Supervisors should refund or credit error

People make mistakes. So it comes as little shock that a Johnson County staff member would have inaccurately assessed taxes on a Morse Road property.

But it is shocking that when the error came to light the Johnson County Board of Supervisors refused to correct it.

No one is disputing the fact that Iowa City resident Jean Fisher has paid about $5,000 in property taxes she didn't owe. A new county employee incorrectly switched a portion of the Fisher property from residential to commercial after a monopole tower roughly two miles from Fisher's land was mistaken for a proposed, but never constructed, cellular tower. The switch raised Fisher's tax bill by about $1,600 a year.

But last week, supervisors, acting on cautions from staff regarding precedence, narrowly voted to deny Fisher's request for a refund. Their decision, while technically within the county's rights, broke public trust and must be reconsidered.

County Assessor Bill Greazel has said the tax error was 'an honest mistake,” and we believe him. The error has also affected Verizon Wireless' tax bill, improperly adding about $25,000 to the business' tax burden.

We understand Fisher didn't follow a procedure for taxpayers to challenge assessments within a certain window of time. We also believe Fisher when she says that she learned only recently the full story behind her tax bill.

This is a case of the county assessing a non-existent structure, not a debate over valuation. Given those circumstances, the overpayment should have immediately been refunded or a tax credit applied to Fisher's and Verizon's accounts.

We disagree with Supervisor Mike Carberry, who said, 'If we do this, there's going to be more and more people, and we're going to have to grant more and more refunds on sad stories. I don't think that's a precedent and a road we want to go down, I think that creates a slippery slope.”

While there will always be disputes over property taxes, this case is clear. Unless Johnson County routinely switches zoning or assesses property taxes on non-existent structures, there will be no mass stampede to the assessor's door.

Carberry recently said he's 'strongly considering” bringing this matter back before the supervisors. We encourage him to do so, and for all five members to either refund the ill-gotten gains or credit the accounts.

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