By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Barton County officials continue to work on property tax issues. Many residents have complained about the tardiness of this year's statements. That frustration was compounded by a clerical error that resulted in small errors in the assessed mill levies. Officials discussed possible solutions at the Dec. 13 Barton County Commission meeting. At Tuesday's meeting, Barton County Clerk Bev Schmeidler said the best course of action is still to call her office.
"Last week, we learned it was not an illegal mill levy and that payment under protest was not able to be done," she said. "We've had several people that have contacted us. We've been calculating and letting them know what their variances are. Most of them, when they find out how minimal it is, they're not too worried about it."
Commissioner Barb Esfeld said the variances are typically small. Depending on the location in the county, the error can be as small as 18 cents on a home valued at $100,000. She suggested taxpayers pay only the first half of their taxes for 2023 so the variances can be adjusted for the second half of the year. That only works for commercial property as residential taxes must be paid in full after Dec. 20. Esfeld said she understands taxpayer frustration, but beyond the small calculation error, the county is operating under current law.
"Tax statements in the state of Kansas are not due out until Dec. 15, but taxes are due Dec. 20," she said. "I talked to Sen. (Caryn) Tyson, who chairs the tax committee, about proposing a bill to change that. They'd have to move a lot things around so it's difficult. It's harder than it seems."
That means the root of the issue is still without resolution: taxing entities have a deadline to submit their budget to the county clerk's office. While it is a misdemeanor to miss that deadline, there have been no real repercussions for doing so. One late submission can affect the timeliness of statements in several counties. The new Revenue Neutral Rate laws have actually made the situation worse.
"RNR is good, and yet it's also troublesome in that it moved those deadlines back a full month for those entities that are filing their notice of intent to exceed," said Commissioner Donna Zimmerman.
Due to the cost of mailing refunds, the Barton County Commission passed in 2018 resolution 2018-07 that states refunds of $5 or less for each parcel of land will not be issued. The resolution does allow the refund if the taxpayer submits a request no later than 30 days following the date of collection. Any excess taxes collected will not be kept by Barton County but will be distributed to taxing entities based on mill levies.
Schmeidler said her staff at the clerk's office can assist taxpayers determine any variances on this year's statement. That office can be reached by calling (620) 793-1835, or by emailing clerk@bartoncounty.org.