The IKM-Manning School District certified the incorrect tax levy amount to 4 counties in the area. In a regular Shelby County Supervisors meeting this (Tuesday) morning, Shelby County Treasurer Carolyn Blum reported to the board the county was notified on August 12th, the school district realized they had certified the wrong amount for the tax levy. Blum said on the same day, August 12th, tax statements were sent to the residents of Shelby County and it was too late to stop them,

Blum1: “So anyone who has parcels in the IKM-Manning School District, their tax statements are incorrect. Marsha contacted the department of management and said they need to be correct. Since that date, we have been working with the software company and we are having to run all those tax statements.”

She told the Supervisors the total number of statements in the county is 3,357 which is about 1/5th of the county’s original statements. The error was by the IKM Manning School District as they certified the tax levy to the state. The levy affects 4 counties, Audubon, Carroll, Crawford and Shelby County. Blum said all the statements will be sent out to residents in the IKM-Manning school district by the end of this week or early next week if all goes well. The statement will include a letter explaining the issue with the tax payers. Blum told the supervisors the issue is there are different circumstances for some residents in the county,

Blum2: “There’s so many case specific situations that it effects. Some people have paid for the whole year. Some have their checks in hand. It affects those who have elderly credit, homestead. The fix is actually taking place on the 2nd half installment which is less and will alleviate the pain a little bit for everyone.”

She said the good news is the fix a little easier than expected,

Blum3: “Originally we thought we would have to do the whole tax process over again which in hind sight might have been easier. But the fix is in the process now so at least we can move forward and get it taken care of.”

If you are a resident in the IKM-Manning School District and have paid your taxes for the year or the 2nd installment, the county is looking at two options. One is giving you a refund check from this year’s taxes or adding credit for taxes next year. Blum said the error is taking “hours and hours and days and days to get it fixed” and money spent on copies of statements and postage to resend them out to the residents. The Supervisors discussed who should be responsible for the expenses and at that point Supervisor Schmitz said the school should be responsible as it was their error. The cost from the error was not known at this time. The Supervisors informed Blum to keep track on the expenses from the tax levy error but no action was officially taken.

(Joel McCall KNOD)