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Worcester County license board to allow notarized affidavits after comptroller clearance delays
Summary
Faced with delays in state comptroller tax clearances that blocked about 100 license renewals, commissioners agreed to let licensees submit notarized affidavits saying taxes are current so renewals can proceed, with sanctions if affidavits prove false.
Facing a backlog of alcohol license renewals stalled by delayed tax clearances from the comptroller's office, members of the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners agreed to let licensees submit a notarized affidavit attesting that their taxes are current so renewals can be processed.
The board discussed the issue March 19 after a board member identified roughly 100 licensees whose renewals showed delinquent tax records in the comptroller's system. The member said he had contacted the attorney general's office and the comptroller and found no code provision explicitly authorizing the board to withhold renewal for tax delinquencies; the board's application and rules do state taxes must be current.
The board member, identifying himself as Trevor for the record, said some licensees had cleared delinquencies but the comptroller's office had not issued clearance notices because of an apparent multi-year malfunction on the comptroller's website. He proposed a notarized affidavit, signed under penalties of perjury, that licensees could file with renewal applications asserting that taxes are paid; the board could later sanction, suspend or revoke a license if the affidavit proved false.
Board staff noted that the county's current practice was to decline to accept renewal applications from delinquent licensees. Commissioners debated timing: whether to release the affidavit form immediately so applicants whose renewals are due by March 31 can submit and avoid monetary penalties, or to hold distribution. The board agreed to release the affidavit now so renewals can be submitted by March 31 and processed in time.
The board also discussed drafting revised rules and regulations governing renewals; a revised draft will be circulated to commissioners and posted on the board's website about two weeks before the April meeting for possible adoption at that hearing.
The board did not record a roll-call vote in the public transcript on the affidavit release but commissioners indicated assent and a motion to proceed was seconded during the discussion.
The board also welcomed a new inspector, Ian Cameron, and approved routine meeting minutes before moving on to hearing business.
