The Sunflower County Tax Collector could become a one-stop shop for all taxes collected in the county, including municipalities.
On a 3-2 vote, on Monday night, the Indianola Board of Aldermen made a decision to sign an interlocal agreement that will allow the county tax assessor/collector’s office to begin collecting City of Indianola property taxes.
According to City Clerk Lashanda Moore, the tax collector's office is proposing to take on the task of collecting the city’s property taxes for a fee of 2.5 percent of the annual gross collections. Mayor Steve Rosenthal said, "Two and a half percent is a giveaway, we spend a whole lot more than that."
According to Moore and Rosenthal, Indianola’s projected collections are about $1.7 million, and that equates to around $42,500 per year in payment to the county tax office.
Aldermen Gary Fratesi and Sam Brock provided the two no votes. Both called for more information. Brock wanted to table it; however, Rosenthal stated that if they were going to take the tax collector up on her request it needed to be done before the October 1 start of the fiscal year. “We can either do it now or we can do it next year,” he said.
“What is the ineffectiveness of our system?” Brock asked. “Well, I wouldn't say it's ineffective, but we're doing the same thing they're doing and we're using their numbers. Anytime there's a question or confusion, we have to refer them (the citizens) back to the county, so there’s a problem there.”
Rosenthal reinforced that it wasn't a matter of being inefficient, but that the city was doing the job that the county was already doing.
“They’re sending out delinquent notices, we're sending out delinquent notices, they're sending out tax statements, we are sending out tax statements,” Rosenthal said.
He said it would lessen the city's load because the city was actually duplicating what the county is doing. Rosenthal declared that nothing was wrong with what the city was doing, but it would be a lot cheaper for the city.
Brock then asked about the expenses that the city incurs and asked if they would be similar or better off financially and Rosenthal said in his opinion it would be better. Brock said he felt like the city leaders needed to get a deeper understanding of what was being proposed.
"Nothing wrong with what other counties are doing, but we have to see the fruits as well, because if there's no fruit from it, then we're not doing any good,” Brock said.
Rosenthal said that by his calculations they were spending $6 thousand or $7 thousand in miscellaneous expenses alone, plus another $6,000 for advertising the tax sales, which is what they spent last year. “It would be a substantial savings overall,” said Rosenthal.
He also mentioned the software expenses, postage and mailing expenses and fees for title searches.
“That's an expense that we incur whereas we won't incur that expense, they will.” Rosenthal said, “It’s just a more efficient way to do it at one source rather than two.”
He added that counties like Washington, Yazoo and Bolivar are already doing this procedure and in some cases have been for years.
He stressed that only one tax notice goes out from the county for all taxes including the municipality’s taxes.
Rosenthal suggested that Indianola/Sunflower County is one of the last in the area to start this. “So, it's a proven system, that’s worked for everybody else. I don't see the reason why it wouldn't work for us. I've got confidence in our county tax collector,” Rosenthal said.
Alderman Ruben Woods asked who would handle the delinquent taxes and Moore said, “We would have to collect the previous years’ taxes, the only thing she would collect would be the current and then she would also do the tax sale,"
Rosenthal added, “For the first couple of years we will have to do the previous year’s taxes, but after the first couple of years they will have done the previous years’ taxes, so then eventually we wouldn’t have to deal with it at all.
But, until it gets to the third year we will have to continue on just that because they won't have our records.”
After the vote, Fratesi asked Moore to provide them with more information in the future. He wanted to know how much was being spent now in reference to collecting the taxes. “I don't see us saving $42,000," he said.
Addressing Rosenthal, Brock then expressed his disappointment over the fact that they didn't have more time before voting on the item and mentioned prior instances where he felt the lawmakers were rushed into making a decision, Brock said, "Last minute he drops everything on the table, we don't have time to look at it and discuss it.”
However, Rosenthal denied the he was responsible for the timing on this particular item. Moore said she received the information from the tax collector about a week prior to the meeting.
