Dear Source:
On June 6, 2008, I received delinquent property tax notices from the office of the Lt. Governor. These bills were from the years 1995, 1996 and 2005. Thankfully, I was able to find my tax bills and went to the Dept of Finance to show them that I had paid these taxes. It was surprising to see the 2005 bill, for it was paid in March of 2007, right after the bill came out.
When I enquired about why this was happening, I was told that a lot of delinquent bills went out because the Tax Assessors Office had been using a manual system, and were now upgrading to a computerized system. Dozens of friends are reporting that they got notices of allegedly unpaid bills also.
I feel bad for the people who for whatever reason cannot locate their old tax bills, many lost in Hurricane Hugo or Marilyn, or when they moved to another domicile. People who cannot find 10 year old records will be billed again because of poor record keeping by the Tax Assessors Office. There is a six year statute of limitations law on the books which limits the government's ability to bring an action to collect taxes beyond that period. No bills should go out after the time for limitations is up. If the government cannot record the paid taxes, what are we paying government employees to do all day?
Albert E. Willis
St. John
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