Late tax bills this year

Property owners may be receiving their Fayette County tax bills a month later than usual, and possibly two months later.

That’s because of an error made while trying to fix a previous error.
And that is resulting in this year’s tax bills being rolled back to the county clerk and recorder’s office, then forwarded to the treasurer’s office for the preparation and mailing of the bills.
The problem was brought to the attention of county board members on Tuesday by Julie Healy, superintendent of the St. Elmo School board.
Healy was among a group of school officials at the meeting, the others being Regional Superintendent of Schools, superintendents Dr. Jennifer Garrison of Vandalia, Mike Shackelford of Brownstown and Stephen Phillips of Mulberry Grove, and school board members Chris Palmer and Matt Hall of Vandalia and Kent Kistler of Brownstown.
Healy said that the problem started in June of last year, when she realized that the district’s equalized assessed valuation had dropped by more than $1.6 million.
She said that the previous superintendent, Deb Philpot, also questioned the decrease, and that she asked the county clerk’s office about that as she was preparing the district levy.
The clerk’s office confirmed in January of this year that there was a mistake, due to a software error, and that it affected many taxing entities in the county. Healy said she was told that the county did not legally have to notify entities of the error, and that an adjustment would be made in the fiscal year 2019 extension.
She said that she then notified Wollerman, who told her the clerk’s office told her that the entities would receive letters stating the amount of adjustments, the amounts that would have to be paid back by abatement.
Then, in June, Healy said, she learned in the tax district certification form for tax year 2017 that the district’s EAV had increased by $2,580,626.
She said that this alarmed her, being that nothing had happened to cause that large of an increase, especially when the EAV had dropped the previous year.
Healy presented board members with a timeline on the issue, and told board members that the timeline “illustrates that I repeatedly requested confirmation of that EAV that was listed on that 2016 certification and I was not provided accurate information.”
Healy made three requests of the county.
“That tax bills are not sent until this situation is resolved. These are scheduled to be mailed this Friday, and this does not give any of us ample time to get the situation taken care of.
“I am also requesting that the errors in the abatement are corrected for tax year 2017, payable in 2018.
“And, finally, I am requesting that districts be given the opportunity to file an amended levy, if so desired, based on the fact that we all received inaccurate information,” Healy said.
“We have a responsibility to do what’s best for our students and for the taxpayers,” she said.
Garrison also addressed the board briefly, thanking Kat Lange of Bellwether and the county clerk’s office for working with the school officials.
“We’re here to work together to solve the problem together,” Garrison said.
“Please take that as an offer that we can get through this together,” she said.
Lange said that they have been working, even on weekends and the recent holiday, to try to resolve the issue.
“If there is (a problem), and we believe pretty heavily that there is an issue, we’re going to be rolling back the treasurer’s part (of the tax bill cycle) to the county clerk’s office,” Lange said.
That, she said, would push the distribution date out further.
“There was an error, (the county) tried to fix it, there was an error in the fix,” Lange said.
“We’re getting closer every day,” she said.
Asked by board member Bryce Kistler how far the work to correct the error would push out the mailing of tax bills and distribution of tax monies to entities, Lange said it depends on how long it will take to correct the error.
She estimated that the delay could be “at least 30 days” and could possibly be 60 days.
In a four-page document that she presented to the board, Lange states, “We continue to reach out to expert sources to guide the county clerk’s office through the process.
“We are also reviewing what steps can be taken to amend levy requests, but, at this time, we do not believe they can be done unless the clerk’s office is re-extending due to an incorrect abatement.”
Board Chairman Jeff Beckman said, “To err is human. We will get this remedied.”
Board member Jennifer Waggoner said, “Can you imagine where we’d be if we didn’t have Bellwether?”
Lange’s document shows that in addition to all school districts, those affected include the Fayette County Hospital District, fire protection districts, community college districts, library districts, park districts, townships and township road and bridge funds, and municipalities.
 

Julie Healy, superintedent of the St. Elmo School District, explains to the Fayette County Board on Tuesday problems that the St. Elmo district, and other school districts, have experienced due to incorrect equalized assessed valuation information.