Tax Sale
The county has compared the list of people who owe taxes from 2008 and 2009 who were not published in the paper and still have unpaid taxes. There were 35 names from 2008 and 50 from 2009. Some of the names have multiple properties. One has 8 properties with unpaid taxes. There are a total of 43 properties from 2008 and 75 from 2009 that were not published and still had unpaid taxes when the report was run. During the commission meeting several properties were identified where the taxes had been paid since the report had been run.
Since the publication in the newspaper is what triggers the bid off, the properties have yet to start the redemption period. For homestead property, this is three years from the date of publication. For non-homestead property the redemption period is two years.
Attorney General & County Treasurer
The commissioners have not heard anything back from the Attorney General about the investigation into the allegations against the Bourbon County Treasurer. Their understanding was that the Attorney General’s office would get back to them and let them know if it was going to be pursued further or not. They expected to have heard something back by now, but pointed out that with all the other things the Attorney General deals with, this might not be the highest priority.
Are the overpaid taxes being refunded?
Currently the commissioners do not have a copy of the details that Terry Sercer compiled. They only have the report which we posted here. Typically the county refunds overpayments for other types of fees if it is more than $5.
The commissioners are hesitant to request the information from Mr. Sercer until they hear back from the Attorney General. If the Attorney General is pursuing an investigation, they don’t want to have information released to the public that could compromise his efforts.
Is there any effort to pursue recovering the taxes/interest that was not charged correctly? (Under KSA 79-1703).
Not at this point, but this couldn’t be done until the Attorney General is finished with his investigation.
Is it possible to get the details of the audit report?
The details showing which properties have over paid and which properties have underpaid their interest is not something that the Commissioners currently have. The Commissioners don’t want to request this information from Mr. Sercer until they hear back from the Attorney General.
Has there been any effort to ask the Attorney General about the status?
Chairman Endicott wasn’t sure of the date, but said that within the past few weeks Terri Johnson (County Attorney) called to ask the Attorney General’s office about the status and was told that they didn’t have any record of a request for an investigation on the matter. She sent them another copy of the letter and then followed up with them. Again they did not have any record of the request. She faxed it to them and immediately called them back and they then confirmed that they had received it.
Rock Quarry
There was some discussion about how to move the registration from the former rock quarry to the new quarry and also some discussion about the blasting at the new facility.
Sewer District
John Scott is going to use his house as a distribution point for the manuals and warranty information for the grinder pumps in the new sewer district. He was concerned because the paper work said it was a 2 year warranty, but when they were deciding which pumps to buy they selected the more expensive pumps because they had a longer warranty.
There is one home where the grinder pump is coming into a basement too high and there was some discussion about how to go about getting it fixed.
Misc
At least two commissioners are going to the Neosho County rock quarry to view their operation at 9am. They will also be at the Airport Advisory meeting at 12 noon on Tuesday.
An individual asked if they were going to pave 180th street. He said there were a lot of dump trucks coming through and tearing it up.
Just as we assumed, we did not see the audit report but a summary of limited information. Seriously, for over $8,000, there had to be more. It is more than evident that the AG is pursuing this but the evidence to justify an ouster by the County Attorney is overwhelming in the limited information we got. And, what happened to the statement that the payment plan DID NOT allow people to do anything that they normally could not? Did I not say that it allowed them to not have their properties auctioned and wasn’t that what happened? IF the Treasurer even gave a glance to the statutes, it clearly stated that all properties had to be published and more than one decision letter coming from the AG restated that fact time and time again. If I paid over $8,000 for a report, I would have a copy in hand or is it that when they get a copy, it falls under KORA and we can get one too that keeps them from asking. I am sick of all the secrets! Well, we did break one secret and that has to do with why we pay so much taxes and have so little to show for it and we did also verify that the good ole’ boy system is alive and well in Bourbon County and doesn’t appear to have any legal limitations on it! I do know that when contacting the AG’s Office, it can be a little difficult to actually speak with the person who realizes there is an investigation so the confusion about whether or not this was being looked at isn’t that big of deal and they are not supposed to tell that an investigation is taking place but we all know it is! Also note, that the outrage about this injustice has not went away so I hope no one was holding their breath waiting on that! I have just so many thoughts on this but you have them too!
