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Peerless residents report many property tax notices not delivered; treasurer explains limits on waiving penalties
Summary
Residents from Peerless told the commissioners they did not receive property tax notices; the county treasurer said notices were mailed and posted in the newspaper but that state law constrains the county’s ability to waive statutory penalties and interest, and commissioners asked staff to quantify affected amounts.
A group of Peerless residents raised concerns at the Jan. 20 Daniels County commissioners meeting after many people in the Peerless mailing area did not receive property tax notices this year.
Kate, a Peerless resident, told the board that several neighbors did not receive the yellow tax bill and that some only learned of delinquency when the county sent notices in January. “A lot of folks in Peerless did not receive their property tax notices this year,” she said, adding she had visited the post office where the postmaster told her he had seen multiple people asking about missing notices.
Julie, the county treasurer, told the commissioners that tax bills were mailed Oct. 27 and that staff had also published required notices in the newspaper. She said the postmaster in Peerless had been out of the office when the bundles were delivered and that, after residents reported missing bills, the treasurer’s office reissued bills to those who called. Julie added there is no statutory provision she can find that allows the treasurer to unilaterally waive interest and penalties that are due to the state’s share of property taxes; she said she consulted state staff and was advised she cannot selectively waive penalties without statutory authority.
Julie provided the board with a preliminary count: four payments related to Peerless addresses that had been collected late resulted in about $107.30 in penalty and interest that could be implicated; she said other Peerless accounts remain delinquent. Commissioners discussed whether the county could absorb small penalty amounts as a goodwill measure but the treasurer warned that penalty and interest are allocated to multiple state and local funds and that refunding or waiving them is complicated and could require a statutory basis.
Commissioners asked staff to run a full report on affected accounts and dollar totals and to bring a recommendation to a future meeting. They did not direct the treasurer to retroactively waive penalties at the Jan. 20 meeting. The board asked staff to communicate with the Peerless post office and to work on steps to prevent a recurrence of the mailing failure.
Julie said she would calculate the full amount for commissioners to review and indicated the treasurer’s office had already re-sent bills to residents who had contacted the office.
