County Commission holds hearing on special road tax

A public hearing was held in the office of the Vernon County Commission on Tuesday to discuss an error in the Coal Township special road tax levy. The commissioners, county clerk Tammi Beach and county assessor Cherie Roberts were joined by nearly a dozen Coal Township officials and residents to discuss the options for correcting an error in adding the levy onto residents' assessments for the 2009 tax year.

Even though Beach accepted full responsibility for the mistake, the error came about through a difference in computer information. Beach properly entered the information into her system and that was supposed to be transferred electronically to the resident data base stored in the computers in Roberts' office.

There had never been a special road tax levy in place on the forms in the assessor's office, so the information had no where to be placed electronically. It sort of just idled there in cyberspace, and no one saw the omission on the form.

A number of solutions to the problem were discussed at the meeting. One option for collecting the tax is to use the 2009 valuation and add the amount to that and include it in the 2010 tax bill along with a letter of explanation from the clerk. That was not popular among those present because of the undue burden of paying two years of tax in a single year. Residents felt like it was the county's mistake and that they should pay for it.

Another option was to extend the tax an additional year. A letter from the clerk to township board members says that to collect the tax in that way, according to county legal counsel Lynn M. Ewing III, "would require a class action law suit as this was a tax voted by the residents of Coal Township and not just a decision of the board." He said it would be costly and time consuming. This option, too, was unpopular and didn't merit much time in the discussion.

The next choice of action for the residents attending the meeting was for the county's Errors and Omissions Insurance coverage to pay the $16,227.74 that should have been collected from the residents of the township. Beach said she had been in contact with the county's insurance representative, but didn't have specific details other than that is what the policy is for and it was one way to fix the problem.

This was the most popular idea of the morning. It was noted that a claim on the policy may raise the premium. But the idea stayed on the table as the most viable. "We carry it, and we'll pay it if that's what you all want," said Northern Commissioner Neal Gerster. It was also mentioned that to save the dilemma with a law suit would be much more costly than a simple claim on the insurance policy. The issue was well dissected and still remained the one that the people of Coal Township seemed to want.

Township trustee Charles Comstock said, "I think we ought to go to the errors and omissions policy and see if that's a solution." Board member Russell Johnson said, "I don't think taxpayers should be burdened with it." Johnson added that it would make getting any future tax levies passed a hard sell to the residents of the township.

An informal show of hands made it obvious that this was the option preferred by the residents and officials of the township. "Do we need to submit you a letter, as a board, asking you to file the errors and omissions claim?" asked Comstock.

"I don't think you need to do anything," replied Gerster. The decision was left at that. The county clerk had to contact the Renwick Insurance Agency to begin the process. The residents and officials of Coal Township left the meeting shortly after the decision was made.

In a later telephone conversation, Beach said the county's insurance agency recommended they exhaust all other options before filing a claim. Beach said they would be consulting with Ewing as soon as possible to find a resolution to the situation.