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Delinquent taxpayers make good on $72,000
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - November 26, 2008)
Delinquent taxpayers make good on $72,000
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Burton Village Council got some good news Monday on the financial front.
Village income-tax administrator Jennell Dahlhausen told council that she was able to recoup approximately $72,000 in back taxes over the past year.
That brought a cascade of compliments from council, which lately has been hearing bad news about declining revenues and the prospect of financing an estimated $6 million waste-water treatment plant.
"We're going to put a bust of you in the park," Councilwoman Sandra Humbert quipped after hearing the news.
Councilwoman Sharon Gingerich offered kudos to Ms. Dahlhausen, as did most other council representatives, saying, "Great job."
Ms. Dahlhausen, who has worked as the village tax administrator for the past two years, said she began looking into a list of delinquent municipal income taxpayers and consulting with representatives of the Central Collection Agency, which handles tax collections for the village.
Ms. Dahlhausen said she spent days poring over the village's tax rolls, comparing it to the list of residents who were paying water and sewer bills in the village.
From there, she said, letters were sent out to notify residents of their tax obligations. One owed as much as $6,000, she said, while a couple others owed around $4,000. Others owed a few hundred dollars, Ms. Dahlhausen said.
Over a two-day period, she said, delinquent taxpayers visited Village Hall to discuss the situation, and those talks resulted in the collection of $28,383. Another $43,869 was collected simply by notifying people of their delinquency, he said.
Ms. Dahlhausen said her search dated back to 2001, because records were current up to that time.
She said many of those who owed from that time period still live in the village. Some were unaware of their tax debt to the village while others were aware of it but saw no need to pay, because the village was not going after them, she said.
Ms. Dahlhausen said 65 taxpayers are still in arrears and did not respond to notices sent to them.
She received authority to work with village Law Director Todd Hicks to collect the remaining money that's owed through the court system, if needed.
She estimated that the taxes owed could exceed $147,000.
Village Fiscal Officer Christopher Paquette said Ms. Dahlhausen's work has enabled the village to outpace last year's collections. He said the village collected approximately $427,000 last year. With a month to go this year, he said, collections are at approximately $475,000.
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