Auditor reports spike in property tax actions; 112 properties recorded for power-to-sell and $550,000 collected

Mendocino County's auditor-controller told the Board of Supervisors on July 8 that the office processed an unusually high volume of property-tax-related work in June and July, including mailing escape bills, establishing payment plans and recording powers to sell.

Shamise Kubison, auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector, said the office mailed roughly 730 escape bills since April and used expanded outreach and an online payment-plan calculator to handle an increased public response. "As of July 1, we now have 480" active payment plans, Kubison said. She said the office collected about $550,000 in delinquent taxes and recorded 112 powers to sell that were ultimately filed.

Kubison asked the board for direction on an upcoming contract to place delinquent water and sewer assessments on the tax roll for a district that had not previously participated. She advised against including those delinquent utility assessments in the county's Teeter plan, citing prior collection issues for similar assessments and the county's existing practice of excluding some assessments such as Brooktrails.

Why it matters: The auditor's report reflects increased year-end workload and a surge of payments and payment-plan requests tied to escape-bill deadlines and impending power-to-sell notices. The Teeter plan's inclusion decision affects whether the county advances funds for special-district assessments and could change county cash flows and collection risk.

Ending: The auditor said she will bring a contract forward with county counsel for board consideration, likely at the next meeting or the first meeting in September; the board signaled preliminary support for bringing the item forward for formal consideration.