“Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” That oft-used phrase was penned by Benjamin Franklin in 1789, and it holds true today.
Taxes are something almost every citizen deals with. Taxes fund our government and the services it provides. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, residents pay federal income taxes, real estate taxes, and personal property taxes, among others.
Warren County is tasked with collecting both real estate and personal property taxes biannually. Most citizens get their payments in on time, though not everyone complies. Warren County Treasurer Jamie Spiker said in a recent interview that the COVID pandemic proved hard on many, and because of that, the County opted to suspend its practice of placing holds on Virginia DMV vehicle registration renewals of drivers who were delinquent on tax payments. Municipalities also stopped other collection efforts, such as placing liens on taxpayer bank accounts and on employers’ paychecks to tax-delinquent employees.
Spiker said DMV holds will begin again in the Spring of 2023, noting that bank and employer liens were reinstated earlier this year. “Some accounts are hard to collect on if they are not employed in Virginia; they registered their vehicles in another state or in another name,” Spiker continued.
Regarding the delinquent personal property tax list, Spiker said, “Without giving actual information on specific accounts, some of the delinquents listed [on the delinquent personal property list] are either making payments, have Warrant in Debts, and/or DMV holds.“ She said some of those on the list have actually paid their back taxes since the list was produced on Oct. 3. Because of the additional monthly interest added to past-due accounts, Spiker said some balances on delinquent accounts that are making payments do not reflect much change.
As of Oct. 3, Warren County was owed over $266,000 in back personal property taxes, according to the Warren County Delinquent Personal Property database. The County has over $1.3 million in Real Estate taxes that remained uncollected as of that date. Warren County maintains a database that lists the unpaid amount for each real estate parcel by owner name and another list for delinquent personal property tax, also displayed by name.
As for real estate taxes, those accounts that are past due since 2019 were turned over to collection firms in 2022. The local firm Pond Law Group collects on past-due accounts whose last names begin with A-L. Richmond-based Taxing Authority Consulting Services (TACS) collects delinquent accounts whose last names begin with M-Z.
Ms. Spiker explained that once the collection firm gets a past-due file, real estate owners are contacted and asked for payment. Taxpayers have the option of paying fully at once or arranging a payment plan. If neither of those options is worked out, the firms begin the process that leads to a sale of the property to pay back taxes.
Tax auctions were not held in 2020 due to COVID, Spiker said, though they were restarted in 2021. There was one auction in 2021 and one in 2022. Moving forward, Warren County will have at least four delinquent property auctions annually, with each firm committed to having two per year.
Despite over a million dollars in real estate revenue remaining uncollected, Spiker says she would love to have a collections person in the Treasurer’s office, something that has been requested for almost every budget year, though such a collections position has never been approved.
Spiker said of having an in-house collector, “I feel like the position would pay for itself.” The salary for such a position could range from $35,000-$60,000, depending on qualifications. She says if the position is not approved in the next budget year, she would pursue other options, such as hiring a part-time employee or switch to an agency that handles personal property as well as real estate collections.
With delinquent taxes for real estate alone north of $1.3 million, can the Warren County Board of Supervisors afford not to add a collections position?
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