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Madison County board rescinds taxes on Sunnybrook parcels, orders rebates after county oversight
Summary
The Board of Supervisors voted to retroactively exempt three Sunnybrook Children’s Home parcels for 2022–24 after county staff oversight left two parcels taxed; the board directed refunds to any purchasers plus interest.
The Madison County Board of Supervisors voted July 21 to retroactively exempt three parcels owned by Sunnybrook Children’s Home and to refund any purchase price plus interest if the parcels were sold because of unpaid taxes.
The action came after Adam Gates, an attorney with Watkins & Eager representing Sunnybrook Children’s Home, told the board the organization had submitted required charter documents in 2021 but the county applied those materials to only one of three exemption applications. "Sunnybrook did what it was supposed to do at the time but that's it was simple oversight," Gates said, describing a paperwork error and subsequent tax bills for two parcels in 2022 and 2023.
The board heard that the two parcels received tax bills and that tax-sale notices showed the properties were scheduled for sale. County staff confirmed the documentation had been filed but was not applied to both applications. A county representative said the error began when an administrator retired and the follow-up did not occur as expected.
Board members characterized the lapse as a county error and moved to treat the parcels as tax-exempt for 2022, 2023 and 2024. The board also directed staff to rebate any purchase price paid at tax sale plus applicable interest to the purchaser if those parcels had been sold on the tax rolls.
The board's action does not specify parcel identification numbers in the public discussion transcript. Gates and county staff described the matter as a cleanup of earlier paperwork and asked the board to void the assessed taxes for the affected years.
The board approved the motion by voice vote after a second; the clerk recorded the motion as passed. Staff said they would process any refunds and update tax rolls to reflect the retroactive exemption.
Next steps identified in the meeting included county staff and counsel documenting the administrative error and completing any necessary refunds and roll corrections. The board did not specify a timetable for completing the refunds during the public discussion.
