Assessor points out property tax errors often made by owners

By Matthew Hill

As Fox News Channel pundit and best-selling author Bill O’Reilly is fond of saying and writing, “Who is looking out for you?”

When it comes to local property taxes, an apt rejoinder to that query might be, “Fayette County Assessor Eddie Young.”

Young took time last week to illustrate some common and costly mistakes made by property taxpayers in Fayette County in hopes of saving them some money in what looks to be an economically trying 2009.

Many people erroneously shove their property tax tickets in a drawer and forget about them when they receive them each July, thinking they are not due until the next April. Big mistake, Young said.

“You’re going to pay interest on that if you wait until next April to pay it. If you wait until after April to pay it, it gets published in the newspaper and there are extra (publication) charges,” he explained.

“Another mistake is when people get their taxes in July and it (the ticket) says, ‘Additional unpaid tickets exist.’ That’s a red flag. You need to find out what that means. It means either last year’s taxes weren’t paid and they’re delinquent, or the property is split as multi-class property.”

During a property transaction, Young observed, attorneys often explain that next July’s taxes are going to be in the seller’s name. People forget about that and are confused when they receive a tax ticket for property they may have sold months ago.

One effort being made by Young’s office to reduce confusion is to mail next July’s tax tickets to property buyers instead of sellers. “The tax ticket will be in the seller’s name in care of the buyer’s name. Starting with 2009, those will be mailed to the buyer,” he noted.

“In years past, the tax ticket was sent to the seller if they owned it on July 1 (of the previous year). If they got it, the buyer would either have to get it from them or come here and get a copy of it. People don’t understand taxes.”

Young conceded that property taxes are a source of great confusion. What many don’t realize is the tax ticket they receive in July was assessed the previous July but is owed — either in full or in part — by the current owner, not the prior owner who may have owned the property last July.

The only exception to that, he said, would be if a person owned some property and sold a portion of the acreage to another. Young can’t split that ticket. The ticket would go to the seller in that instance. “Taxes are complicated,” he surmised.

According to Young, a person could have bought a piece of property in March 2007 and had all legal work done on it. The taxes due at the time of sale are the 2006 taxes because 2007 taxes are mailed out in July 2007.

“At closing, your attorney pays the 2006 taxes. He did his job. The problem is the 2007 taxes are in the previous owner’s name. Up until this year they were mailed to the previous owner. Starting in 2009, they will be in the previous owner’s name and mailed in care of the new owner,” he explained.

The problem here, Young said, is that most new owners think that they do not owe this tax ticket and either do not check it or ignore it completely.

“It then goes delinquent and all of the above-mentioned problems can occur. So when you purchase a new property, it is your responsibility to see that all taxes are current. I think that by sending the tax ticket to the new owner, we will avoid a lot of these problems,” he stated.

Another discrepancy Young often witnesses is that of the difference in taxes owed on rental property as opposed to property on which the owner resides.

“Let’s say I own a rental house and I rent it. I then sell it to you. If you own rental property, the taxes are double what they would be if you lived there and owned it,” he stated.

“If I own a house, taxes are $500 a year if I live there. If I don’t live there and I rent it, taxes are $1,000. Now, a July 2009 tax ticket comes out for $1,000, you (the buyer) think, ‘My gosh, $1,000 for taxes?’ When it all shakes out and goes into your name, it will just be $500. You would pay $1,000 for July 2009. Then in 2010, you would pay $500.”

Young reiterated that a person is responsible for property taxes owed whether he or she actually receives the ticket. “When I buy property, I’m responsible for taxes whether I get a ticket or not. There is a section of the West Virginia Code on that,” he emphasized.

“Either way you do it, it’s going to be a conflict somehow. If I’ve got 500 conflicts a year and I can knock it down to 250, that’s good,” he said.

The Fayette County assessor’s office is open for questions from the public between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays.

For more information, call deputy assessors Robin Brown and Nancy Carr at 304-574-4240 and 304-574-4239 respectively. You may also e-mail Young at eyoung1@assessor.state.wv.us.

— E-mail: mhill@register-herald.com