Former Union County Tax Collector Paula Beard denies property taxes from Union County residents’ tax bills, including one Justice of the Peace, were exempted during her time in office.
Tensions mounted toward the end of last month’s Union County Quorum Court meeting when District 7 Justice of the Peace Johnny Burson asked fellow JP William Crowder (District 8) to step down.
“He took an exemption. He didn’t pay his taxes,” Burson said at the meeting. “I think by not paying his taxes, by taking the exemption, that he’s compromised his ability to be an effective Quorum Court member. I asked him today that I think he needs to resign.”
Crowder immediately denied Burson’s claims, saying he has always paid whatever the tax collector told him he owed.
“I pay what the office tells me to pay,” he said. “I paid all my taxes. My taxes are paid in full.”
There was still one property with delinquent taxes from 2015 on it under Crowder’s name, however; the tax bill, noting property taxes on a parcel in Felsenthal and totaling $245.53 at the time of the meeting, had been exempted in June, 2017 with the exemption signed off on by Beard, according to documents provided to the News-Times by current tax collector Karen Scott. That delinquency had yet to be paid at the time of the June meeting.
“I was not aware of it,” he said. “Everyone that’s trying to do this right here is trying to make it look like it was deliberate, but there wasn’t nothing deliberate about it. All my taxes, as I realize, are all paid for. Except for the Felsenthal.”
Immediately after the Quorum Court meeting, Crowder was at the tax collector’s office paying off his bill. His taxes are now paid in full.
Burson persisted past Crowder’s denials. He said he doubted Crowder’s ability to make financial decisions.
“All I can tell you is that I’ve been in business long enough to make financial decisions,” Crowder said. “The people put me in this position and I’m going to stay here until the people put me out.”
Extensive exemptions
Per Arkansas Attorney General Opinion 2014-117, “County courts or officials do not have the authority to exempt or forgive the taxes due on a property owner’s property.” Some exceptions do apply, such as the homestead exemption and some exemptions for manufacturing facilities.
Asked yesterday if she ever exempted property taxes during her tenure as tax collector, Beard gave contradictory answers, saying at one point she had given property tax exemptions and saying later she didn’t exempt property taxes. Documents provided by Scott indicate more than $58,000 in property taxes were exempted during Beard’s time in office.
“Through the years, other tax collectors have [exempted taxes],” she said. “They are allowed to exempt penalties in certain circumstances.”
Beard said when she was in office, she had a policy where no late penalties could be removed without signatures from at least two tax collector’s office employees, adding that she believes some of her former employees broke that rule.
“Ms. Scott and all the other staff in there are the ones who removed penalties also,” Beard said. “I am not going to comment anymore, because, if this gets out of control then there’s going to be an issue.”
She did not explain what the issue would be. Beard said she would be prepared to argue her case if asked by legislative auditors, though.
“I’m ready to go present my case if they call me. I’m ready to go to Little Rock or if there’s a private audit or whatever kind of audit they want to have,” she said. “There was no wrongdoing in my office. They can continue to keep trying to dig and dig and dig, but they’re not going to find anything.”
Unpaid bill ‘a mistake’
The exemptions on Crowder’s tax bill were for personal properties. The Felsenthal property he owed delinquent taxes on has since been sold to another individual. The new owner was billed for Crowder’s 2015 delinquency and visited the Union County Courthouse to complain.
“The man who bought the property got a bill for 2015 taxes and that’s when it belonged to you,” Union County Judge Mike Loftin said at the June Quorum Court meeting.
Crowder stands by his denials, saying yesterday that the unpaid tax bill was a simple mistake.
“If this is all that they’ve got, they’re barking up the wrong tree,” he said. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I stand for the people, first. I don’t stand for this bull that’s going on. The people are what matters to me, first and foremost, because the people are the ones that put me in this position, going on nine years, and the people will have to be the one that takes me out.”
Crowder said typically, his wife takes care of their tax bills. Asked if he and Beard ever spoke about delinquent taxes or late penalties, Crowder gave a firm “no.”
“I did what I said I was going to do; I went down there and I paid it,” he said. “None of us are perfect. If anybody on that Quorum Court thinks they’re perfect then they’re wrong.”
The Union County Quorum Court will meet again today at 10 a.m. in the third-floor Quorum Courtroom at the Union County Courthouse.
Caitlan Butler can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].