When Government Goes Digital, What Happens to the Unbanked?

Source: GovTech Published: March 2021

During an ordinary year in Pulaski County, Ark., five public offices are open for people to pay taxes owed on assets, from land to cars to mobile homes. And folks in Pulaski — which is home to the state’s biggest city, Little Rock — tend to be pretty good about paying what they owe, doing so in the 95th percentile, which yields roughly $530 million for the county government.

But 2020, of course, was no ordinary year.

In 2020, tax books opened on March 1 as always, but then, in what felt like a blink of an eye, the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, halting the flow of daily life the world over. All 53 employees of the Pulaski treasurer’s office were soon working from home, and all five of the public offices where payment could typically be rendered in person were ordered shuttered to slow the virus.

As with many local governments, Pulaski County has increasingly enabled residents to do business with its offices online, and that includes paying taxes. This modernization enabled a number of residents to pay as usual amid the pandemic. But questions arose for other groups: What about those who prefer to pay in cash? What about others who lack computer skills to pay online? And what about members of the community who do not have viable bank accounts, a status known as being under- or unbanked?

Click here to read more

Photo by Mirza Babic on Unsplash