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Property tax revenue grows with county By Phil Jankowski Despite some residents failing to pay, Williamson County has collected more than 99 percent of property tax revenue since 2003. The Commissioner's Court heard the results of a report from a law firm which arranges the collection of delinquent taxes with the Williamson County Tax Collector. With the addition of penalties and interest, the county managed to gather more than the actual money owed. This is due to old balances being paid during a later fiscal year, according to Harvey Allen, who presented the report on behalf of the law firm McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen. Through the use of notices and the threat of legal action, the county has able to collect on balances owed. For the most part, the balances are settled before legal action is taken, Allen said. Payment plans were made available for those property owners unable to pay the amount due. If the plans were violated then lawsuits continued. Sometimes judgments lead to property being seized, though Allen said this was not a desirable outcome. “The county is not in the real estate business,” he said. Since July 1, 2005 the law firm has posted sale for 233 properties. Most of these were retained by the owner after coming to a settlement, although 45 had been auctioned. Only one homestead has ever been taken from the owner because of delinquent property taxes, Allen said. Most properties sold by the office are abandoned buildings. For 2003 the firm collected about 93 percent of delinquent taxes. For 2004 it collected 92 percent of money owed and a little less than 87 percent for 2005. As time passes those percentages go up as old debts are settled. Some balances remain exempt and the firm said it would never be able to collect 100 percent of taxes owed. Sometimes notices for payment are returned because the addressee is unreachable. Bankruptcy can also lead to property taxes not being collected. All work fees assessed by the law firm were charged to the delinquent taxpayers. The amount of revenue generated by property taxes has grown each year. Since 2003, revenue has grown from $94.4 million to $124.5 million in 2006, nearly a 32 percent increase.
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