Union County board waives late-list penalty for ConMet after audit dispute

The Union County Board of Equalization Review on Nov. 21 voted to waive a late-list penalty assessed against ConMet (listed in the record as Consolidated Metco Inc.) after a county audit reclassified certain assets as business personal property.

Chairman (speaker 1) said the board had been asked only to consider the late-list penalty, not the underlying tax assessments, and gave the petitioner a chance to present. A company representative (speaker 5) described ConMet as a long-standing Monroe manufacturer of truck wheel ends that employs hundreds locally and said many of the assets cited in the audit dated to the 1980s and 1990s and had been treated as real property on the company's tax returns.

"There was no willful error. There was no intentional misstatement on our part," the company representative said, asking the board to waive the penalty because the items had been reported in prior filings or were long-standing building components.

County staff summarized the audit process, saying a site visit was conducted June 13 and the contractor's initial discovery for tax years 2020–2024 was reported as $8,121,131; that figure was later revised in county correspondence to $8,050,621 and—after accounting for duplicates and tax-year adjustments—was also described in the hearing as $9,078,438. County staff noted ConMet had appealed 17 assets and had asked the board to consider a waiver of the late-list penalty only.

Contract auditor Jim Crutchfield of Tax Management Associates explained that capitalized software is taxable under the statute cited by staff and used the term "ghost assets" for items still on the books but no longer in use. He said assets not in active use should be written off so they would not be assessed going forward.

The amount the company sought to have waived was discussed during the hearing and appears in the record with two similar figures: $32,282.88 and later $32,002.82 and 88¢. County staff confirmed those sums refer to the late-list penalty the petitioner asked the board to waive; the underlying taxes for the discovered value remain due. Taxpayer representatives said they planned to remove retired assets from future federal returns and would report removed items on the next listing form.

After discussion about whether the company’s failure to list the items earlier reflected oversight rather than deliberate concealment, Board Member (speaker 2) moved to waive the full late-list penalty; Chairman (speaker 1) seconded. Chairman called for a voice vote and the motion carried; members voted in favor and the board waived the full late-list penalty as requested.

The board’s procedure note said written notice of the decision will be sent to the petitioner, normally within 30 days. The meeting moved into deliberations and adjourned. The board also thanked staff for their assistance through the year.

Authorities cited in the hearing included references to General Statute 105-275 (software taxation language cited by county staff) and General Statute 105-274 (property-tax principles), as noted by county personnel during the presentation. The board did not adopt additional findings on abatements or percentage reductions; it took formal action on the penalty waiver only.