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"Now they go to one location to pay all personal property, both county and the city," said Livengood.
He added that the city now will save between $40,000 and $45,000 annually. Last month, aldermen passed an ordinance that stripped the collector's office of duties and reduced the salary to $1.
The county will charge about $18,000, plus some additional charges, to collect city taxes. The current collector's salary, benefits and payments to the city's insurance provider total over $60,000.
In August, Collector Ruth Dowil asked the city's personnel and finance committee to not go through "the backdoor" and lower the collector's salary to make the position undesirable for a candidate.
The city can set the salary for the collector, however eliminating the elected position must appear on the ballot and be approved by Union residents.
The discussion stemmed from a request by Dowil to raise the collector's salary by $1,500 next year. Her four-year term ends in April 2010.
By law, the city must set the salary of an elected position prio r to the date filing opens. Filing for the April election begins in December.
County Collection
The county collector's office began collecting for municipalities in 1998 when it started collecting for Washington. Other cities began soliciting the service. In 2006, Pacific was the latest to have the county collect its taxes.
Each of the cities the county collects for is assessed a charge for the service. One and one-half percent of the total charge goes to the collector's fund and one-half percent goes to the assessor's fund.
That money goes to the general revenue fund and offsets the extra costs in each office.
In addition to the collector and assessor charges, the county collector and clerk each get a $2,000 commission for their services. This is because both are held personally accountable for the accuracy of their offices.v Berger, Gerald, Leslie, Oak Grove Village and Parkway Village do not have to pay to have the county to collect their taxes for them because so little tax is collected.
Another benefit to cities is that the county is better able to collect on delinquent bills. As long as the individual lives within the state, he or she will have to pay personal property tax to renew license plates and tags at the Missouri Department of Revenue.
