Village May Publish Names of Tax Deadbeats

If you do not pay your property taxes in the Village of Greendale, your name may soon be made public on a new "webpage of shame."  

That is an idea being considered by Village Trustees as a way to deal with the issue of delinquent property taxes.

Village Trustee Greg Turay suggested listing the names of delinquent taxpayers on the Village of Greendale's website during the board's budget work session on October 26.  The board is in the process of reviewing the proposed Village of Greendale Budget for 2012.

Village Manager Todd Michaels is recommending that the budget include an increased allowance for delinquent tax write-offs and tax refunds in the amount of $11,885. Michaels is attributing the greater personal property tax delinquencies to be a result of the national economic downturn.

Village Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Kasza said at this time there are no 'real teeth' that can be used to force someone to pay their property taxes, other than sending them to a collections agency. She went on to say that in reality, there is usually very little success in collecting the delinquent tax money.

Turay said the "webpage of shame" could be similar to that used by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, which was created five years ago and has since collected over $130 million owed to the state by delinquent taxpayers on the list.

Trustee Allan Sikorski expressed concern over the idea, saying,"Is it worth $11,000 to ruin somebody's life?"

He said people who are delinquent on their taxes are probably already experiencing such financial stress that it might cause them to do something drastic if their names are made public.

Michaels and Kasza countered that anyone who makes a good faith effort to set-up a payment plan would not be in danger of having their name put on the website.

The board asked Kasza to look into the idea further and to present it back to them at a later time.