Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon taxpayers will have fewer places to get face-to-face help from the state Department of Revenue. The agency will start closing its field offices soon in an effort to save money.

All nine Department of Revenue field offices are set to close starting as soon as November. That's expected to save the agency about $500,000 a year in rent and utilities.

Employees based at those offices will instead work from home. Many of their duties will remain the same, such as paying visits to delinquent taxpayers in an effort to collect.

But the Department's Derrick Gasperini says people will no longer have the chance to drop by a field office with questions or to make payments.

Derrick Gasperini: "We really understand the value of having a place for someone to go in and talk to, but the cost compared to the benefits that we're able to provide are starting to diminish."

Gasperini says about 30,000 people visited Oregon Department of Revenue field offices last year.

He says in the age of the internet that number has been on the decline as more people download forms and make payments online.

On the Web:

Oregon Department of Revenue field offices:http://www.oregon.gov/DOR/district-office.shtml