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“We are better off and more confident in what we are dealing with every day by using itamlink.”
Richard Morehouse
Real Estate Tax Manager | Brookfield Properties - Forest City
Richard Morehouse is the Real Estate Tax Manager at Brookfield Properties - Forest City.
Richard was tasked with finding a way to manage property tax in an efficient, cost-effective way that enabled good business decisions, while reducing overhead expenses and staff time spent on day-to-day processes.
For nearly a century, Forest City has owned, developed, and managed dynamic commercial, residential, and mixed-use real estates across the U.S. In 2018, they were acquired by Brookfield Asset Management. Today, Forest City’s portfolio is managed by which manages a global portfolio of over 800 properties in numerous industries.
Richard’s team manages property tax assessment appeals across numerous states. As such, they must ensure property tax and related data are visible to property managers, tenants, and third-party partners. In addition, they need to provide accurate real estate tax data and information to senior leaders at Brookfield Properties – Forest City.
Decision makers both inside and outside Brookfield Properties – Forest City make decisions based on the projections, appeal statuses, tax bills, and related data provided by Richard and his team. Before adopting itamlink, Brookfield Properties - Forest City’s data was not centralized for all staff members. This meant important data - like tax and assessment information, reports and approvals – couldn't always be accessed by team members and stakeholders when needed.
Inadequate software and systems for managing property tax data were taking a toll on Richard’s team. One full-time staff member was spending more than 50% of their time dealing with time-consuming activities to track and manage property tax data, appeals and financial reporting. This caused a ripple effect, pulling other staff members away from critical functions.
Using itamlink, Richard’s team found it much easier to maintain data integrity. The built-in activity log allowed them see what data was changed and when, providing a clear audit trail. What’s more, itamlink would flag anomalies in jurisdictional data that could signal a data entry error. This helped ensure data accuracy and integrity were maintained.
Richard and his team found itamlink to have an intuitive data structure, helping them perform functions more efficiently and reducing time lost reformatting data. With less staff effort required to maintain property tax data, Richard’s team could spend more time on strategic activities to build their business.
What’s more, Brookfield has built business intelligence into their processes, enabling stronger business decisions produced in a more efficient way.
With itamlink, Richard’s team found a number of day-to-day tasks simpler and more efficient. For example, they could:
Richard’s team found itamlink easy to follow and logical, eliminating problems, issues and wasted time.
“We thought Rethink’s estimated transition time frame was impossible. I was amazed how easy the transition was.”
Richard Morehouse
Real Estate Tax Manager | Brookfield Properties - Forest City
