Minutes 11/08/1983 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2C TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8, 1983 ..... Conversely, situations that indicate that the owner is automatically at fault would include: 1. In case of purchase, where no title check was made or title insurance acquired; and 2. Where the owner failed to record the deed in a timely manner. - Since the burden is on the taxpayer to show that he/she was not at fault in any way, this means more often than not that the Council will have to take the taxpayer's word in the absence of any actual documentation or proof. This issue of credibility will continue to contribute to the difficulty of making both a recommendation and a decision in each case. Regardless of the option the Council chooses in dealing with waiver re- quests, a system needs to be devised so that the property owners with limited incomes can more easily pay their delinquent taxes. This could be accomplished by having authorized and setting up an escrow account by land control number or the owner's social security number, and accepting payments until sufficient funds accumulate and can be applied to the tax, penalty, and interest for the oldest year delinquent. Administration of this effort would have to be carried out by the Clerk's Office. I recommend that an ordinance be adopted authorizing said escrow accounts and requiring payment of the oldest year first. The most efficient long-term method of collecting delinquent real estate taxes will involve computerization of the delinquent tax records in the Clerk's Office. This would provide better control, proper identification, update interest on a daily basis and make certain that we succeed in col- lecting taxes on the oldest years first. The cost and procedure for accomplishing this will be further researched and I will report on our findings in the context of a future budget proposal. By a progress report to City Manager Edmonds from Assistant City Manager-Public Works Director ----- George W. Brown, Council was informed of on-going procedures to determine the causes for-- and/or procedures to correct--the assumed-and-unusually high percentage of water loss in the City's water system, i.e., the ratio of water registered at the treatment plant as being treated vs. the amount of water being billed to customers. The most significant findings indicated that the treatment plant's raw water meter was over-registering by 4%, the finished water meter was over-registering by 13%, and faulty construction joints in the plant's settling basins have accounted for an estimated loss of 150,000 gallons of water