Collecting taxes is never easy

422

Alderman Melissa Greene noted at the Feb. 12 city council meeting that it’s difficult for the city to cite property owners who live out of town but rent their properties illegally through Airbnb, for example. There are also absent property owners who apparently have no intention of maintaining their properties, andsShe asked if posting a sign on the property would be an effective deterrent.

City Attorney Tim Weaver replied that posting would not force anyone to go to court, and if the owners are out of state, the city cannot go get them, thus he did not see posting signs as productive.

Greene responded a sign might deter someone from wanting to rent there, which would impact the owner, but alderman Terry McClung said a property owner might just ask whoever kept up the property to simply remove the sign.

Alderman Kristi Kendrick asked about putting a lien on these properties, and Weaver replied that a lien is evidence of a debt, and there might be no debt, however a dilapidated property might fall under the Clean City Ordinance, and then the city could act.

Discussion led to the fact that some out-of-state property owners might not be paying local taxes on their rentals and might not have local business licenses. Mayor Butch Berry suggested Weaver look into it and report back.