COUNTRY OFFICES INCREASE FEES FOR RETIREMENT FUND

JACKSON -- A number of fee increases became effective this week in three county offices.

The higher fees were passed by the 1994 session of the Missouri General Assembly. The fee hikes are collected in the offices of county assessor, collector, and recorder of deeds. The additional fee money will be turned over to the state to help fund a new retirement program for county employees and elected officials.

Cape Girardeau County Collector Harold Kuehle explained that the largest fee increase in his office is for county merchant licenses, which have been $5 since he came into office 28 years ago. The new fee is $25.

The penalty on late taxes, which currently is 2 percent, will increase to 5 percent. In addition, there is still a 2-percent-per-month interest charge on delinquent taxes collected from January through September each year.

The 3 percent penalty hike, combined with existing interest and penalty fees, puts the maximum annual charge on delinquent taxes at 23 percent.

County Assessor Jerry Reynolds is now required to charge penalties to taxpayers who do not return personal property assessment lists within two months of the due date.

Personal property lists are usually mailed in January, so taxpayers can identify the items they owned as of Jan. 1 that will be assessed and included in tax bills for that year. The lists are due by March 1. But after a reminder notice is sent, the assessor is required to charge a penalty on lists not turned in by May 1.

The penalty is $10 for property with assessed value of up to $1,000. It increases in $10 increments per $1,000 assessment up to $9,001. From there up the penalty is $100.

Reynolds said an average Cape County taxpayer with a personal property assessment of $8,000 failing to file a list on time would pay $321 in taxes and a penalty of $80.

"There is no problem if you get your list turned in," said Reynolds. "If people don't get them turned in, they will be paying."

Recorder of Deeds Janet Robert is required to charge an additional $6 fee on all filed or recorded documents in her office, including marriage licenses.

In addition, a $3 fee is added to real estate documents only that go to the Missouri Housing Trust for low-income housing.

"The new fees are all mandated by the legislature. The county does not keep any of this," said Robert.

The fee for a marriage license is now $50. Of that amount, only $15 goes to the county. Other fees have been added over the years to fund specific programs.

Several years ago voters in Cape County approved a $15 increase in marriage license fees to pay for programs that deal with domestic violence; another $10 increase passed by the legislature goes to the Children's Trust Fund; and a $4 user fee enacted by the legislature is split between the county and state for records preservation.