CLEARLAKE, Calif. – City of Clearlake officials are pressing forward with their goal of getting the county of Lake to address the thousands of tax-defaulted properties that need to be put up for auction in order to claim millions of dollars in proceeds owed to local governments.
At Thursday evening’s Clearlake City Council meeting, City Manager Alan Flora gave the councilmembers an update on the discussion regarding the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office at the Board of Supervisors’ Jan. 14 meeting.
Beginning last year, Flora began to raise issue with Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen’s failure to hold regular tax-defaulted property sales.
The problem is particularly serious for Clearlake, where Flora said 25 percent of all properties are at some level of tax delinquency.
In November the Clearlake City Council voted to send letters to the Board of Supervisors, the Lake County Civil Grand Jury, the California State Controller, California State Treasurer, California Board of Equalization and the California Attorney General’s Office asking that Ringen be investigated, as Lake County News has reported.
During the Jan. 14 meeting, the supervisors responded to the city’s November letter, with board members stating they were committed to solutions.
However, on Thursday night, Flora told the council that he found the discussion at the Board of Supervisors “particularly frustrating.”
He said he felt the BOS was giving the matter very little serious consideration and, at the meeting, Ringen didn’t offer any response to the concerns.
Flora also said the county has no adequate plan for addressing the large number of tax-defaulted properties or the need for tax sales. He said there were supposed to be 300 such properties offered for sale in March. Now, that planned sale has been pushed back to May, with 240 properties to be offered.
“It's just the same thing that's happened for years,” he said.
Flora said the county’s civil grand jury, which had issued a report on the matter a few years ago, responded to the city’s November letter asking for an investigation to say that it felt that report was adequate.
However, after corresponding with the grand jury, Flora said it agreed to take more information and possibly do another investigation. He and Mayor Russell Cremer are set to meet with the grand jury next week.
Flora said he’s also received an inquiry from the State Controller's Office in response to a letter from the city.
He’s exchanged some calls with that agency. “They are actively looking at this case,” he said, noting the State Controller's Office is in the determination phase regarding whether to open an official investigation into the treasurer-tax collector.
Vice Mayor Dirk Slooten said he had attended a League of California Cities meeting, where one of the organization’s experts know about the county’s tax-default problem.
“We need to continue to bring this to the forefront,” Slooten said, noting that tax-defaulted properties also are abandoned and neglected, creating blight and all kinds of problems.
Slooten said the city needed to keep the pressure on to keep the county and treasurer-tax collector accountable.
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Clearlake officials continue seeking aid from local, state agencies regarding tax-defaulted properties
- Elizabeth Larson
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