Updated 11 a.m. Oct. 26

Cascade County Commissioners approved a contract with The Master’s Touch to print and mail property tax bills.

The Spokane company will provide e-notice signup, second halfbill reminder emails, address tracking and mailing of multiple parcels in one envelope or flat for those with the same name and address, according to the county.

The contract is $31,145, a cost savings of about $8,000 from the current system between the county print shop and Innovative Postal Services, according to the county.

IPS will still handle the county’s regular mail and delinquent notices.

Diane Heikkila, the county treasurer, said that several other counties use Master’s Touch for their preparing and mailing their tax bills.

She said the county will save about $8,000 on the November tax bills and another $2,000 to $4,000 on the spring tax bills.

Property owners are able to opt-in for e-bills, which will further increase savings for the county as the postage costs come down, she said.

Heikkila said that typically, county staff has spent about 26 hours in the office generating tax bills and that will also be reduced since they can send the files to Master’s Touch to generate the tax bills.

Customer service related to tax bills remains in the county treasurer’s office, Heikkila said.

The contract is effective immediately through June 30, 2023.