Accounting Tech​/Tax Specialist

Conducts all functions of sales, excise, transient occupancy tax, resale certificates, non‑profit certificates, and senior citizen tax exemption certificates for the Finance Department. Works independently and performs accounting and administrative work in sales, excise, transient occupancy tax, and business personal tax. Gives general assistance to the public in person or by telephone on all other borough accounts, including other duties as assigned within Finance.

• Conducts all aspects of the Borough's sales, excise, and transient occupancy tax revenue collection, including receiving, processing and filing all tax returns. Generates and mails monthly/quarterly tax returns to each merchant, creates and mails invoices for penalties and interest or overages/shortages as merchants report tax activity, and updates and mails any unpaid invoices monthly.
• Assists business owners and the public by answering all questions relating to the sales, excise, and transient occupancy tax code as it is intended in Title 4 of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough's Code of Ordinance and obtains legal opinions from the Law Department if needed.
• Researches tax issues/problems and takes appropriate corrective action.
• Manages merchant accounts by performing daily data entry, reporting monthly and quarterly activity, creating accounts for new merchants, discontinuing/inactivating merchants, addressing changes to merchant accounts, correcting duplicate accounts, and electronically archiving all tax records. Reconciles daily returns with computer‑generated data entry.
• Performs collections‑related activities and recommends actions such as filing of small claims, placement of liens, and execution of payment agreements.
• Prepares payment agreements, and upon written approval of the Finance Director, initiates and prepares an amortization schedule and all documentation for the payment agreement(s). Posts and monitors all payment activity within the written schedule.
• Prepares delinquent accounts for collection, including all documentation for collections or civil/small claims, and on an as‑needed basis submits the documentation to the Borough Attorney's office.
• Handles non‑registrants by generating and mailing letters to all non‑registrants of sales, excise, and/or transient occupancy tax, comparing the State business license registers with the Borough's registrants, reviewing newspaper ads, various websites, and social media for new business/closed activity, mailing required registration information to all non‑registrants, and on a seasonal basis physically checking the downtown business district for all new businesses for registration compliance.
• Balances the cash drawer daily, ensuring dual control of money received.

• Provides instruction to other employees of this or a similar job classification in all aspects of procedure and technique relating to the duties required by this job description unless such instruction requires a specialized certification which the employee doing the training does not have.
• Manages Senior Citizen Tax Exemptions by reviewing applications, issuing tax exempt cards to qualified senior citizens per Title 4.50.240, and updating and filing the computer data for all new, deceased, and relocated seniors.
• Informs the Assessment Department of new business registrants and new Senior Citizen Tax exemption registrants for business personal tax requirements and/or property tax exemption status.
• Issues sales tax resale certificates on an annual or as‑needed basis to all qualified, registered sales tax merchants who are in compliance with current returns.
• Issues non‑profit tax exemption certificates on an as‑needed basis to all qualified registrants in accordance with Title 4.50.230(h)(1)(2)(3).
• Cross‑trains on the Accounting Tech II—Customer Service position to fill in during lunch hours, vacations, sick days, etc.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.
• Possesses working knowledge of Accounts Receivable procedures, governmental operations, basic accounting knowledge, computer operations and office procedures.
• Can learn complex code sections and explain requirements and applicability to business owners…