Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Routt County commissioners approve payroll disbursement, cancel small number of uncollectible taxes and older county-held liens
Summary
At a Jan. 7 meeting the Routt County Board of County Commissioners approved payroll and several consent resolutions, voted to cancel roughly $2,400 in taxes deemed uncollectible and approved cancellation of county-held tax liens older than six years; commissioners also moved into an attorney-client executive session on Xcel Energy filings.
Routt County commissioners on Jan. 7 approved accounts payable and payroll disbursements and adopted several routine resolutions, including two that remove small dollar uncollectible taxes from the county roll and cancel county-held tax liens older than six years.
The board approved accounts payable of $155,187 and payroll totaling $1,084,978 for a combined disbursement of $1,240,165.75, after a motion was made to adopt the manual warrants and payroll as presented by the county manager. The motion carried on a voice vote (all those present said “aye”).
County staff also presented routine consent-agenda resolutions listed as items a–d; the chair moved to approve the consent agenda, citing resolution numbers 2025001, 2025002, 2025003 and 2025006. The consent motion passed by voice vote.
Why this matters: removing truly uncollectible accounts cleans up the tax roll and clarifies future collection efforts, while canceling aging county-held liens transfers the practical responsibility for sale or deed to lien investors rather than the county. Treasurer and staff commentary indicated the amounts at issue were small relative to the county budget, and that state case law and changes in tax-lien practice have reduced the county’s appetite for taking deed to properties.
Details and votes at a glance
- Accounts payable and payroll (manual warrants and payroll as presented by the county manager): mover: Jay (County Manager); second: not specified; outcome: approved by voice vote (ayes recorded). Tally: yes 3, no 0, abstain 0 (voice vote; specific roll-call not recorded).
- Consent agenda (items a–d: resolutions 2025001, 2025002, 2025003, 2025006): mover: Chair (unnamed); second: not specified; outcome: approved by voice vote. Specific details for those four resolutions were not specified in the meeting record.
- Resolution 2025004 — cancel taxes determined to be uncollectible (exhibit A): mover: Chair (unnamed); second: not specified; outcome: approved by voice vote. Staff described the accounts as including a destroyed mobile home, possessory-interest accounts where the lessee is no longer in business, and some double-taxed entries. Staff said the total currently being asked for write-off was about $2,400, though a commissioner flagged that a spreadsheet column showed $2,407 and another line-item interpretation suggested higher amounts; staff said some entries may be forwarded to a collection agency for further pursuit.
- Resolution 2025005 — cancel Routt County-held liens older than six years (exhibit B): mover: Chair (unnamed); second: not specified; outcome: approved by voice vote. Staff explained that changes in law and recent court decisions have narrowed the county—s historic option to go to deed on tax liens, so the county does not plan to take ownership of these properties and prefers that liens be sold at tax-lien sale and picked up by investors.
What commissioners said
County staff noted the uncollectible tax list is required under statute to be done annually and that last year produced none. One commissioner asked why the spreadsheet totals did not add up; staff responded that some amounts are fees, some rows may be hidden or contain errors, and some large accounts will be turned over to a collection agent instead of written off immediately.
A county official also reported a separate briefing about tax-increment financing (TIF) and diversion on the mountain, saying the county had passed along nearly $40 million through 2017 and continuing to the present, including about $13.5 million of county tax revenues; the official said they would forward the spreadsheet to commissioners for future discussion with the city.
No items were tabled or amended during these votes.
Ending
All motions on the consent agenda and the two tax-related resolutions passed by voice vote in the Jan. 7 session. Commissioners then recessed to address other business, including an executive session and interviews for the Fair Advisory Board later in the meeting.
