Tough tax talk: Burgess vows to collect money from scofflaws
With the Washington City Council on the verge of approving a tax increase for the first time in five years, Mayor JoJo Burgess vowed to aggressively pursue those who have not been paying their taxes.
“We’re increasing these taxes, and I hear from a lot of people that they can’t afford it,” Burgess said after Monday’s council meeting. “We have a lot of people in this city, whether it be businesses or property owners, that owe us money. We’re getting ready to address that wholeheartedly and vigorously because other people shouldn’t have to pay because others don’t want to pay. If you’re a business owner, you will not get your licenses renewed until you get everything paid up. We also have some other things that we’re looking at to make sure people are in compliance to get our money so we don’t have to put it on the backs of our residents because somebody doesn’t want to pay their fair share. That really frustrates me.”
Burgess was quick to credit the efforts of city clerk Michele Sperl in collecting $37,000 in fees on vacant properties this year, a number that’s up from $10,000 in 2023 and $2,000 in 2022.
“She seems to be able to get people to come in and bring that money in,” Burgess said. “We’re starting to get money that’s due to the city that should have been done a long time ago. I only expect it to be better next year or we get rid of the abandoned properties and we put stuff there where people will start owning it and building on it. These are the kind of things that I’m going to try to bring to the table to generate funds and homeownership for people in the city. We want to make sure we’re moving toward that.”
The 2025 spending plan was not discussed Monday, but a preliminary budget approved in November called for a 1.5-mill increase in the millage set aside for buildings.
Councilman Ken Westcott, who chairs the finance department, said the final budget on Thursday’s meeting agenda is similar.
“We’ve shaved some of it off, but we’re still going to have a mill-and-a-half increase,” he said.
Westcott said in November that would result in the average homeowner paying an additional $220 annually in taxes.
Also on the agenda for Thursday are votes on new contracts for police and for Service Employees International Union workers, which Burgess said represents about six or seven employees in the treasurer’s office, police department and parking authority.
Police Chief Steve Devenney said the department is accepting applications until 4 p.m. Dec. 9. He said three applications had been received as of Monday night. There are also two promotions within the department on the agenda for Thursday.
“Along with the new hires we’re hoping to get the department back to full staffing as soon as possible,” the chief said.
Also Monday, city park Director DeAnna Martin said the dates for Hark in the Park events at Washington Park have been changed. The Ugly Sweater Pop-Up Bar has been changed to Dec. 13 from 7 to 10:30 p.m., and the family Christmas party for small children has been moved to 4 p.m. Dec. 14, the same day as the winter social for teenagers, which will begin at 7 p.m.
“We did push our holiday events because the high this weekend is 28,” Martin said. “It’s going to be in the 40s (next) weekend, so hopefully we’ll have a better turnout.”
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