County Attorney John Harrington
August 4, 2014
A crowd of at least 25 people attended the Dodge County Commissioner’s meeting, twice the average attendance of recent public hearings about a 2 mill increase in property taxes, mostly due to an agenda item concerning back taxes owed on property owned by Mosquito Creek Properties. The property has been advertised in the legal ads of The Dodge County News to be sold on the courthouse steps on August 5, 2014 for delinquent taxes owed.
The property in question is owned by Mosquito Creek Properties and has been the center of much attention due to State Representative Jimmy Pruett’s involvement in the company. I will not attempt to describe Pruett’s involvement in the company, other than to say that he is alleged by some to be, or at one time, the owner of the corporation.
In this year’s election, political challenger John Clements, claimed that Pruett was the owner of this property and should not have been allowed to qualify to run for office due to the back taxes owed.
The Commissioner’s meeting agenda announced that lawyers for Mosquito Creek would appear before them to request the abatement of the penalties and interest on the taxes. When the topic came up, no lawyer was present for Mosquito Creek, and instead, County Attorney John Harrington announced that an agreement had been reached that would allow for the owner(s) to pay the back taxes, including penalties and interest, through Tax Collector Rob Stanley over a period of two years.
The agreement is that half the owed money will be paid on Aug 5, 2014 before the tax sale, half the remaining balance will be paid in one year, and the remainder to be paid one year after that. The owner(s) may still appear before the commissioners anytime within the two years to request the abatement of the penalties and interest, and interest will continue to be incurred.
The amount of taxes, including penalties and interest, is said to be $186,198.78