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Property owner tells Harrison County Commission county errors led to wrongful tax sale; seeks reimbursement
Summary
At the Feb. 4 meeting, Greg Phillips said county tax records had incorrect mailing and physical addresses, which led to parcels being sold for unpaid taxes without required notice. He asked the commission to correct records and reimburse more than $1,500 in redemption fees.
Greg Phillips told the Harrison County Commission on Feb. 4 that he discovered in January 2024 that his 2023 property taxes had not been paid because the county had the wrong mailing and physical address on file for his property at 529 Capitol Avenue.
Phillips summarized steps he said he took to resolve the issue and cited West Virginia code governing tax sales. He said he paid his taxes but never received tax statements because the county mailed notices to the wrong address. “Because the county's own records were incorrect and they were used to certify a tax sale without lawful notice under 11A-3-2, the redemption fees were caused by county error, not taxpayer neglect,” Phillips said, and he asked the commission to “formally respond to my November 10 correspondence, reimburse me for the $1,500 and more, and redemption fees caused by the county tax office errors.”
Phillips told commissioners that two of his parcels were sold for unpaid taxes in the spring following the missed notices. He also said a deputy state auditor had told him the state auditor’s office lacked legal authority to set aside a tax sale and that assessment, classification and record-keeping corrections fall to the county assessor and the county commission.
The commission acknowledged the complaint and the chair said the matter would be taken up with staff so the commission could “figure out what's going on there.” No formal reimbursement decision was made during the meeting.
What happens next: Commissioners said staff and the relevant county offices need to review Phillips’s correspondence and records; the commission did not approve any immediate reimbursement on Feb. 4.
