Supervisors approve personal-property relief for volunteer fire/EMS and press treasurer on delinquent tax collections

The Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors approved a finance committee recommendation to set the personal property tax rate for vehicles owned or leased by qualifying active volunteer fire and EMS personnel “as low as possible” for that classification, and discussed delinquent tax collections and taxpayer concerns during the same meeting.

County staff presented the committee recommendation and asked the board to accept it. The board moved, seconded and voted to accept the recommendation; the chair announced the motion carried with one abstention recorded after a board member said they volunteer for Hamilton Heights and would abstain from that vote.

The board then discussed collection of delinquent taxes. Stanley, a county staff member, said the audit showed approximately $3,400,000 in outstanding delinquent taxes, up from about $2,800,000 the previous year, and outlined current enforcement tools including DMV holds, offsets of state refunds and garnishments. He warned that state law changes effective July 1 will limit garnishment amounts for some taxpayers, which could reduce collection effectiveness.

A supervisor suggested publishing a top-10 list of delinquent accounts to spur payments. Cooper Jones said posting a notice in the newspaper after giving taxpayers a short deadline would be an appropriate first step: “I think that would be great to, at first, give them a notification that you have x number of days to pay this bill. If not, it will be posted in the newspaper.” The board discussed coordinating with the treasurer on posting delinquent accounts.

Members and participants raised specific taxpayer problems. One resident said a payroll deduction had been issued to collect taxes on a roughly one-tenth-acre parcel the resident said they do not own; the resident said the county charged $9 in tax on that parcel and then sent a $28 advertising charge and asked that the county correct its records. Stanley recommended the resident speak directly with the treasurer and the commissioner to resolve the discrepancy.

Board members also described cases where vehicles that had been demolished or sent to salvage had remained on county tax rolls because DMV/title records had not been updated, leaving residents to pay small annual charges for non-existent vehicles; staff said administrative follow-up was needed to remove those accounts.

The board briefly discussed capital funding, with staff estimating an ambulance purchase could be funded for about 13 years at current tax rates. The meeting adjourned after the board approved the day’s business.