Franklin County Accepts Flood Buyout Taxes

The city of Pacific and the Franklin County tax collector have reached an agreement on how taxes collected at closing on properties bought out after the 2008 flood will be disbursed.

Title companies collected the tax owed on each property for the portion of the year up to the time of the sale.

But when the city tried to pay them to Franklin County for disbursement to the school district and other entities, the county said it would not accept partial year taxes.

The taxes collected were held in the city’s general fund.

The issue was brought to light when resident Genetta Tomnitz discovered that the county had never received the taxes she paid at time of closing.

Tomnitz received a refund for the taxes the city collected, but City Attorney Dan Vogel said the taxes on the buyout properties were owed and the funds should be disbursed to the school, ambulance, fire district and other entities.

Reporting at the March 5 board meeting, Pacific Collector Debbie Kelley said Franklin County Collector Linda Emmons had agreed to accept the funds and disburse them to the appropriate political entities.

Kelley delivered the checks to the county on March 6 and they were accepted, said City Clerk Kim Barfield.