Property Taxes Due February 28

January 29, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The Trustee’s Office will be a busy place for the next month as taxpayers rush to beat the February 28 deadline to pay their 2018 county property taxes.

As of Monday, Trustee Sean Driver said 48.92% has been collected of the $9,127,983 in 2018 DeKalb County property taxes to be collected by February 28, 2019 which includes property, residential, commercial, personal, and public utility taxes.

In a report to the County Commission Monday night, Driver said collections are lagging behind last year’s collection rate of 54.21% but that is most likely because people are holding on to their money longer due to changes in the tax laws on standard deductions.

Although the tax base aggregate generated through county assessments is up from $9.06 million last year, Trustee Driver said the county saw a drop of $29,000 in the public utility taxes derived through the state. He also reported that assets and liabilities are in balance at $25,240, 983 on all departments.

Property taxes are now due and payable through February 28, 2019 before any interest becomes due on March 1, 2019.

The Trustee’s office offers up to 6 different options to pay your property tax:

( 1.) Come in person to the office to pay. The Trustee’s office is open from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

( 2.) Mail in your payment

( 3.) Pay online at www.tennesseetrustee.org, then select DeKalb and follow the instructions to the next screens. The Vendor (Business Information Systems) accepts Discover, MasterCard, Visa, or American Express. The Vendor convenience fee of 2.75% on the total tax bill will apply and fees are subject to change for using credit/debit cards. Also, a $2.75 fee will be assessed on an e-check payment of any amount. Business Information Systems collects the fees, not DeKalb County.

(5.) A dropbox is located on the outside of the building at the County Complex (County Offices Section) for your convenience after hours or on weekends. Remember on the last day, February 28 if you can’t make it to the post office to postmark your payment, the dropbox is available. If you choose to make use of the dropbox on February 28, the mail will be gathered on Friday, March 1 and no interest will be applied your 2018 tax bill.

(6.) Partial Payments are accepted in any amount but portions unpaid after the February 28 deadline will accrue a 1.5% interest per month starting March 1, 2019.

Driver further explained that any 2017 property taxes still owed after February 28 will be turned over to the Chancery Court on April 1, 2019 for collection. The Trustee’s office can still accept partial payments on 2017 delinquent taxes through March 31, 2019. The Trustee will make one more notice on the unpaid 2017 delinquent property taxes on February 1, 2019.

Eligible taxpayers may also qualify for the Tennessee State Tax Relief Program.

This program was implemented in 1973 and it has a few changes every year. For the 2018 tax year, you can qualify for Tax Relief if:

(a.) Your DeKalb County home is your primary residence,

(b.) You are 65 years old (or older) as of December 31, 2018, or totally and permanently disabled as by the SSA or another qualifying agency, and

(c.) Your 2017 Annual Income of all persons on the deed and their spouses did not exceed $29,270.00.

“If the State of Tennessee qualifies you for a Tax Relief, then you can receive a rebate up to $118.00 for 2018. You must pay your 2018 tax bill IN FULL to start the application,” Trustee Driver explained.

The State of Tennessee also offers Tax Relief for Disabled Veterans and the surviving spouses of a disabled veteran.

“You must provide proof from the Veteran’s Administration that you have a 100% service-connected disability. You or your spouse will NOT have to report any income to apply as a disabled veteran or the widow or widower of a disabled veteran. If the State of Tennessee qualifies you as a disabled veteran or the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran, then you can receive a rebate up to $745.00”

“The Trustee’s office is accepting applications for the Tax Relief Program through April 5, 2019. If you would like to inquire more about a possible tax relief, come by the County Complex in the Trustee’s office at 732 S Congress Blvd-Room 103, Smithville, TN 37166 or call us at 615-597-5176,” Trustee Driver concluded.

January 29, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Lady Tigers took down the Lionettes of Cannon County Monday night in Smithville winning 66 to 55 but the Tigers lost to the Lions 53 to 47.

The Lady Tigers improve to 17-6 overall and have secured at least a 3rd place finish in the district currently with a 9-2 record and three district games left before the tournament. The Tigers drop to 4-19 and 3-8 in district play.

In the girls game, DC led 16 to 11 after the 1st period, 31 to 23 at halftime, and 51 to 38 after the 3rd period before notching the 66 to 55 victory.

Kadee Ferrell scored 24, Lydia Brown 18, Emme Colwell 13, Mya Ruch 7, and Maddison Parsley and Kenzie France each with 2.

In the boys game, the Tigers led 15 to 12 after the 1st period but fell behind 30 to 20 by halftime. The Lions led 39 to 32 after the 3rd period and went on to defeat the Tigers 53 to 47.
Nathan Atkins scored 19, Tanner Poss 13, Colter Norris 7, Evan Jones 4, and Dallas Cook and Lucas Hale each with 2.

