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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12111984 - T.2 r THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY , CALIFORNIA Adopted this Order on December 11 , 1984 , by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: - (See Page 2 for Vote) ABSTAIN: SUBJECT: Request for Abatement of Tax Penalty The Board on October 23, 1984 , received a request from Arlene F . Steffen , 2529 Aranda Drive , San Ramon 94585 , requesting abatement of penalty for failure to timely remit the second installment of her 1983-1984 property taxes . Subsequent to receipt of the aforesaid letter , Ms . Steffen requested time to present her case to the Board and was assigned time to appear before the Board on this date . Ms . Steffen appeared before the Board this day and explained that on several occasions she had telephoned the Assessor' s Office and the Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector to determine if there were any taxes due on the property she recently acquired . She was told that there were no taxes due . Ms . Steffen indicated that even though she was aware that the taxes were paid at the close of escrow, she had concerns as to the validity of that advice , since the taxes on her escrow documents appeared to address the taxes for the first installment . It was readily apparent to her that the purchase of her property was subject to the new tax laws providing for reassessment as well as the imposition of a supplemen- tal tax levy as provided by the statutes . She did not realize the second installment taxes were delinquent until so notified by her mortgage holder . Ms . Steffan readily agreed that she was delinquent , but felt that the penalty was unfairly imposed and should be abated . She agreed to reimburse the County for interest that would have been earned if the taxes were timely paid . J . M. Martinez , Tax Collection Operations Officer , responded to questions of Board members and advised that the pro- perty owner had available to her the escrow documentation on December of 1983 which would have indicated payment of the first installment . From this document , the property owner should have ascertained the due date of the second tax installment to be April 10, 1984 . Mr . Martinez noted that there is no statutory provision to notify new property owners relative to their tax obligation as it applies to the existing tax roll . Supervisor S. W. McPeak advised that her office receives calls from individuals objecting to the imposition of a penalty because taxes were not timely paid . Her staff does not assist in these kinds of requests to have the penalty removed . Hoever , she advised that she believes this situation is different in that con- tact was made with the Treasurer-Tax Collector' s Office and that information may not have been properly presented . Supervisor R . I . Schroder expressed the belief that Ms . Steffen made an honest error and that upon being made aware of the error promptly paid the taxes and the penalty. He therefore moved the abatement of the penalty less the interest that would have been earned by the County if the taxes were paid on time . Supervisor McPeak seconded the motion . 00 1'71. Supervisor T . Powers advised that he could not support the motion because even though he sympathized with Ms . Steffen' s situation , he pointed out that errors of this kind can and do occur . He cited many instances where a taxpayer has called his office pro- testing the imposition of the penalty and giving reasons why the taxes were not timely paid . He advised that he had no reason to doubt their explanations . However , he referred to statutory provi- sions relative to tax due dates and particularly the section that provides that a penalty shall be imposed when taxes are delinquent . Supervisor N . C . Fanden advised that she concurred with Supervisor Powers and that she could not support the motion . There being no further discussion , the Chairman called for a vote on the motion: AYES: Supervisors Schroder , McPeak , Torlakson NOES: Supervisors Powers , Fanden ABSENT: None hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the c c: M s . Steffen 8orrd of Supervisors on the date shown. Treasurer-Tax Collector ATTESTED: Auditor-Controller Assessor Pt-i?! BATCHELOR, Clerk of the Boyd County Administrator of Supervisors and County Administrator By s�� 7 "�1�� Deputy 00 172