Tarrant County’s top administrator may have figured out a way to fix a tax mess that has left 5,000 taxpayers waiting for $12 million in refunds.
Tarrant County's top administrator may have figured out a way to fix a tax mess that has left 5,000 taxpayers waiting for $12 million in refunds.
Under the plan, Tarrant County would advance money from its large general budget to cover a cash crunch in the tax assessor-collector’s office.
“Our whole purpose is to make sure that we make our taxpayers whole as quickly as possible,” said longtime Tarrant County Administrator G.K. Maenius. “It’s unfortunate that this occurred. But quite frankly, we need to do right with our taxpayers.”
Lawyers are researching whether the unusual plan is constitutional.
The issue is on the county commissioner’s agenda next Tuesday.
Maenius said the county has plenty of money at its disposal to make sure taxpayers get their refunds as soon as possible.
The problem started when tax assessor-collector Ron Wright said he was inundated with a large number of refunds at once from the Tarrant Appraisal District.
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Wright said his office has little money coming in from taxes this time of year and that the high number of refunds had caused a cash-flow problem that would last until the end of October.
The tax office usually quickly passes on money it collects from taxpayers to John Peter Smith Hospital, the county and various cities and school districts.
Wright said Friday he was waiting to learn whether the county administrator's financing plan was legal before he would formally ask commissioners to front the money.
