24 Aug $2.1 Million in New Revenue Identified for Charleston County, South Carolina
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions today announced that the company’s Homestead Exemption Fraud Detection Solution has been used to help discover more than $2.1 million in new revenue for Charleston County, South Carolina by identifying and preventing over 600 cases of erroneous approvals. The solution, which combines LexisNexis Risk Solutions public records databases with identity analytics technology and the investigative capabilities of Tax Management Associates, Inc. (TMA), enables local governments to detect erroneous and fraudulent filings, collect taxes resulting from these filings and identify new sources of revenue.
“Charleston County already has a strict process for verifying legal residence qualifications that involves checking applications against residents’ tax returns, driver’s licenses, voter registrations and vehicle registrations for validation purposes,” said Toy Glennon, Assessor, Charleston County. “The Homestead Exemption Fraud Detection Solution provides an additional layer of protection by helping us identify those people whose circumstances change after they apply, or who alter their documents and thus legally change their domicile after they are approved. For us, the problem has long been on-going maintenance of existing approvals. Periodically checking existing approvals one by one is enormously time consuming and impractical to impossible if it involves obtaining information from other states or jurisdictions. The information provided was accurate and was easy to use and understand. This effort provided us with that maintenance solution, which enhanced an already thorough initial qualification process.”
The Homestead Exemption Fraud Detection Solution uses proprietary identity analytics to detect erroneous filings and fraudulent activity by cross-checking customer records against more than 20,000 public records and commercial data sources. The program reviews the existing exemptions to ensure compliance with state laws to detect key indicators for fraud, including duplicate exemption filings and family members receiving deductions under a deceased property owners’ name.
“The revenue lost from erroneous or fraudulent legal residence filings hits counties where it really hurts – eliminating funds for key programs, such as education and public safety,” said Haywood Talcove, CEO, Government, LexisNexis Risk Solutions. “By using identity analytics to detect anomalies beyond its jurisdiction, Charleston County is truly serving as a steward of taxpayer dollars and ensuring everyone pays their fair share.”
TMA further investigates the findings by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, verifying the information and subsequently prioritizing accounts for collection.
“Charleston County’s legal residence program demonstrates that finding erroneous and fraudulent filings is no longer an exercise akin to finding a needle in a haystack; instead, a successful program requires reliable, accurate data and the ability to prioritize cases,” said Richard (Chip) Cooke, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, TMA. “We are honored to support Charleston County in this effort.”