County computer can't do the math

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Computer glitch stymies new ordinance -- County computer can't do the math

By LEE ANN PRESCOTT/Staff

A couple of computer glitches have conspired to ruin the county's newly adopted ordinance to raise tax penalties and interest, but the Smyth County Board of Supervisors has found a way to remedy the situation.

In August, the supervisors developed and adopted the new ordinance to encourage timely payment of taxes. At the public hearing Aug. 26, only one citizen attended to object to the increase. No one spoke to support it.

The ordinance is only applicable for delinquent taxes. It is supposed to increase the penalty to a 10 percent fee for failure to file a tax return, with a minimum penalty of $10.

The county staff tried to implement the ordinance, but its computers refused to make the change. The existing computer program will not accept the $10 minimum charge.

The supervisors also agreed to raise interest on delinquent real estate and personal property taxes from 5 percent to 10 percent. Real estate and personal property taxes are due Dec. 5. The penalty was to be a charge added to the tax total on Dec. 6 if the taxes were not paid. Then interest was to accrue monthly on that total at a rate of 10 percent.

But the computer program refused to begin calculating interest starting Dec. 6. It only knows how to add a month's interest at a time, beginning Jan. 1.

To follow the board's directive, the county would apparently have to buy a new computer program. However, since tax tickets must be prepared and mailed by Nov. 5, the county treasurer's office does not have time for a new program to be written so staff members can recalculate all 30,000 citizens' tax bills. The supervisors found they had no choice but to revise the ordinance so the county's computers can do the math.

On Sept. 15, the board adopted an emergency ordinance to cover the interim until the revision comes before another public hearing Oct. 28. By law, the board cannot adopt a new ordinance until citizens have an opportunity to air their opinions about it during a public hearing.

Smyth County Treasurer Ruth Albert said real estate tax bills should arrive for most citizens during the first part of October. Personal property bills will arrive later, however, because Commissioner of Revenue Richard Walker is researching a problem with the tax value for trucks weighing more than five tons. Apparently, new guidelines label the trucks IC, for Interstate Commerce, which may classify them as machinery and tools, rather than as personal property.

Under the emergency ordinance, the county has permission to calculate tax tickets by the new rules until the supervisors present the revised ordinance at the Oct. 28 hearing.

Bill McClellan, Rye Valley District supervisor and chairman of the board, said the tax penalty and interest increase is part of a plan to restore the county's financial stability.

"This is to minimize the cost of continued tax increases, to encourage payment on time and to decrease the requirement for the county to borrow money because of those taxes that are not paid," McClellan said. "It's really an effort to minimize your cost of ... taxation."

County Attorney John H. Tate Jr. met with Albert and Data Processing Manager Bob Murphy about the computer problems and the ordinance. In a letter to the board, he said, "I am advised that a completely new program will have to be devised in order to accommodate the $10.00 minimum penalty on personal property tax."

McClellan grumbled that the ordinance served no purpose if it merely increased county expenses for more equipment instead of increasing revenues. The supervisors fixed the problem without spending more money for equipment. They deleted the $10 minimum penalty from the ordinance and established a 10 percent penalty on taxes due, with no minimum charge.

Albert said attempts to penalize delinquent taxes by Dec. 6 resulted in the computer calculating penalties and interest for previous tax years, often as fahttp://smythnews.com/970920/i%2Darticles/fp%2D2.htmr back as 20 years. The computer program is designed to calculate interest beginning only from Jan. 1, so now the ordinance is, too.

http://smythnews.com/970920/i%2Darticles/fp%2D2.htm



-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 20, 2000

Answers

After looking at this article again the date is September 1997.

Probably not relevant

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 24, 2000.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