A bill giving the Big Stone County Board additional options for collecting delinquent taxes was passed 132-0 by the House March 6.
Sponsored by Rep. Aaron Peterson (DFL-Appleton), HF3157 would allow the county board, by resolution, to assign to the county treasurer all duties that relate to delinquent real property taxes, including forfeiture of real property for nonpayment of taxes. Concurrence of the county treasurer and auditor is also required.
“In 2006, the state auditor granted this Big Stone County request for a waiver,” Peterson said. “The recommendation is to make that permanent and allow tax-forfeited properties to return to the county tax base in a timelier manner. It was found the same county staff person performs these duties, but is supervised by two different county officials.”
Received March 10 by the Senate, the bill awaits action by the Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee where Sen. Gary Kubly (DFL-Granite Falls) is the sponsor.