Front Royal rejects County bill for decade of tax-related info

Following work session discussion, the Front Royal Town Council has rejected payment of a $98,416 retroactive bill from Warren County.  The bill is for a decade – 2007 to 2016 – of tax information sent to the Town to facilitate its personal property and real estate tax collection process.

The bills forwarded by the Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office ranged from $8,400 to $9,800 annually.  A staff summary explained that the Town paid the County for such services through 2006.  There was no staff elaboration on why those payments stopped or why the County stopped billing the Town for the services in 2007.

However, after a bill was received in July 2014, the Town Attorney’s Office responded that the Town had no current legal obligation to pay for those back-billed services.  However, staff noted the Town continues to receive the bills.

The cooperative arrangement, either paid for or not paid for, stems from the fact the Town of Front Royal is a part of Warren County.  Consequently, town residents receive personal property and real estate tax bills from both the County and Town.  And since the County Commissioner of the Revenue accumulates the relevant information on all county citizens, submission of that collected information for town residents to the Town prevents an unnecessary duplication of effort.

Town Attorney Doug Napier told Council he recently asked County Attorney Dan Whitten for a legal basis for the requested payments.  At that point Whitten asked if the Town was willing to compromise on a payment.

As of June 5, the answer is officially “NO” – And the town attorney was instructed to inform the county attorney formally of that decision.

It remains to be seen how Council’s decision will impact future receipt of that County tax information from the Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office; or if a new contract for paid services will now be submitted to the Town by the County.