Advertisement

McCracken Fiscal Court Tackles Property Tax Issue

McCracken Fiscal Court Tackles Property Tax Issue
Advertisement
By Easton Sanders
Aug. 22, 2019 | PADUCAH
By Easton Sanders Aug. 22, 2019 | 12:43 AM | PADUCAH
At a specially called meeting Wednesday afternoon, the McCracken County Fiscal Court discussed the possibility of collecting back taxes from properties that weren't evaluated correctly.

It had previously been discovered that many properties throughout the county had not been properly reviewed and therefore had not been paying the right amount in property taxes, or in some cases taxes hadn't been paid at all. Dunn announced in July that his department had found about $3 million dollars of property in the county which had not been taxed or assessed for several years.

This was the inspiration for the specially called meeting, as some officials saw this as a possible avenue to bring in some much needed money to keep the county moving forward.

"My belief, and I'm strong about it, is that we are going to go back and recoup that tax money that was not paid," Said Judge Craig Clymer, "Number one, because the state statute requires it, and two, because the people that did pay their taxes, paid their taxes." 

Not everyone supports the idea, however.  The current property valuation administrator, Bill Dunn, has a different idea.  Dunn believes this would create unnecessary financial hardships for people.

Some of the properties Dunn has valued are commercial, however some are residential. "When I set policy in my office I have to set it fairly and equally. I can't send a bill to these commercial property owners for their portion of the tax bill and not send it to the residential owners. I have to create more policy that I have to apply equally. Because I don't want to send that tax bill to those residential owners, I can't send it to anybody."

Dunn said, "I feel that sending these people a tax bill for 5 years would create a severe financial hardship.  It would be thousands of dollars they would have to pay. They would have to set up payment arrangements with the county clerk or county attorney."

No decisions were made on whether or not to pursue the unpaid taxes, and the issue will be revisited at a later date.

Dunn replaced former PVA Nancy Bock, who resigned after 25 years while under investigation for forgery and theft. He was elected to a full term in November.

On the Net:

McCracken PVA Finds $3 Million in Untaxed Property
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement


Latest McCracken County
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest McCracken County

Advertisement
ADVERTISEMENT