Girls District 8AA Standings as of January 28:
Upperman: 22-3 (11-0)
Macon County: 21-5 (10-1)
DeKalb County: 17-6 (9-2)
York Institute: 10-11 (6-5)
Cannon County: 13-11 (3-8)
Livingston Academy: 9-18 (2-9)
Smith County: 7-14 (2-9)
Watertown 7-17 (1-10)

Boys District 8AA Standings as of January 28:
York Institute: 16-4 (9-2)
Livingston Academy: 17-9 (9-2)
Upperman: 19-5 (8-3)
Watertown: 16-8 (6-5)
Macon County: 9-16 (5-6)
Cannon County: 11-14 (4-7)
DeKalb County: 4-19 (3-8)
Smith County 1-19 (0-11)

The remaining schedule is as follows:
Friday, February 1: Upperman*-Away 6 p.m.
Tuesday, February 5: Macon County*-Home 6 p.m.
Thursday, February 7: Smith County*-Home 6 p.m.
Friday, February 8: Monterey-Home 6 p.m.

January 28, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb Animal Coalition would like to receive more financial support from the county for the operation of the shelter but the county commission appears to be divided on entertaining that notion.

Although the coalition has made no formal request for additional help from the county some members of the commission want the county to be more involved with the City of Smithville in addressing needs at the shelter.

During Monday night’s monthly meeting, Fourth district commissioner Dr. Scott Little made a motion that the commission ask the county mayor to appoint an animal welfare committee to look at various issues at the shelter. Third district member Jenny Trapp offered a second to the motion. Dr. Little, who is also a local veterinarian, said such a committee would serve on a short term basis working with the City of Smithville which is planning to appoint a similar committee.

The motion received seven votes in favor to five opposed with one abstention but it failed because eight votes were needed for passage. One member was absent. Those voting in favor of the motion were Dennis Slager and Julie Young from the 1st district, Jenny Trapp from the 3rd district, Dr. Scott Little and Janice Fish-Stewart from the 4th district, Matt Adcock from the 6th district, and Beth Pafford from the 7th district. Commissioners voting against were Sabrina Farler from the 2nd district, Bobby Johnson from the 3rd district, Jerry Adcock and Anita Puckett from the 5th district, Jeff Barnes from the 6th district. Seventh district member Bruce Malone abstained. Second district commissioner Myron Rhody was absent.

“We gave them (animal coalition) $75,000 four years ago and they promised they would never come back to us. They weren’t politicians so I thought they were being honest about it. It’s not right for them to come back and ask us four years later for more money,” said Fifth district member Jerry Adcock.

“Appointing a committee doesn’t necessarily obligate us to give more money?” asked seventh district member Pafford.

“That’s true. Whatever they recommend has to come back to the budget committee,” said County Mayor Tim Stribling.

“This is a study to evaluate needs if there are needs and what those needs would be,” said First district commissioner Slager.

“And to get more factual information. There are some things I would like to know such as how many (animals) are being picked up in the city of Alexandria and the city of Liberty,” added County Mayor Stribling.

In September, 2015 the county commission voted to appropriate $75,000 toward construction of the new animal shelter to match the $75,000 allocation from the City of Smithville for the same purpose. But the appropriation from the county came with conditions that the $75,000 be a one-time donation earmarked for shelter construction; that the county not be responsible for the hiring and payroll of any employees relating to the animal shelter; and that the county not be responsible for the operation of the shelter or the future funds needed to operate the shelter. Under an agreement the coalition is to pick up animals for the county when a request is made from the county mayor’s office or the sheriff’s department at a fee to the county of $100 and $50 for a dead head.

While the Coalition had hoped the $150,000 contribution by the local governments would have been sufficient to build the shelter, it fell short and the coalition had to raise more funds and borrow money to finish the project.

Prior to construction, the City of Smithville entered into a 99 year lease with the Coalition. Under terms of the lease, the city agreed to fund one full time and a part time position at the shelter and to provide an animal control vehicle. Megan Moore was later hired as director along with employee James Wilkerson.

Construction was completed on the shelter in 2017 and it opened for business in November that year on a four acre site near the solid waste transfer station, behind Tenneco Automotive off of Highway 70 east.

By February of 2018, members of the coalition returned to the city asking for more help because of the workload. Although volunteers had been used to help take up the slack it still apparently wasn’t enough. In response to the request, the city later made Wilkerson’s part time position full time.

Last month the city bought a newer animal control vehicle for the shelter and Director Moore updated the mayor and aldermen on activity there since it opened.

“We opened November 2017. We have had 502 animals at the shelter and 336 of those have been adopted while 117 have gone to rescues. That leaves 49 and most of those have been returned to owners. We have hosted three adoption events so far, two at Tractor Supply and one at Christmas on the Square in 2017. We also reinstated our volunteer program in December and we have doing classes to help train volunteers so they will know what they are doing when they come in. James is now a full time employee and that has helped tremendously but the shelter has been a lot more labor intensive than we previously thought. It’s a much bigger shelter than the facility we had before by far,” said Moore.

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