AG 2002 01 28 (Regular) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Memorandum ,¢-5 North Carolina Association of COunty Commissioners Mailing Address: P. O. Box 1488, Raleigh, NC 27602-1488 Street Address: Albert Coates Local Government Center, 215 N. Dawson Street, Raleigh, NC 27603 Telephone: 919-715-2893 · Fax: 919-733-1065 · Email: ncacc~ncac¢.org Home Page Address: http://www.nea¢¢.org To: From: Date: Subject: County Managers, Tax Collectors, Tax Administrators, Finance Officers John E. Whitehurst, Project Manager January 23, 2002 Addendum to NC Local Government Debt Setoff Program The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) and the North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM) jointly sponsored Debt Setoff Clearinghouse Program is now operational. The program is authorized by NCGS 105A-1 through NCGS 105A-16. As with all new programs, the need arises to change and/or fine-tune planned processes. Such is the case with the Debt Setoff Program and the manner in which counties and municipalities handle property tax collections. Throughout the State there are many collection arrangements that rely upon the county to administer the property tax collection process for its cities. NCGS 105-354, Collections for districts and other units of local government, allows, "whenever a taxing unit collects taxes for some district or other unit of local government, those taxes, for collection and foreclosure purposes, shall be treated as taxes of the taxing unit malting the collection." If your county collects and enforces the collection of current year and delinquent property taxes on behalf of' your cities, the total (municipal and county) of all delinquent taxes for an individual debtor, for each year, parcel, vehicle, etc., may be combined to meet the $50 minimum requirement and be submitted as a single debt. Again, combining property tax debts is only permissible if a county .is collecting and enforcing the collection of property taxes for its municipalities. Otherwise, each taxing unit, individually, must submit single debts at or above the $50 minimum limit. Note also that each tax year stands alone and each vehicle stands alone and each of these must meet the $50 minimum limit. Therefore, effective immediately, if your particular county's arrangement with your cities complies with the above statute, you may combine and file the property tax debts on behalf of these units. Please also be aware that the automated voice response system will refer any delinquent property taxpayers to your county's debt setoff contact. In ord6r to facilitate this change, we are adding an Addendum F - Collection of Taxes for Other Units to the debt setoff information package mailed to you in early November. Counties that have already approved and returned the Addendum A (Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement) should also complete and return Addendum F to the Association. Those counties that are still in the approval process should complete and return the Addendum F along with the other required documentation. This addendum will be added to the Association website, www.ncacc.org, along with the other forms and program information. We hope this Change will simplify property tax debt reporting. If you have questions, please contact: John E. Whitehurst (program implementation), Rebecca Troutman (technical assistance) or Jim Blackburn (legal assistance) at 919.715.2893. Addendum F