By adopting a new online backup system, Denton County officials say they are making sure tax records are more secure.

The county has contracted with i365 to provide a secure off-site system, EVault SaaS, to back up residents’ tax records in case of any emergency resulting in the loss of records at the local office.

“As the county has grown, we’ve recognized we need to have a more secure way of securing data,” said Steve Mossman, county tax assessor/collector. “We have to look at worst-case scenarios. As much as we don’t like to think about it, if something were to happen in this building, the way we were six months ago, all tax records would be lost.”

In late May, a sprinkler leak drenched the county’s Joseph A. Carroll Building.

Tax codes require the tax office to keep a record of its files for 20 years on real property and 10 years for business, Mossman said. Tax officials have used a tape-based backup that is stored in a vault in the tax office, housed in the Horn Government Center. They will continue the tape-based method along with the electronic system.

“The primary issue would come up if we had a disaster and somebody said, ‘I paid my taxes,’ and we say we can’t prove it. That’s not a good place to be,” Mossman said. “Now we can say, ‘You paid. Here’s the proof. Everything’s good.’ And those who haven’t paid, we have those records as well.”

County officials began looking at alternatives to onsite storage two years ago with everything coming together in the last six months.

“We knew what we wanted to do and found this organization on a Google search, the way people find info today,” Mossman said. “There were probably a dozen or more companies we saw out there online but i365 was the one that seemed to offer the features we wanted to see at the price we felt was reasonable, and they had their customer service on staff to back up their claims.”

The system will cost the county between $7,000 and $8,000 a year, lower than the amount Mossman said he expected and budgeted.

County Judge Mary Horn said the system was a wise investment for the county. While all county departments records are backed up electronically, the tax records are separate due to sensitive information, she added.

“When you’re dealing with dollars, you’ll want to make sure it’s always, always accurate and protected. Just like a bank,” she said.

BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is blewis@dentonrc.com.