I’m not sure what you are referring to with a “good ole’ boy system” and I’m concerned I may have said something that led you to that conclusion. The Commissioners aren’t trying to keep people from getting access to the details of the audit, but they do know that once they have them it is public record. Since there is a chance that such a disclosure could impede an investigation by the Attorney General, they don’t want to request them until they hear back from the AG. The Commissioners were surprised they haven’t heard something back already, but there appears to be some confusion in the Attorney General’s office regarding what has been requested by the local government.
No, Mark, it was not what you said that reinforced my belief that that the good ole’ boy system was still operating but that the County Treasurer is still in the office, that we got that little summary of the $8,000 plus audit instead of the real thing, that 3 months after the first inquiry, everyone just still doesn’t have a clue. I don’t see what would be secret about who overpaid and who underpaid their interest unless, of course, there is a sort of pattern that they don’t want to reveal. From the very beginning, both the County Attorney and the County Commission were sure that nothing “criminal” was done so I am guessing they thought they knew what was going on and maybe they did or maybe they didn’t realize the scope and how the favors had grown as it is one of those things that when someone finds out about it, everyone wants to hop on the bandwagon. Then, comments about the AG having more important things to look at only continues to indicate that this is considered just not that big of deal here which speaks volumes of what the level of integrity is!
From my perspective, there is nothing to indicate that the County Attorney or County Commissioners were operating under the assumption you suggest.
I think you are misconstruing that statement. In the grand scope of all the things the Attorney General deals with, looking into allegations that property taxes incorrectly in Bourbon County, probably isn’t the most pressing issue. So it is likely that the county will have to wait its turn. This isn’t a matter of saying the issue isn’t a big deal, but just that it might nto get the same priority as some other cases. The commissioners said they were surprised they hadn’t heard anything back by now. (Although it may be because the Attorney General’s office lost the original and subsequent letter they were sent.)
Mark: We have hit “We’ll have to agree to disagree on all matters related to the County.” You are not causing me to form opinions one way or the other. This is not the first investigation by the AG’s Office that I have seen and I think they are pretty competent. I am guessing that they will need to make a formal decision on the names of the delinquent not published on the payment plan because the statute is so very clear that I could not find it being questioned previously. As I said, I appreciate that you do this website and cover a variety of topics since no one else provides that for the community and your comments are always appreciated. I draw my opinions from a variety of sources. Thank you.
“The county has compared the list of people who owe taxes from 2008 and 2009 who were not published in the paper and still have unpaid taxes. There were 35 names from 2008 and 50 from 2009. Some of the names have multiple properties. One has 8 properties with unpaid taxes. There are a total of 43 properties from 2008 and 75 from 2009 that were not published and still had unpaid taxes when the report was run. During the commission meeting several properties were identified where the taxes had been paid since the report had been run.”
When will these be published?
Did I miss how many were from 2006 and 2007 and not published thus allowing them 3 additional years from when they are actually published which is not yet? Also were there people not on the payment plan and not published prior to 2006 and 2007 because I saw taxes unpaid back to 2004?
According to Mr. Meara there were 17 to 25 from 2006 that should have been published in 2007 that were not correctly. These may have included 2007 taxes but it was not clear from the conversation.
I believe it will be very soon. They were working out a schedule with the paper and getting the contents ready to go over to them.
“Since the publication in the newspaper is what triggers the bid off, the properties have yet to start the redemption period. For homestead property, this is three years from the date of publication. For non-homestead property the redemption period is two years
We were told that the properties were bid off to the county commission of those on the payment plan but just not published in the newspaper so they would still fall under the 2 or 3 year rule for redemption purposes. So, delinquent taxes not published from 2006 or earlier would have went on the tax sale in 2010 but now it is almost 2012 and they are not published so we are looking at what, 2015 before they go to auction if not paid? Does that seem right?
