Property taxes: Some pay, some don't
By
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To the editor:
I am happy to report to the property owners of Highland County that when we receive the dreaded property tax bills in January of this coming year that we can look upon them much differently than we have in the past.
It appears that paying our property taxes may be an option in Highland County.
I am able to surmise this based off of a summary of delinquent property taxes which I received as part of a public records request this past spring. While I suspect that those who have been elected to manage our government, at the county level, would disagree with me, I can only base my statements off of their actions, or inactions, in collecting these taxes.
The information that follows was gathered through a public records request from the Highland County treasurer this spring. At that time, there was an outstanding balance of delinquent property taxes within the county of $2,283,305.26 dating back to 1991.
The following focuses on the outstanding balances for individual parcels that exceed $10,000 and current balances were verified Nov. 17, 2011 via the Highland County Auditor’s website:
There are 15 parcels within the county that owe in excess of $10,000 in delinquent taxes. Of these, four parcels are owned by churches totaling $118,319.79 and four more are owned by the same individual accounting for $74,184.07.
Three of the parcels owned by churches show no record of any taxes having been paid since 2007, leading me to believe that either they are exempt and should not be tracked, or that they believe themselves to be exempt but have not submitted the proper documentation to be exempt from property taxes.
Among this distinguished list, there is one parcel owned by a business and one parcel owned by an individual which show no records of any payment of property taxes since 2007.
Of the remaining properties on this list, amounts ranging from $29.53 to $6,698.27 have been paid annually; however, the amounts paid obviously do not come near to covering the outstanding balances due.
Highland County is expected to have a shortfall of $191,000 in Local Government Funding, as reported in The Highland County Press on Oct. 19.
It seems that the Highland County commissioners should be taking steps to recuperate the outstanding balance of delinquent property taxes to make up this projected shortfall, and quite a lot more after that.
Additionally, as a show of appreciation, the county commissioners should consider reimbursing the property owners of Highland County who have actually paid their taxes over the past 20 years.
Sincerely,
Fred Boggess
New Vienna[[In-content Ad]]
I am happy to report to the property owners of Highland County that when we receive the dreaded property tax bills in January of this coming year that we can look upon them much differently than we have in the past.
It appears that paying our property taxes may be an option in Highland County.
I am able to surmise this based off of a summary of delinquent property taxes which I received as part of a public records request this past spring. While I suspect that those who have been elected to manage our government, at the county level, would disagree with me, I can only base my statements off of their actions, or inactions, in collecting these taxes.
The information that follows was gathered through a public records request from the Highland County treasurer this spring. At that time, there was an outstanding balance of delinquent property taxes within the county of $2,283,305.26 dating back to 1991.
The following focuses on the outstanding balances for individual parcels that exceed $10,000 and current balances were verified Nov. 17, 2011 via the Highland County Auditor’s website:
There are 15 parcels within the county that owe in excess of $10,000 in delinquent taxes. Of these, four parcels are owned by churches totaling $118,319.79 and four more are owned by the same individual accounting for $74,184.07.
Three of the parcels owned by churches show no record of any taxes having been paid since 2007, leading me to believe that either they are exempt and should not be tracked, or that they believe themselves to be exempt but have not submitted the proper documentation to be exempt from property taxes.
Among this distinguished list, there is one parcel owned by a business and one parcel owned by an individual which show no records of any payment of property taxes since 2007.
Of the remaining properties on this list, amounts ranging from $29.53 to $6,698.27 have been paid annually; however, the amounts paid obviously do not come near to covering the outstanding balances due.
Highland County is expected to have a shortfall of $191,000 in Local Government Funding, as reported in The Highland County Press on Oct. 19.
It seems that the Highland County commissioners should be taking steps to recuperate the outstanding balance of delinquent property taxes to make up this projected shortfall, and quite a lot more after that.
Additionally, as a show of appreciation, the county commissioners should consider reimbursing the property owners of Highland County who have actually paid their taxes over the past 20 years.
Sincerely,
Fred Boggess
New Vienna[[In-content Ad]]