TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

U.S. Tax: Taxing convenience

By Alan L. Gerstenecker, 01 June 2010 -- Waynesville residents may soon have a benefit in Pulaski County that currently only is shared by those who live in Crocker.

During the City of Waynesville Finance Committee meeting that preceded the City Council meeting recently, Terri Mitchell, the Pulaski County Collector of Revenue apprised committee members about her office collecting city taxes.

Mitchell said she was contacted by City Collector Stephanie Luethen about collecting  both personal and real-estate taxes.

"Our office collected 2009 real-estate taxes for the City of Crocker, (which) was our first year to collect for a city entity, and it went very smoothly."

Mitchell said there are advantages when the county collects for a city, including personal property add-ons that will be collected for the city along with the county and distributed monthly as collected. Mitchell also said city personal property tax, as part of the county personal property tax, will be required for license-plate renewal, which will increase property revenues, she said.

Mitchell, contacted Thursday, said there is no fee for the convenience of paying at the Courthouse, but she said for those people who wish to pay with a credit card, there will be a 2.75 percent fee added.

"It's the cost of processiing the credit card," she said. "I think it's a good idea, and I think it's a service we (the county) should provide."

Mitchell said Thursday she is waiting to hear from City Administrator Bruce Harrill on when to proceed.

"There's time," she said. "Tax bills won't start coming out until the first week of November."

In other business, the council:

- Unanimously approved the writing off of $1,037.21  of delinquent personal property taxes from 2006. Said Harrill: "This is something our auditors want us to do to get these off the books. And, we'll be saving on mailing (of bills)."

- Heard from Utility Committee Chairman Mike France who updated the council on the Pulaski County Sewer District's unpaid bill. "They are more than $90,000 in arrears," France told the council. "The bottom line is we want them to come to the table and talk to us. This needs to come to a resolution."

France said the city of Waynesville customers are — "since February 2009 — subsidizing the district's bills."