Three months into the new year, tax collections for the county show a delinquent amount of almost $700,000, according to the annual tax settlement presented Wednesday by Ripley County Collector Marcia Tackett.
The report presented by Tackett at the March 20 meeting of the Ripley County Commission showed collections of $5.6 million.
“If we could get a perfect world, where everyone paid their taxes, it would really help the county. Schools especially would benefit,” said Tackett.
She hoped that before the deadline more money will be coming in. “Many people wait until they get their income tax rebates before paying their taxes,” she said.
Presiding Commissioner Jesse Roy stated that also, people trading vehicles will have to pay their taxes before they can get licensure.
“We see that pattern every year,” agreed Tackett.
She estimates about $300,000 (of the $700,000) is likely to be recovered during the tax sale, which will take place in the summer for real estate tax delinquencies of three years or more.
She said, ”We’ve got about $300,000 from 2023, and then about $158,000 from 2022 and older. So you’re looking at about $458K that is for real estate; and about $230,000 for personal property.”
Roy asked whether the collector’s office had any applications for SB190.
“No, I haven’t, and no phone calls, either,” said Tackett.
Roy said he was at a meeting in Jefferson City recently, and learned that the Senate passed a bill with some “fixes” for SB190, and has sent it to the house.
“It has not come up on the floor, yet. It won’t correct everything, but it will meet some of the requests made by the Missouri Association of Commissioners,” said Roy.
“Is it feasible to go ahead and take applications if we don’t really know specifics?” asked Tackett.
“Other counties have implemented SB190, as we have. Most are advising to go ahead and let people apply so that you have it on file,” said Roy.
He commented, “The way we adopted it, there won’t be any adjustments this year. But when it does get straightened out, we will already have that part of the process behind us. Once it is final, we can make adjustments,” said Roy.
Missouri SB190 was hailed at offering tax relief for people on social security. However, one of the issues is that the bill isn’t clear as to who does and who does not qualify.
“The bill was not thought out well. People who apply will have to get a letter from social security which states they are qualified before we can process the application,” said Tackett.
She said any benefit will be frozen at “today’s valuation” not when the individual was actually eligible. “No one is really going to benefit until later on, and then it will only be pennies on the dollar.”
The commission also met with Alan Lutes, executive director and Andrew Murphy, assistant director with the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission.
County Road Crew Foreman Dale Beston said that two of his crew, Billy Beston and Mike Gossard, completed the mechanical repair on the county’s GMC pick-up, and it is running great.
He also said that Ron Smith made a generous contribution to the Poynor Road District.
Roy advised him that the jail needs a load of 1-inch base to fill in some potholes.
The commissioners heard presentations from J.W. Mattingly, district sales coordinator for Aflac, and David Goncher, sales representative for Colonial Life.
Renewal of the county health insurance coverage is in May.
The county also revised its regular weekly meeting schedule, with several meetings moved to Friday to approve payroll. Meetings will be at 9 a.m., April 5, 10, 19 and 24, and May 3.