Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 27, 1993 TAG: 9301270147
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
MONTGOMERY HITTING HARDER AT TAX DELINQUENTS
Montgomery County has started to crack down on delinquent taxpayers, and many got the message earlier this month.County Treasurer Ellis Meredith mailed letters just after New Year's Day to 22,000 county residents who failed to pay their personal property or real estate taxes by the Dec. 5 deadline.
Those letters represent more than one-third of all 62,329 tax notices that were mailed to county taxpayers in advance of the deadline.
That seems like a lot, but Meredith said the number of delinquencies is about average for a tax mailing.
Meredith, with the urging and support of the county Board of Supervisors, began a stepped-up effort to collect delinquent taxes about two years ago because of millions of dollars in back taxes owed the county. But many tardy taxpayers may not have gotten the word.
They have now.
Meredith's letter to late taxpayers was tough. It didn't dance around the issue. It promised "any or all" of a variety of legal actions if the taxpayer didn't cough up the dough.
The letter's recipients were warned that one of the consequences of failing to take care of the tax bill could be a levy instructing Sheriff Ken Phipps to seize and sell property to pay the taxes.
This is no idle warning. Since May, Meredith with the aid of the sheriff's office has collected $800,000 in back taxes through the use of the levy.
Other tools at the treasurer's disposal, according to the letter, include: placing a lien on a person's paycheck or bank account, seeking a civil judgment that can affect a credit rating and notifying the state Department of Motor Vehicles so a person cannot get his licenses renewed until the taxes are paid.
The strongly worded letter didn't sit well with some who received it. They were scared by it or thought the treasurer was being too harsh. Some complained to Meredith himself and some complained to their members on the Board of Supervisors.
The letter was discussed briefly at Monday night's supervisors meeting. Supervisor Larry Linkous of Blacksburg wanted to make sure board members understood their position as far as tax collections are concerned.
It's the treasurer's responsibility to collect the taxes, Linkous said. People who have problems in paying their taxes need to talk with the treasurer, he said.
Supervisor Jim Moore, though, thought Meredith's letter was too strongly worded for a first warning. He mentioned a resident who had called him who had been out of town for a while and returned home to both the tax statement and warning letter.
But County Attorney Roy Thorpe advised the board that it was up to Meredith - an elected official - to run the treasurer's office. He advised the board to not interfere with the letter.
In an interview, Linkous said he had received a couple of phone calls from people concerned about the warning letter. He said he advised them to call Meredith and discuss their situation with him if they were having trouble finding money to pay their taxes.
As for the letter itself, Linkous said he thought Meredith was just doing his job. The supervisors had agreed that the stepped-up effort to collect the back taxes was something that needed to be done, he said.
"I think he's just laying it on the line," Supervisor Henry Jablonski said of the treasurer's letter.
The best way to have avoided getting a letter, Meredith said, was to have paid your taxes before the tax deadline. Once the taxes are paid a person's records are clear, he said.
The letter, which the treasurer agreed was "pretty stern," has produced "tremendous" results, Meredith said. "It brought a flurry of payments."
Meredith agreed that some people who have been laid off during the recent recession might be having a tough time paying their taxes. But there is no provision in state or county law to provide any kind of relief for those people, he said.
He had written a letter to County Administrator Betty Thomas in November on behalf of a taxpayer asking about the possibility of some sort of relief but never received a commitment from the board.
Jablonski said that trying to provide relief to those laid off could get complicated. "There are other people who have bad situations, also," he said.
It's better, Jablonski said, to consider each individual's case on its own merit.
Meanwhile, if you were one of the thousands who missed the Dec. 5 deadline, you owe more than just your tax bill. On Dec. 6, a 10 percent penalty was added to the bill and interest charges started Jan. 1.