Who owes these unpaid taxes?

A perplexing situation involving the Custer County Director of Equalization Office, Custer County Sheriff’s Office, Southern Hills Title Company and unpaid property taxes came to the fore at the Dec. 27 meeting of the Custer County Commission.
At that time it was learned delinquent property taxes are owed and a distress warrant was issued for a Custer County home for which back taxes are owed from the second half of 2020 through 2022.
The question raised at the commission meeting was who exactly owes the money.
The home, which is located in the Hermosa area, is located on property where there was also another home.  In one home a husband and wife lived, while their son lived in the other home. The parents paid the property tax for the land and their home, but requested that the equalization department tax their son separately for the home in which he lived, which the equalization department agreed to do. This is known as a building on leased site, or a BLS.
In 2019 the son moved off the property, and in 2020, the entire property went up for sale and sold. When the sale was completed, the son’s home was included in the sale, with the son allegedly signing off on it being included in the sale (conducted by the parents) to the new owners.
However, neither the sellers or the son told county equalization the son had agreed to make his separately-taxed home a part of the sale, so the county continued to send the son the tax bill for the home. The son apparently did not leave a forwarding address, and was not receiving the bills, and apparently believed the new owners were paying the taxes as a part of the sale.
The buyers did not know about the separate tax bill for the property, nor did the title company. It would not have shown up on the county’s Beacon system if it were searched, unless the searcher knew the specific parcel or son’s name, because a BLS site is not listed on Beacon without the specific search criteria. Rather, the land and what is on it is listed.
Eventually a distress warrant was issued for the owed back taxes, which amount to around $4,000. When Custer County Sheriff’s Office civil deputy Jessica Brown searched Beacon to look up the property the parcel wasn’t valid. She then typed in the son’s name, and it showed as a BLS.
Because there was no chain of transfer of ownership or evidence the son had agreed to sell his home with the larger sale and the sellers didn’t tell the equalization office as much, nobody knew anything about it being part of the sale. As far as the county knew, the son still owned the home and was supposed to be paying the property taxes.
Custer County state’s attorney Tracy Kelley said it’s really nobody’s fault, saying the equalization office was merely trying to help the owners by sending tax bills as requested.
“If there is two separate parcels, there should be two separate tax bills,” she said. “Because what happens when they turn around and sell them? What happens when they mortgage one and not the other? It creates problems. I know we are trying to be kinder and gentler to taxpayers and help them out but it can create problems like this one has created problems.”
Jim Ashmore of Southern Hills Title said he was struggling with this coming to light “three years down the road,” and said if the taxes aren’t paid, he would have to pay them, and subsequently would have to try to get the money back.
“That means I have to hire someone to do that. I have to pay them and incur more costs. It wasn’t my deal,” he said. “I’m struggling with it on the county side. I’m struggling with the fact you weren’t able to find it.”
The back tax situation was of course not remedied at the time of the closing since nobody was aware it existed.
Kelley said the title company should not pay the due taxes, and if they don’t get paid the remaining taxpayers of Custer County are on the hook.
“It’s a valid tax that should have been paid by the son and should have continued to be paid by the purchasers,” she said. “They didn’t know it existed, so it’s not their fault.”
The payment deadline of Jan. 3, which has since passed, was the largest concern. The sheriff’s office has a statutory obligation to take care of the warrant within a certain time frame, or it can be held liable. If the county took custody of the home it would sell the building to take care of the warrant.
The commission eventually agreed to rescind the warrant and reissue it to buy more time to collect the money. It was indicated the money may be sought from the previous owners who made the sale.
County officials said later the treasurer’s office will work with people on a payment plan to pay off back taxes so that homes do not have to be levied and/or sold.
It was later learned the taxes were paid in full by the sellers.
In other news from the Dec. 27 meeting, the commission:
• Heard from county highway superintendent Jess Doyle, who told the commission the application for funding for the Bridge Improvement Grant money for the bridge on Riverside Road near Buffalo Gap won’t happen for another year. A type size and location report for the bridge is needed from the state.
•  Learned from Doyle the snowstorm around Christmastime was spotty, with the largest band from Four Mile to the Limestone area. In some areas snow was left on the road for moisture to blade, Doyle said.
• Doyle said he received several calls from Box Canyon requesting plowing, even though the two inches that fell in that area are under the county’s threshold for plowing. Doyle said he had the crew pow it anyway.
• Learned from Sheriff Marty Mechaley the county received $15,000 from Wind Cave National Park for dispatch services, and that the contract with Battle Mountain Humane Society for animal control in the county would be $1,083 per month, the same price it has been.
• Learned from Custer County emergency management director Steve Esser that work continues to ensure all the outdoor warning sirens are operational including recently-received parts and transformers for the siren on Boot Hill. Four of the sirens are now functional.