What??!! School taxes from 2007?? Now??

[Mrs. Charming]

So DH gets this certified letter the other day about a 'discrepancy' in his taxes from 2007, the school taxes specifically. From what I understand, school taxes and property taxes are paid by the property owners-- the apartment complex. We've never owned property in this county, especially not in 2007. We did move in Feb '07, so maybe something screwed up there, we stayed within the county but moved to a different city. I'm trying to find our '07 local taxes, and of course I can't find them at the moment but I don't remember being a problem otherwise we'd have fixed it then. I'm going to keep looking until then... but can anyone else figure out what may have happened and why they're "notifying" us now?? And why we suddenly "owe" $477??

The other part that bugs me is that this isn't even the city notifying us-- the county has their local taxes done by a 3rd party.. ugh...

 

[rantnnravin]

sounds a little phishy to me... yes even if it is certified... were you able to find any info on the company, the county, the taxing structure... i would call the county directly this week...

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I've been on the website, and basically it's just 1008 ways to pay them. DH called twice on Friday when we got the letter-- of course we got no call back. Ugh looks like a stream of phonecalls for Monday. Fun!

 

[rantnnravin]

Something interesting to check out:
http://resource.co.mohave.az.us/Repository/PressReleaseDocuments/Scamspdf_633851438331602500.pdf

ETA: I wouldn't pay any attention to the company that sent the letter - call the county directly.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Something interesting to check out:
http://resource.co.mohave.az.us/Repository/PressReleaseDocuments/Scamspdf_633851438331602500.pdf

ETA: I wouldn't pay any attention to the company that sent the letter - call the county directly.

Thank you! I'll call Monday.

 

[rantnnravin]

Glad to help - would rather you be extra cautious AND, if it does turn out to be a scam - it will alert others to be watchful of this....
Ask them specific questions like: "If I don't own property, am I expected to pay school taxes?" that sort of thing. I've never heard of a government agency outsourcing their tax collection, be sure to verify and, if they indeed do, get the contact info for the company from THEM - a 1 digit discrepancy can be a red flag.
Please do let us know what happens..

 

[Lisa_M]

I live in Pennsylvania and a 3rd party company handles the local taxes here and in a previous county I lived in. We have always lived in apartments and never been responsible for school tax. I think school tax is paid out when owners pay their property taxes.

We have 2 additional taxes that we are responsible for. A "flat rate occupational tax' that goes to the school district which is $10/person/year. I believe that is for anyone working because we don't already pay enough taxes to state and local. The other is a "Per Capita Tax" which is $15/person/year for any adult working or not working. That money is split between the township and school district.

Perhaps these types of tax are what you didn't pay and after 3 years it's $477 with penalties (which would be really outrageous!).

 

[Purseval]

There are companies that look through public records, note discrepancies and send out notices then get a percentage back from the county that gets the payment. Or the county can do it themselves. I once got a notice for a 1984 unpaid ticket in Virginia in 1994, ten years after I left the state. Not only did I have to pay it (they didn't even tell me what it was for, just that it had to be paid) I had to pay an extra $100 to get my Virginia driver's license reinstated even though I had no intention of ever setting foot in the state again. Again, I had no choice because they were holding my New Hampshire drivers license renewal hostage. So it happens, it's annoying as heck and there is nothing you can do about it.