June 30, 2009

TO: MONTGOMERY COUNTY MONITOR

FROM: MONTGOMERY COUNTY TAX A/C J.R. MOORE, JR.

RE: REP: ROB EISSLER AND JUDGE SADLER ARTICLES

REP. ROB EISSLER
Maxxbuster has made statements about property tax liabilities that are wrong and/or misleading in the way Maxxbuster interprets what is shown on a website.

The tax notice for collection services is exactly that, a tax notice. It was not and will not be designed to show an accounting of each and every change to value, change to exemptions, nor to how much and how often a partial or full payment is made for the taxes owed. The Tax Office accounting system meets and exceeds “generally accepted accounting standards” and is approved by the County Auditor. The County Auditor, at my request also approves accounting reports used. The motor vehicle reports are developed by TxDOT and audited by them and the State Comptroller.

Mr. Eissler currently has an Installment Contract to pay his tax liability. At last count in April 2009 we had over 2400 taxpayers making monthly and/or quarterly payments for their taxes. Sections 31.031, 31.032 or 33.02 of the Texas Property Tax Code allows this and I have used it for over 20 years. Contracts using Section 33.02 is the majority. Penalty and interest continues to accrue monthly on unpaid balances. Attorney fees do not – see Tx. Attorney General Opinion No. DM-235(1993). Mr. Eissler advised me on June 29 that he has made arrangements to pay the remaining balance owed.

I requested the Litigation Deputy review your comments and advise me of the facts. They are as follows:

• The payment column is not a history of payments, it reflects the total paid as of the date shown. When monthly payments are made the most current date will be used as the date shown on the tax notice. The new amount shown as paid is the total for all months as of that date. Each monthly payment on Installment Contracts are posted with an adjustment to P & I and legal fees based on payment date and tax law. Our accounting dept. has the money file records and they are kept for 3 years. The postmark date is the date used to credit the payment to regardless of the day the work is done. The workdate is also recorded.

• Mr. Eissler has had several Installment Contracts with the Tax Office. They have had as many as 3 different account numbers. His monthly payments are $1100.00 and are posted by us to one account until it is paid in full, then to the next account, etc. until all taxes are paid. Note: The taxpayer can request what accounts and in the case of multiple years, what year they want the payment posted to.

• Mrs. Eissler made numerous monthly payments to an account that had been paid in full. The payments were posted exactly like she requested and a huge overage on that account existed.

• In May 2009 the Litigation Deputy notified Mr. Eissler that his contract was voided due to missing the required monthly payment and a lawsuit would be filed if not paid in full. His wife immediately contacted us and arranged to meet with the Litigation Deputy to show proof she had made the payments. This is when it was discovered that she had listed the wrong account number on her payments. We moved the money and re-posted it using the postmark date of her payments. There were two accounts involved with the current Installment Agreement, one of which is now paid in full and we have already received the July 20th payment.

JUDGE SADLER
Maxxbuster should have contacted my office on this issue before attacking the Judge for not paying the taxes. On five occasions my office sent our delinquent tax attorneys notice to file suit on USA Oilfield. On each occasion they stated they could not do so since the property did not exist and Alan B. Sadler did not have personal ownership nor personal liability for the property nor the tax.

Subsequent efforts by me personally with the Delinquent Tax Attorney, County Attorney, and Judge Sadler confirmed that the Judge’s answer about his tax liability was correct and the taxes uncollectible. As a matter of fact the Judge stated that USA Oilfield still owed him over $20,000 in lease not to mention the amount he lost as an investor.

Lastly, in closing, I do want you and the public to know that my office collects over $700 mil per year using over 2 mil transactions. Our collections are over 99% for current taxes and over 101% with delinquent taxes, penalty and interest added. No one in my office has authority to process payments and audit their own work. Management, including me, rarely get involved with individual accounts and we have filed suit on numerous elected and appointed officials. When we do get involved we purposely do not handle the payments but direct them to the proper departments. Also note that the taxroll does not always list the owner. It lists who and where the tax bill is sent. Using the website does not give the payment history nor does it reflect contract agreements, bankruptcies, O/65 & disabled deferrals. Most everything said concerning Eissler and Sadler is Maxxbuster’s interpretation of the “tax notice” on our website. The actual documents in my office show Eissler has complied with his monthly payments.

By copy of this response I am requesting the Auditor confirm my findings. We may have to change our tax notice so it can be easier to understand.

SUMMARY
In the future I strongly hope/suggest that Maxxbuster will contact my office prior to making statements and/or interpretations that cause unwarranted embarrassment. At the very least we would get the whole story and join our efforts to ensure tax liabilities are collected and accounted for. For over 22 years I have constantly preached that the best thing Elected Officials can do is to “avoid the look of impropriety” and “to do what’s right regardless of what people think.” The Tax Office can and does account for every penny it collects.

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