Friday, May 19, 2000
Two plead ignorance of tax law
Butler officials no longer give penalty passes
By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Two Butler County officeholders said Thursday that they unknowingly broke state law by forgiving real estate tax penalties in thousands of cases over the years, but now have begun following proper procedures.
Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers and Treasurer Mary Law admitted that they didn't know until recently that only the state tax commissioner can forgive real estate tax penalties.
Previous county auditors and treasurers also had been unaware of the 1982 law giving the state tax commissioner the sole authority to forgive real estate tax penalties, county officials have said.
Speaking Thursday before the county commissioners at their request, Ms. Rogers said she has instructed her staff to send all requests for remittance of penalties to the state tax commissioner.
“For the moment, we have the problem entirely under control because we are following the letter of the law,” she said.
In a statement Thursday, Mrs. Law said she told her staff to send all tax penalty cases to the state tax commissioner. She was unable to attend the commissioners' meeting.
This issue surfaced two weeks ago when county Prosecutor John Holcomb sued Ms. Rogers over a tax remittance case involving about $10,000.
The Ohio Auditor's Office has announced it will review Butler County's tax penalty remittances over the past two years and issue a report to the county.
Ms. Rogers stressed Thursday that her office removes penalties from tax bills only with the written authorization of the county treasurer's office.
In 1999, the county improperly forgave $52,540 in tax penalties in 338 cases, she said. That's a minuscule percentage of the $198 million in property taxes collected last year, she said. The tax commissioner approved $23,738 in Butler County penalty remissions last year, she said.
Most of the penalties improperly forgiven by the county involved amounts under $50 and, in some cases, under $1, Ms. Rogers said.
She and Mrs. Law said their offices handled those cases much more quickly than the state tax commissioner could have.
“My office and Mary Law's office have been trying to be friendly to the taxpayers,” Ms. Rogers said. “We wanted to work with them and make the process as painless as possible.”
The commissioners have asked Mr. Holcomb to attend their Monday meeting to discuss what will be done — if anything — about the penalties that were improperly forgiven.
Mr. Holcomb has called the situation a major scandal.
Ms. Rogers, a Republican, accused Mr. Holcomb, a Democrat who is running for re-election, of using the issue to attack her.
Mr. Holcomb said he is simply protecting the interests of those who pay their taxes on time.
Ms. Rogers said many other Ohio counties have been forgiving real estate tax penalties.
But Kim Norris, spokeswoman for the state auditor, disputed that.
“We don't believe that's the case,” she said.
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