At least five people
should be giving extra thanks during their Thanksgiving dinners for newly
approved, lucrative Lake County government contracts that further carve into
taxpayers' wallets.
The five stand to make
hundreds of thousands in county taxpayer dollars for collecting delinquent
property taxes — essentially performing the work of the Lake County
treasurer's office. Taxpayers should demand an end to this gravy train.
Delinquent county tax
collections put fat turkeys on the tables of politically connected hired guns
year after year.
Some of those folks,
like former tax collector Roosevelt Powell, haven't exactly fostered confidence
we're spending our money wisely. Powell was convicted in 2007 in Hammond
federal court for defrauding taxpayers in a Gary land deal.
Powell's crime aside,
county officials need to begin explaining why they require so many third-party
tax collectors — and other outside consultants — to perform work
required of government offices.
Last week, the Lake
County commissioners rubber-stamped tax collection contracts with five
perennial hired guns, each of whom stands to pocket 10 percent to 15 percent of
any delinquent property taxes collected.
Four of the
five — Jewell Harris Jr., Ronald Ostojic, John Stanish and Alexander Lopez —
collectively made $465,000 last year and netted $107,585 thus far in 2013.
Harris alone received
$180,518 in 2012 and collected $73,393 this year to date.
Thanks to new 2014
deals, the tax collectors will have a chance to do it all again. How exciting
for them and disappointing for the rest us.
The county treasurer
is quick to explain delinquent taxpayers end up funding these third-party
collectors through late fees. But wouldn't that money be better used in the
county's general fund — you know, the one so economically malnourished
that county officials passed a new local income tax earlier this year to fatten
it up?
The treasurer's office
boasts 37 employees and a $1.8 million budget.
Are any of these folks
capable of collecting taxes without the additional expense of a group of
virtual bounty hunters?
Delinquent taxes are a
hindrance to efficient government. But why must the county so frequently answer
inefficiencies with more inefficiencies? If the county staff already receiving
government pay and handsome health care and other benefits aren't capable of
handling these tasks, perhaps it's time to restructure how the office does
business.
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