According to the County Treasurer, the bid off occurred and the properties would go to foreclosure regardless of whether they were printed in the paper. According to the attorneys, the publication in the paper is necessary for the bid off to actually occur. When it comes to doing the foreclosures it is the attorney who has to sign off on them–not the Treasurer. So they are obviously going to follow their interpretation since it is their law license at stake.
Also keep in mind that if some of these have unpaid taxes from subsequent years and they were published, then the foreclosure might only be delayed by a single year instead of three.
So, I wonder where the County Treasurer got her “opinion” at. My other thought is that I would have thought this would have required an opinion from the AG since the it involved breaking the laws and how to repair the damage.
How can anyone think that our county treasurer has lived up to her oath of office that she took before God and her county? This type of work does not show that she faithfully performed her Duties. Now some are going to lose their home and others will get a longer free ride because she did not print their names as the statues says. In the meantime, our taxes continue to rise to make up for the differences and we are still paying her wages from our tax money. Where is the justice here?
If I understood correctly, the properties from 2006 were not payment plan properties. They jus didn’t get published correctly. It was not clear if they were sent to the newspaper and left off or if they were just inadvertently left off of the list. As far as some people having more time to pay their taxes, that is true, but it seems much more prudent to err on the side of giving people proper notification (publishing in the paper) than to not. Improperly foreclosing on property would be much worse than a few random people getting some extra time to pay. Also keep in mind that if they didn’t pay their taxes for the next year and it was published in that year, the mistake will only delay things by 12 months–not three years.
Mark: To be fair, anyone that had their property foreclosed and auctioned for delinquent taxes should have that property returned to them and then, we start over again. As you well know, Susan Quick and relatives are on a revolving plan of not paying their taxes on time and that her name was left out of the paper. I believe it was well established that people on the payment plan beginning the year that Susan Quick was delinquent on her taxes did not get their name published. I believe they are still breaking the law by not paying in full when they catch up. Susan Quick paid her 2006 taxes in June of 2011. Remember the old “Anyone can be 3 years behind in their taxes”? What kind of math do they teach here? Both she and Justin Meeks, who I see is also delinquent in taxes, felt no need for a tax sale last year. While they have paid their taxes at this point, they are still on the revolving plan of not paying on time and not paying in full delinquent taxes, interest and fees. They just get together and scoot the tax sale date up to accommodate their needs. To call this an error, perhaps in publication is insane! I wonder how many of those from 2006 and 2007 that did not pay even knew they were on the payment plan – have they moved to a facility or maybe just abandoned the house? Maybe those names were used as “padding” to the list.
Who told you that it was just a mistake? This was the year she quit publishing everyone.
If I understood Mr. Meara correctly, the people who were not published for the 2006 taxes were not on a payment plan and there didn’t seem to be any common trait that would explain why they were left off other than just a random error.
Well, if it looked like random errors, I am sure that is the effect she (more likely “they”) were trying to accomplish. It’s like padding the list. No one is going to believe, with all the evidence brought forth, that “errors” were made except on election day and that is one that will be corrected if no one takes care of that one before then. I bet it would be interesting to research those that are left. Are they alive or in extended care somewhere or abandoned their house in this third world county?
If you remember correctly, I ask you about the treasurer not listing her name in the 2006 tax publication and you agreed, it was not listed. If you check the payment plan contracts that you published, her name was on one of the contracts for the 2006 delinquent taxes. Guess maybe I am confused as to how we have so many names left out at random. This tells me why she and the lawyer at that time said their wasn’t enough people to have a tax sale. They were not published. Thank you for your postings and it does help when people know what is going on. Used to be in newspaper and read on radio, but do not hear it anymore. Maybe I am not listening at the right time.
It is my understanding from what Mr. Meara said that the 17 to 25 people who were not published for delinquent 2006 taxes were not left off because of a payment plan. I may have misunderstood, but I believe that is what he said. Keep in mind that they are only looking for people who still owe taxes. The 17 to 25 are people who haven’t paid 2006 taxes AND were not published in 2007 when they should have been. Others were probably not published, but if they paid, they weren’t printed in the report of properties that could potentially be foreclosed on.