JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If you’ve been waiting to go to the Duval County Tax Collector’s office, you’re in luck.
The Hogan branch is back open for in-person services, but only to those who made appointments.
Ahead at NOON I’ll take you inside the Duval County Tax Collector’s Hogan branch and show you how smoothly their opening day went @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/wdNdahrW1F
— Alicia Tarancon (@AliciaANJax) May 13, 2020
"I came up here around my appointment time. It was super easy. Everybody was super friendly. I was in and out so it was pretty fast," said Montel Johnson.
Inside the Hogan branch, staff is working to follow all the CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Everyone that comes in must be wearing a face mask.
They’re only operating at about 25% capacity, the seats are taped up and spaced apart to help with social distancing, and if you look at the counter they even have a sneeze guard to help protect people.
Cleaning crews are wiping down the area and sanitizing each station.
Those who arrived too early for their appointments were told to either wait in their cars or outside.
Jim Overton, the Duval County Tax Collector, tells us they can book about 180 appointments a day.
"You get messages on your cell phone that tell you when to come in. We want people to come in when their appointment is, not before or after," said Overton.
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But not everyone who showed up knew you had to make an appointment.
Many were turned away feeling frustrated.
"I need a new tag and Jacksonville is not helping and I got to do something," Sandra Hurst said.
"There’s a sign up there saying that we have to call the number and then once I called the number ... it’s just basically putting us in a circle," James Stewart said.
Right now appointments at the Hogan branch are booked until June 2.
The Duval County Tax Collector says the best time to make an appointment is at 8:30 a.m.
Overton is hoping to open up more branches as soon as staff members are able to come back to work.
Once that happens, they’ll be able to open up more appointments for the public.
The tax collector said many of the services and transactions can be done online, by phone or by mail.
If you would like more information you can click here or call 904-255-5700.
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