After close to three years, two Yazoo City residents finally have closure with a property tax dispute that brought to light what they called “a broken system.”
JoAnn Little and Vanessa Knox purchased property in Yazoo City only to receive bills of unpaid assessments from the previous owners well into the thousands. They also learned of the late fees after they were told no back taxes were owed on the properties before they purchased them.
Frustrated, both Little and Knox said they were ignored and not given answers when they brought the matter out in 2016. The Yazoo Herald highlighted their story when the two women felt they had nowhere else to turn.
Eventually, Little and Knox approached an attorney to resolve the issue. That resolution was met on Feb. 8 when a Chancery Court order ruled in their favor, wiping out the taxes in question.
“The city and I worked out this agreement, which satisfied and gave the ladies what they wanted,” said Dick Rohman, attorney for both Little and Knox.
JoAnne Little
1703 Wheless Street
The property at 1703 Wheless Street was declared a public menace by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen after a public hearing on June 30, 2014.
The abandoned home on the lot had been empty for years, with the structure literally falling to the ground. Homeless people were also frequently staying inside the home. The lot was considered a health hazard and menace to the public.
The owner at the time was Gregory Price of Clinton. He was sent several notifications from the city surrounding the clean-up of his property prior to the 2014 public hearing.
The city council approved the demolition and cleaning of the unkempt property after that public hearing. City leaders authorized the use of municipal resources and labor, along with penalty fees, which totaled $17,554.
The $17K bill was added to Price’s taxes to be paid, but he never did.
Little became interested in the lot in 2015, hoping to build a house on the property. She was also told that no back taxes were owed on the property. She purchased the lot on Oct. 22, 2015.
She would never hear about $17K in unpaid taxes until January of 2016 when she attempted to pay taxes on the property.
Vanessa Knox
720 E. Fourth
Like many lots taken from their owners after they fail to pay taxes, the property at 720 East Fourth Street was purchased by an investment company, Sibley Properties.
Sibley Properties was also given notifications by the city, declaring the lot a menace and using city labor and resources to clean it up. A public hearing was also held on June 30, 2014.
The city of Yazoo City would tackle the nuisance and clean up the lot. They also handed Sibley Properties a bill for $26,368.
Knox would later become interested in purchasing the property in an effort to preserve her neighborhood. She purchased the lot in January of 2015, even paying two years of back taxes that were owed on the property.
The assessment from the city in the amount of $26,368 was also never found on file.
The 2018 Ruling
According to a Yazoo County Chancery Court ruling, both Little and Knox have been restored as full owners of their two lots.
“They are back in full ownership and will pay regular taxes with no clean-up charges,” Rohman said.
The court order also said the 2015 and 2016 taxes be stricken from the records, eliminating all bills.
“This cancels all outstanding taxes for 2015 and 2016, which eliminates the clean-up charges the city had placed in the taxes,” Rohman said. “The city also agreed to enter into this order to eliminate any other claims Little and Knox had made against them. There were a number of items in the complaint that alleged the city failed to do or didn’t do it properly.”
Rohman said he is pleased with the court order and is relieved that Little and Knox have closure. He also said the order benefits the city as well.
“The idea of charging $25,000 to tear down old property is just out of line,” he said. “What it did was eliminate the property from the city tax rolls because nobody would pay those high of taxes. If it got turned over to the state, the city would get nothing. It would sit idle. The city will now have regular tax income with those clean-up charges gone.”
The Yazoo County Board of Supervisors accepted the court order during its board meeting last week.
“This is merely a court order to strike the taxes for those two years,” said Jay Barbour, county board attorney. “It alters the records to record the taxes as not owed and not paid. This doesn’t do anything but clear those records.”
