June 11, 2008 — Tax-clearance letters are one method property owners can use as proof of payment for delinquency notices, Tax Assessor Roy Martin said Wednesday.
"In any instance where a property owner has been issued a delinquency notice, that property owner can present a tax-clearance letter to the Finance Department or the office of the Tax Assessor as conclusive proof of payment," Martin said in a news release.
However, the tax-clearance letters in question are the ones used in real estate transactions, said Shawna Richards, spokesman at the Lieutenant Governor's Office.
As an example, she said that when a property is sold, the seller has to provide proof that the real-property taxes are paid with a tax-clearance letter.
Last week many residents received letters that their property taxes were delinquent. Letters went out to owners of 47,000 parcels with about $50 million owed in back taxes. Many residents say they paid those bills a long time ago and are now scrambling to locate proof that they paid.
"Unfortunately, the burden is on the taxpayer," Richards said.
The Tax Assessor's Office agreed that there were errors.
"The records we have inherited suffered from poor recordkeeping," Richards said.
Collection of property taxes is in the midst of being transferred from the Finance Department, which kept the records manually, to the Tax Assessor's Office, which will automate the records.
"We've been making preparations to fully integrate the system," Richards said.
Martin apologized to the public for any undue anxiety and inconvenience caused by the receipt of delinquency letters.
"I ask for the public's continued patience as the property tax office works diligently to clean up data records, a move in the direction of implementing a fully computerized system, which I am confident when completed will improve our levels of customer service," Martin said.
This is a problem that has existed for years, Martin explained, and "we are working to correct many of these issues during the period of time in which the government is transitioning the collection of property taxes from the Finance Department to the Tax Assessor's Office."
"I encourage anyone having questions about the tax status of their property, or who believe that they have been wrongly reported as delinquent, to visit the Collections Office at the Finance Department to provide proof of payment, or contact the Tax Assessor's Office to request copies of bills for individual tax years," Martin said.
He said his office "is reviewing all administrative options to add certainty to real-estate transactions and to insure that both purchasers and property owners have assurances that they are taking title free and clear of any possible tax problems years later."
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