Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 119. No.29	July 21 , 2010

County attorney will not
pursue road service taxes

Some sixteen residents of Old Mill Estates near Gaines Road have paid to have their road completed and adopted into the Meade County system, and have waited for years. According to Second District Magistrate Herbie Chism, some eight residents are delinquent, though, and four have failed to pay anything. The estimated $1,800 is all that stands between them and a finished road.

County Attorney Margaret Matney told the Fiscal Court July 13 during its regularly scheduled meeting that she would not be pursuing the matter legally.

Chism brought up the disputed topic who asked what the county intended to do legally to pursue the payments required to complete the road.

“I’ve got a road service district due this year, and I’ve got a spreadsheet on it showing where it comes up short,” Chism explained. “My question is, what are we going to do to collect these?
Matney responded that she planned on taking no legal action to pursue those residents, citing various reasons.

“I have not chosen to pursue those for a variety of reasons,” said Matney. “One of them is the economy. And these are constituents that are asking for a road to be paid through a service district...property owners, some of them from the beginning who have said they had no desire be a part of the district. Who said they don’t want to pay it and don’t want to be involved, and you’ll get it when they die from their estate....”

“and we’ve got a pretty bad economy and you are asking the county attorney’s office to file suit against constitutents. Community members. I understand what the ordinance provides, but I think any action should be done with great thought and should not be taken hastily. It’s a hard act to take guys and not something you do lightly.”

In response, Chism asked what he should tell the residents who have paid toward completion of their roads, and are awaiting their neighbors to do the same -- either voluntarily, or through legal channels.

“I agree with Ms. Matney to a certain point,” said Chism. “But what do I tell these people who paid in full? It’s clear in our ordinance what we’re supposed to do.”

“Like I said, I’m clear about the ordinance,” she replied. “Feel free to give them my phone number, I’m more than happy to talk to them.”

The meeting skirmish seemed to have centered on the technicalities of the words “may” or “shall.”
Investigation reveals that Meade County Fiscal Court Ordinance No. 2004-10, which amended Ordinance 2004-05defines in specific detail that residents more than 30-days delinquent in payment for the road service will be considered a “delinquent taxpayer,” and subject to those penalties.
It goes on to state that “the tax shall constitute a lien against a delinquent taxpayer’s real estate in the road service district on which a tax is levied. In the event a taxpayer fails to pay the portion of the tax when due, the Meade County Fiscal Court, through its attorney, may either initiate a civil action to collect the tax owed and it shall have the same remedies as provided for the recovery for the recovery of a debt owed. Or, the county may initiate foreclosure proceedings against a delinquent taxpayer’s real estate, provided the county has filed a “Notice of Tax Lien”....

The ordinance is limited to private roads existing prior to the passage of the Meade County Road

Ordinance that was adopted in 1999.

Prior to 1999, residents followed a procedure for road service district request that began with petitioning the county:

Residents made a request to their magistrate, and the magistrate in turn requested the road supervisor to survey the project and determine the costs of bringing the road up to chip and seal or blacktop standards. Based upon the estimated cost, a petition is drafted by the judge executive’s office...

A payment plan for residents of the street is drafted based upon a five-year collection period, with a five-percent cost-of-living standard built in.

The petition must then be signed by a majority of the registered voters in the district. The petition is then filed and certified with the county clerk’s office for an $8.00 fee. An ordinance stating all of the conditions and costs required by the county is then drafted, and as all ordinances, must have two readings at Fiscal Court. If approved, the county will then begin billing and collecting procedures.

Residents then receive a yearly invoice due in 60-days. If not paid, they will then get a delinquent notice with ten additional days to pay. If payment is not received, they are then reported to the county attorney’s office for collection.

The official policy statement states “The county will Make every effort to collect 100-percent of monies owed, even after the road work is complete (after 90-percent of the total is collected), even if at or near the five year mark.”

The policy statement goes on to state that after ninety-percent of the first year’s tax is collected, the county will begin to maintain the gravel road. At 90-percent of the total tax is collected, the county will “chip-and-seal” or “blacktop” the road.

Not a new topic in Fiscal Court, at a regularly scheduled meeting July 14, 2009, a motion was made by Esquire Hubbard, and seconded by Chism to “have Margaret Matney, Meade County Attorney pursue collection of the delinquent road service districts and report back to the Fiscal Court by the next regular sheduled session of the Meade County Fiscal Court.”

“We’ve had this argument on several occasions,” said Chism. “But our obligation is to try and collect this money and get the job done. Without putting a lien on this property, if it is sold or transferred, then we’ve lost the right to pursue this on behalf of the people who have paid for a road.”

According to Judge Executive Harry Craycroft, the county has completed around nine roads under the service district plan, including Johnnie Pack, Medley, and Cherokee Spurs among others, with plans to do Brown Acres this summer.

However, he estimates that there are still eight others that fall under the service district models.

“Do I feel sorry for the ones that have paid, and still don’t have a road? Yes I do,” said Craycroft. “The county simply collects the money though. If people don’t pay for their road, we turn it over to the county attorney, and at that point my office is done with it.”

One resident on Thornhill Trail, said he is tired of eating and breathing the dust.

“This is frustrating,” he explained. “I would like to see a conclusion to this reached by the Fiscal Court, the county attorney and the residents. This should have been done by the fifth year. When we pledged our money, we expected it to be done.”

He added that some people on the road didn’t care, some don’t have the money, but they’re all good people and I wish we could get together and iron something out.”

The county now requires developers to complete roads to Meade County specifications, prior to adoption into the system.

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