Special tax bill irks residents

At least two residents who live on Capaha Trail are upset they will have to pay a special tax bill they didn't know about until after they bought property there.

More than two years after their road was paved as part of the four-inch asphaltic pavement project of the Transportation Tax Fund, residents who live on nine streets in the extreme east part of the city will be charged tax bills of up to $10 a front foot. The roads were originally gravel.

City engineer Mark Lester said the two-year delay was due to receiving the paperwork late from the contractor, Apex Paving Co. Inc. and an undermanned engineering staff.

Because of the unusual delay, some property owners will be faced with tax bills they knew nothing about.

Randy Arbuckle bought a house on Capaha Trail about 18 months ago, about six months after the road was paved.

He was given no indication he would receive a tax bill until Ward 6 councilman Frank Stoffregen -- who also owns property on Capaha Trail -- approached him recently. "My opinion is that it shouldn't fall back on the person buying the property," Arbuckle said. "It's not the responsibility of the person buying the property to research that. You can bet I won't be paying it willingly. If there's a way to take care of the situation, I'll take steps to do that."

Another resident, who said he didn't want to be identified, said he didn't find out about the special tax bills until about three months after he bought property.

Notification issue

Stoffregen lobbied for a better notification system in the future and asked that the issue be put on the council's next agenda.

In addition to the notification flaws, Stoffregen argued that the ordinance accepting the project and authorizing the tax bills should be amended before it is passed at the next council meeting.

Stoffregen said the city was charging the residents in question more than what the project cost.

For instance, according to the engineer's final report, one stretch of Capaha Trail from the existing pavement to Garden Lane, cost $15,783 to pave, but residents along that stretch were going to be billed for $17,500. A stretch on Timberlane Drive from Kage Road to the dead end cost $5,818 to pave, and residents along that stretch were going to be billed for $6,950. Lester said he would check the figures and make sure taxpayers would not be charged more than what the project is worth and adjust the rates accordingly.

bmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127