DONIPHAN — An error regarding Ripley County tax statements will not cause residents to pay more, according to information discussed by the Ripley County Commission.
The error has been identified and a plan has been formulated to deal with it, but it impacts only the entities which receive tax collections not those who pay taxes, officials said.
“This error will not cause taxpayers to pay more than they should. It will only affect what is paid to the entities which receive their portion of that money, depending on whether or not they adjusted their tax levies,” said Presiding Commissioner Jesse Roy, who discussed the matter at the Nov. 15 county commission meeting.
Letters are being sent out to the 25 entities that receive a portion of the tax monies, explaining the error.
Due to the error of the state valuation, some tax levies were lowered to meet the Hancock Amendment rule. Those taxing entities will see an adjustment in the tax revenue collected by the county.
Roy stated the error, which is in the valuation for line mileage, was brought to his attention in October.
The error, which pertains to local “state assessed utilities,” was confirmed by the state tax commission. Essentially, it caused a miscalculation with the state assessment valuations sent to Ripley County.
Roy said when she learned about the error, Ripley County Assessor Randi Ederer had alerted Marcia Tackett (county collector) and Michael Williams (county clerk) to advise them, and afterward had contacted Commissioner Roy.
During a Nov. 1 executive session of the Ripley County Commission, the matter was also brought to the attention of commissioners Gary Emmons and Keith Whiteside so that they could discuss the possibility of litigation and decide on a solution moving forward.
At that time, Roy stated that the assessor was advised by the tax commission office to submit a form to the state to correct the error; however, tax statements had already been generated and mailed out.
“Some people had in fact, already paid their taxes,” said Tackett.
The commission agreed to contact Travis Elliott, of Ellis, Ellis, Hammons & Johnson, P.C., for legal advice as to how to proceed.
Roy and the associate members met with Elliott later that week via telephone conference.
Elliott recommended to commissioners that it would be less complicated and less costly to go forward with the current tax statements that were mailed out and make any necessary adjustments the following year.
The commission then met with Ederer, Tackett, and Williams, who concurred with that decision.
Entities which wish to know what the difference will be in the amounts they were owed and will receive should address all inquiries to the Ripley County Assessor’s office, at 573-996-5500.