By Terry Bailey
The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their weekly meeting at the Courthouse Monday morning, September 25. All Commissioners and the County Clerk were present.
The Commissioners took time at the beginning of their meeting to issue a proclamation declaring the month of October as Downs Syndrome Awareness Month in Mitchell County.
The Commissioners revisited the issue of back taxes owed on a property located in Simpson. The tax issue is regarding a trailer and the land on which the trailer sits and the several owners of the land and the trailer. A trailer is taxed as personal property and the land is taxed as real estate. This is also complicated by whether or not the trailer is sitting on a permanent foundation. If it sits on a permanent foundation it is taxed as real estate rather than personal property. And the determining of a permanent foundation can be easily misunderstood.
The official discussion below is from the County Clerk Heather Weston's minutes of the September 18th meeting of the Mitchell County Commissioners:
During the Monday, September 18, 2023, Mitchell County Commissioners meeting, Paul Torres was present regarding a county tax sale dispute. In attendance was Mark Noah, County Attorney, Yvonne Melton, County Treasurer, Tony Perez, Sheriff, and Melinda Latham, County Appraiser. Torres was concerned when his name was connected to unpaid taxes in the newspaper. The problem occurred because a trailer house that used to set on his land has unpaid property taxes. The trailer house has since been moved to another property. Torres purchased the property with a clean title. Noah assured Torres that his property would not be sold, and it was an incorrectly classified which led to the issue. Noah is going to see if there is anything the commissioners can do to rectify the problem.
In the Wednesday, September 20 issue of the Beloit Call it was written that Torres had purchased the property in question, from Eberle's which was incorrect. Eberle's were the first owners that sold the property to "Gator" Hyman in 2017. The trailer house is what has the unpaid property taxes on it. Not the property itself.
The author of the story regarding the event in the Beloit Call extends his apologies for any incorrect information in that story."
The Commissioners conducted a phone call discussion with Kate Carter of CAD Law, LLC, attorney for the Hymans regarding the back tax issue. Yvonne Melton, Mitchell County Treasurer, agreed to send past documentation regarding the tax issue to Carter for her review.
Brian Streit, Director of Courthouse Maintenance, addressed the Commissioners saying, "My lawnmower died." He said the transmission is broken and needs to be replaced. The cost of replacing is around $1,500 and was inquiring whether it is better to replace the older machine or fix it. He said the mower was due to be replaced next year. After significant discussion of the pros and cons of replacing versus fixing, the Commissioner decided to fix the machine because there appears to be life left in it.
Emily Benedick, Economic Development Director, addressed the Commissioners regarding the R program which assists new employees of Mitchell County with rebates on student loan debt.