no cost to participating tax offices. Catalis funds the service through a small per-parcel fee paid by participating escrow companies, allowing agencies to improve efficiency without impacting their budget.
Looking Ahead to Modernized Escrow Payment Processing
As tax offices continue seeking ways to improve efficiency and better serve taxpayers, escrow payment management represents a significant opportunity for process improvement. By reducing duplicate payments, minimizing routine inquiries, simplifying payment posting, and increasing visibility into payment activity, agencies can redirect staff time toward higher-value work and the taxpayers who depend on them.
Hundreds of tax agencies nationwide already rely on Catalis Escrow, part of a broader portfolio of local government payment solutions. Click on the button below to see what it could look like for your office