A one-stop-shop for collecting county and municipality property taxes is still a possibility, but just not this year.
County Tax Assessor/Collector Cynthia Chandler has contacted municipal officials within Sunflower County about the possibility of her office collecting their city property taxes.
During a September Indianola Board of Aldermen meeting, after City Clerk Lashanda Moore presented the proposal from Chandler, Mayor Steve Rosenthal indicated that the city lawmakers needed to vote on the proposal before an Oct. 1 deadline. The board voted that night, and the proposed plan of action passed on a 3 to 2 vote.
“If we’re going to do it, it has to be in place October 1. We can either do it now or we can do it next year, but she has to know because she has to start changing what she’s going to be sending out,” Rosenthal said.
Aldermen Sam Brock and Gary Fratesi voted no.
The decision was made based on the city paying a 2.5% fee that is to be remitted to the county tax collector’s office.
However, Chandler said although she put forward the request, it was never her intention to initiate it this year.
She said it would not be fair to the taxpayers to expect them to comply and make the change on such a short notice.
Her target start date is December of 2020.
“So, what that will do is instead of the taxpayer going to their town hall to pay their taxes, they just pay everything in one place. They’ll pay them here,” Chandler said.
Although she has reached out to all of the local municipalities, so far only Indianola and Shaw have indicated that they are onboard with the move. Chandler said she has asked the municipalities to respond by Oct. 15, and explained that Shaw is included because a small portion of the town pays taxes in Sunflower County.
Before the new measure can be implemented the governing board of each city must first approve it, then Chandler has to get the nod from the board of supervisors’ attorney and the chancery clerk and go before the county board for its endorsement.
After that, it must be approved by the state attorney general’s office.
“It’s a process that has to take place before we can actually initiate the agreement,” said Chandler. She is anticipating the state’s response will take at least 90 days, which is why she is starting now so it won’t be a last-minute rush.
Chandler said by state statute she can charge as much as five percent, but felt the 2.5 percent is enough because she didn’t want to overprice the cities.
So far, Moorhead and Inverness have reportedly expressed an interest in accepting Chandler’s offer, but neither has officially responded.
Chandler said her computer system is ready and all it will take is a phone call to tech support. “Everything is already in place with the county to start collecting,” she said. Chandler said she doesn’t anticipate any additional work or expect to hire additional staff. “We’ll just be collecting more money.”
Tax notices go out each December 1, so it is Chandler’s plan to start collecting when the Dec. 1, 2020 tax notices go out and payments start coming in. “I would only be responsible for the year that we enter the agreement. I am not responsible for collecting any prior taxes that the municipalities might have,” she said.
When the new plan is operational, property owners in participating cities within the county will get one tax notice mailed out to them that will include both their county and city tax liabilities and it will be payable only to the county tax collector’s office.
Chandler said it is a good idea because many residents don’t understand that they have to pay a county and a city property tax and some become delinquent on their taxes at the municipal level because of that. People tend to think that when they pay at the county, they are done.
She said at times they approach her and say, ‘Well, I paid my county taxes why are my taxes in the paper?’ only to realize that it is their city taxes that have not been paid.
Another advantage of merging the accounts would be that it would alleviate the need for negotiations between tax buyers. The way the system is set up now, a person or company that buys property at a tax sale could be issued a city tax deed and a county tax deed for the same property.
Once that happens, it then becomes the dilemma of the two purchasing bodies to work out who gets the property and according to Chandler there have been cases where they both want the same piece.
“So, I feel like if I bring it all under one umbrella that will alleviate a lot of those problems,” she said. Chandler added, “Instead of writing two checks or two methods of payment, they can just pay it in one place. I look forward to doing it,” she said.
Chandler said she understands that everyone may not be happy about the decision, but she is trying to do what’s best for the county. She alluded to people having concern about paying their full tax amounts all at one time since the county doesn’t allow partial payments.
One helpful option on the table is moving the April tax sale date.
“I have been looking into, if we go on with this agreement, to extend it to August, that will give them more time to pay,” she said.
She stressed that other counties have been doing this for awhile, and feels that if there is any blowback it will be from those who don’t pay their taxes anyway.
“For those that pay their taxes faithfully, I feel that it won’t be a problem.
