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Ware: 1% tax collection proposal ; Private companies vie for contract to handle the work for Waycross [Florida Times Union](Florida Times Union Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WAYCROSS | Ware County Tax Commissioner Roger E. Collins cut his proposed commission for collecting city property taxes in half, from 2 percent of collections to 1 percent, Wednesday but said he doesn't expect to get a contract. He spoke late Wednesday afternoon at a City Commission work session to hear proposals from private companies, one that would provide software the city could use to send out bills and another that would go after delinquent taxes. Ed Marshall from Harris Computer Systems said his company would provide the needed software for about $27,000, then there would be an annual cost of $4,700 for ongoing support. When other costs for mailing, printing bills and other requirements are figured in, it could be about $13,000 a year, he and City Finance Director Danny Lamonte said. Marshall said his company has experience printing about 4 million tax bills each year. Lamonte said city clerks would collect the payments made in person at City Hall while some may pay online. That could be done without hiring additional personnel, he said. Those who don't pay could hear from Delinquent Tax Services, company president John Watson said, and it wouldn't cost the city anything. "We're paid when the city is paid," he said. Delinquent taxpayers would pay the company $55 on the first collection try, but if the company has to go through another round of tracking down the taxpayer to collect, the bill would go to $185, Watson said. He also pledged to work with hardship cases to get the taxes paid rather than auctioning off the property. "Our goal is to get the taxes paid, not sell property," he said. But Collins countered there are other issues, that costs go up in the case of bankruptcies and liens on property, and that is not figured in the prices the two companies cited. He warned, "There's a lot more there than taking money and sending out bills." As Collins made his pitch for a 1 percent commission - which could come to $28,000 a year to offset office expenses - and the same $10,200 salary supplement he already collects, there was a tense exchange between him and Commissioner Marian Solomon-Gaines. At one point he and Solomon-Gaines pointedly accused each other of talking down to the other. Solomon-Gaines muttered a mild expletive while Collins said, "This is ridiculous." Without a contract, Collins said he could not continue collecting city taxes. Under state law, Collins is a constitutional officer required by state law to collect county property taxes. "I shouldn't have even been collecting the [city] taxes," he said. Acting City Manager Raphel Maddox and Lamonte both said they will check with other cities and counties on how well the two private companies perform. The city doesn't have to put the work out for a bid, having declared an emergency because Collins already stopped collecting for the city. After the meeting, Collins told the Times-Union he doesn't believe the city commissioners are taking into account how hard his office has worked for them. In his first year in office, Collins said, he collected $4 million in property and personal taxes, including a lot of delinquent taxes. That was far better than his predecessor, Steve Barnard, whom he beat in the 2012 election. "What I collected in 12 months, it took him 18," Collins said. Now the city has only $347,000 in unpaid taxes and some of that is tied up in federal bankruptcy proceedings or on payment plans, he said. In a typical year, the city only collects about $2.9 million, he said. Despite his record of collecting, Collins predicted he won't get a contract. And City Commissioner Alvin Nelson showed his hand on the future vote. "As for me and my one little vote, I think the ship has sailed," he said. The commissioners will have to make a decision quickly because the tax digest on which property taxes are levied is due soon.Terry Dickson: (912) 264-0405 (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |