Officials pursue property taxes

Letters, lawsuits options for prompting payments

Lorain County officials say they are pursuing delinquent property taxes by letter and, when necessary, by court actions.

The county Prosecutor’s Office on March 4 mailed out its latest round of notices to property owners who have fallen behind on their property taxes.

In March 2015, Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will and county Treasurer Daniel Talarek redoubled their efforts to collect the taxes. Since then, more than 5,000 letters have gone out to county property owners encouraging them to establish a payment plan for the taxes, said Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pyanowski, who specializes in the property cases in Will’s office.

“We do try and give them that opportunity to come in,” Pyanowski said. “Some are responsive, some are not.”

If they don’t respond, going to court is an option, he added.

It is not necessarily the preferred option, said Talarek said, noting the foreclosure lawsuits are time-consuming and expensive.

Talarek said when he speaks publicly he emphasizes he does not want to take someone’s home, business, church or farm. The county officials would rather work out a payment plan instead of going to court, he said.

Property owners have dealt with losses in values due to economic conditions of the market, Pyanowski said. There are other reasons why people do not pay.

“Sometimes people fall on hard times and they have to make choices,” he said. Sometimes it is a business decision to not pay until the county comes calling, he said.

“You’re sympathetic because some people have absolutely terrible, terrible situations,” Talarek said. “But then there are some people that want to play games with us.

“Sooner or later, you have to drop the hammer.”

The system is working, Pyanowski said. Since March 2015, the county has collected over $15 million in taxes owed based on possible or actual legal action. The actual figure is greater because it does not include amounts from people who received letters and paid their taxes, Pyanowski said.

It can mean good news for Lorain County’s school districts because in the county, 50 percent to 70 percent of property taxes collected go to the schools, the officials said.

In August, the county Auditor’s Officer publishes the certified tax list for the county, Pyanowski said.

The county officials compiled the top 100 delinquent accounts for the October 2017 notices that went out. Based on figures from 2017 and this year, Lorain County has at least eight property tax cases that have climbed into the six-digit figures for money owed.

“All of those are very legitimate situations,” Pyanowski said. “They’re all being addressed, as well as the remainder of the list,” he said, referring to his spreadsheet showing parcel numbers, property owners, amounts due and other information.

Pyanowski keeps a column on the spreadsheet to mark for property taxes paid, “PP” for payment plan, or court case numbers.

The eight largest amounts owed are based on the Prosecutor’s list and figures from the Auditor’s Office.

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