Mt. Vernon Register-News

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January 30, 2012

Property Tax Protest Fund closed out

County Treasurer Dan Knox closed it out and will distribute the funds

By RORYE O’CONNOR rorye.oconnor@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — County Treasurer Dan Knox closed out the Property Tax Protest Fund and Railroad Tax Protest Fund and he will distribute the funds.

Knox said in a press release that Property Tax Protest Fund money is tax money paid “under protest” by a property owner who didn’t agree with the amount of the tax bill, how their tax money was being spent, or any other reason.

He said he was assisted in the process of distributing the tax protest funds by former treasurer Debbie Elliott Marlow and former full-time employees Lucy Harlan and Irene Ferguson.

“Debbie came into the office, without any extra pay, and volunteered her time to help with this lengthy process,” he said in a press release. “Her expertise and commitment to this office and the citizens of Jefferson County was on full display as she devoted herself to this cause.”

Knox said the protested tax funds dated back to 1974, and created a difficult task to calculate the correct amount owed to the taxing districts.

“I am very blessed to have Debbie Elliott Marlow as a mentor, teacher and friend as I have made the transition into the Treasurer’s Office,” he said.

The Jefferson County Board in 2010 chose to draw more than $329,000 from the Property Tax Protest Fund, which had not been touched since the 1990s, Marlow said. She had said no property tax protest cases had gone to court since 1994.

Using Property Tax Protest Fund money as an emergency stopgap in 2010 was suggested by then-board Chairman Ted Buck, because he said attaining Tax Anticipation Warrants wasn’t going to be fast enough for the county to pay its bills.

The tax protest process changed in 2002, she said, so that the funds being protested are dispersed to the taxing districts, and if the protester wins, they’re later refunded.

The tax districts that receive the funds are affected by the address of the protesting citizen, Marlow said.

The money from the Property Tax Protest Fund was used to cover payroll and bills at the end of the fiscal year. The board voted to pay back the funds by the end of 2010.

Marlow at the time requested a letter from then State’s Attorney Jeff Bradley stating it was legal for the County Board to use the Property Tax Protest Fund money.

“It’s something that can back me up,” she said in January 2010. “That was not the purpose that the fund was intended for, but it will get paid back.”

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