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Bill would send tax penalties to county jails
Collector Sandra Reeves says penalties fund her department
By Jeffrey M. Salem
State legislators representing Clay County recently filed legislation that, if passed, would eliminate charging penalties and interest on property taxes when the county was at fault.
In the wake of the filing of House Bill 1958, introduced by Rep. Ryan Silvey last month, Clay County Collector Sandra Reeves publicly defended her department’s collection standards and said she operated by the letter of the law.
“The state statutes plainly state that the only reason any penalties and interest on late taxes can be waived is in the situation of military personnel on active duty,” Reeves told the County Commission on Feb. 25 in a prepared statement. “This is not my money, and I follow state statutes very strictly.”
In noncharter counties such as Clay County, the penalties and interest accrued from delinquent taxes go into a tax maintenance fund controlled by the collector. The House bill would move those funds to maintain county jails. Reeves said she had no problem waiving penalties and interest when the county was at fault as long as the term “error” was better defined in the bill, but she said her department could not operate without the tax maintenance fund.
“That removes half of our operating budget and cripples our department,” Reeves said.
Reeves took exception in her statement with one made by Silvey in a release from his state office regarding the reasoning behind removal of the maintenance fund.
The release, she said, referred to an audit conducted on the collector’s office in June 2006, in which Reeves’ spending of the account was questioned. Reeves used the fund to reimburse herself for college tuition, textbooks and to send herself and staff members to an out-of-state conference, among other purchases. She immediately reimbursed the fund, and Attorney General Jay Nixon later acquitted Reeves of any wrongdoing as the language for the fund’s use was fairly broad.
Eastern Commissioner Craig Porter was especially concerned with Reeves’ purchase of new carpeting for the collector’s office. He said the commission was in charge of building maintenance.
“This wasn’t your job to replace the carpet … that’s up to us,” he said at the Feb. 25 meeting. “I just thought that was money that could’ve been spent on something else. It should’ve been spent on something else.”
Reeves said it was a needed improvement.
“If I had waited until the county general fund purchased carpeting for my office, my office would have been a public embarrassment to this day,” Reeves said.
Not charging residents penalties and interest on tax bills when the county was at fault was one of the county commission’s legislative priorities for the 2008 session.
Presiding Commissioner Ed Quick told Reeves he supported the House bill to help residents not at fault for their penalties — not as means to punish Reeves.
“I understand you’ve always operated by the statute, we’re trying to change the statute,” Quick said. “When people are not responsible for not receiving their bill and the county makes the mistake, then they should not be penalized.”
Staff writer Jeffrey M. Salem can be reached at 389-6653 or jeffsalem@npgco.com.
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In the wake of the filing of House Bill 1958, introduced by Rep. Ryan Silvey last month, Clay County Collector Sandra Reeves publicly defended her department’s collection standards and said she operated by the letter of the law.
“The state statutes plainly state that the only reason any penalties and interest on late taxes can be waived is in the situation of military personnel on active duty,” Reeves told the County Commission on Feb. 25 in a prepared statement. “This is not my money, and I follow state statutes very strictly.”
In noncharter counties such as Clay County, the penalties and interest accrued from delinquent taxes go into a tax maintenance fund controlled by the collector. The House bill would move those funds to maintain county jails. Reeves said she had no problem waiving penalties and interest when the county was at fault as long as the term “error” was better defined in the bill, but she said her department could not operate without the tax maintenance fund.
“That removes half of our operating budget and cripples our department,” Reeves said.
Reeves took exception in her statement with one made by Silvey in a release from his state office regarding the reasoning behind removal of the maintenance fund.
The release, she said, referred to an audit conducted on the collector’s office in June 2006, in which Reeves’ spending of the account was questioned. Reeves used the fund to reimburse herself for college tuition, textbooks and to send herself and staff members to an out-of-state conference, among other purchases. She immediately reimbursed the fund, and Attorney General Jay Nixon later acquitted Reeves of any wrongdoing as the language for the fund’s use was fairly broad.
Eastern Commissioner Craig Porter was especially concerned with Reeves’ purchase of new carpeting for the collector’s office. He said the commission was in charge of building maintenance.
“This wasn’t your job to replace the carpet … that’s up to us,” he said at the Feb. 25 meeting. “I just thought that was money that could’ve been spent on something else. It should’ve been spent on something else.”
Reeves said it was a needed improvement.
“If I had waited until the county general fund purchased carpeting for my office, my office would have been a public embarrassment to this day,” Reeves said.
Not charging residents penalties and interest on tax bills when the county was at fault was one of the county commission’s legislative priorities for the 2008 session.
Presiding Commissioner Ed Quick told Reeves he supported the House bill to help residents not at fault for their penalties — not as means to punish Reeves.
“I understand you’ve always operated by the statute, we’re trying to change the statute,” Quick said. “When people are not responsible for not receiving their bill and the county makes the mistake, then they should not be penalized.”
Staff writer Jeffrey M. Salem can be reached at 389-6653 or jeffsalem@npgco.com.