Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

I?’m talking to someone I met over the weekend and we get on to the subject of where we live. Low and behold, my new acquaintance says they used to live in Pickerington in the Turnberry apartments. We talk a little more and I grouse a little about the cost to live in the school district and they indicate that they never knew there was a school district income tax, and for the 18 months or so that they lived there, they never paid the tax.

How can it be that there are residents of the school district that aren?’t taxed?

Is this an isolated case or common?

Thoughts?

Maybe

They didn't tell their employer to hold for PLSD and didn't file SDIT. There's no mechanism for active enforcement on this.

Can't collect

Bert

It is common knowledge that our system of taxation is voluntary.

If you live in the City of Pickerington they will take you to Mayor's court if they can prove that you lived here and didn't pay your city income taxes. In addition the City does have tools and data bases to track you down. I know a lady that lived down the street from us that regularly was hauled into Mayor's court for not paying her city income tax.

In the school district I don't think they have any enforcement available to them. In most cases if a resident doesn't tell his employer or simply refuses to pay I am not sure what recourse the school district has. I know the state income tax is enforceable by the Attorney General if needed. Most employers routinely take out state and federal income tax deductions from their employees pay checks. It is a no-brainier to figure out where the employment is in regard to state and country. In most cases the city income tax is taken out if the employer is operating in the subject city.

I think when times get hard you will find that the school district income tax does suffer. I think because it is the easiest to defraud. If you pay attention to the total collections you will find those dipping when the economy is down. If you compare those SD collections to the city collections you will find that the city does not suffer as much.

I think it would help if the SD had either the city law director or the county prosecutor available to them to go after these dead beats and be able to try the cases in a small claims type court (mayor's court). I think right now the cost of prosecution is more than the recovery of the income tax.

Yeppers

Right on every count.