Sheriff secretly among record tax delinquents

By ERIC MEYER

Staff writer

County taxpayers — secretly including Sheriff Jeff Soyez — owe a record $569,110.64 in delinquent real estate taxes for 2024, up 11.5% from 2023.

Unlike 620 other parcels, Soyez’s two delinquent parcels do not appear under his name on the delinquent tax list, officially published in this week’s newspaper.

Rather, the $421.41 he owes on his residence and an adjoining parcel are listed as being owned by “Restricted.”

Asked to comment on how Soyez’s name legally could be hidden, country administrator Tina Spencer cited a recent state law allowing people involved in law enforcement to file formal requests that their addresses not be published as part of online databases.

Because the delinquent tax list is derived from the county’s online assessment database, Spencer said, the county is restricted from identifying him by name. The address itself was released, however.

Lawrence attorney Max Kautsch, president of the Kansas Coalition for Open Government, responded: “Ridiculous, but most likely legal until the legislature deems otherwise.”

Many names appear on the delinquency list nearly every year, but some appear only occasionally and do not necessarily indicate they are deadbeats.

Still, not paying taxes on time affects other taxpayers in the county.

The total amount of delinquent property taxes for 2024 is equivalent to a countywide tax rate of more than 3 mills.

That means those who failed to pay their taxes on time collectively increased the tax bill for the owner of a typical home valued at $100,000 by more than $34.50.

The top individual delinquencies belong to:

• Joseph Jerald Pritchett, owing $18,042.75 on the Pritchett Twine Net Wrap property at 120 N. Industrial Rd. in Hillsboro. Pritchett, whose address is listed as being in O’Neill, Nebraska, also owes an additional $3,009.01 on a residence at 803 E. C St. in Hillsboro.
• LK Bar LLC, in care of Doug Kjellin, owing $13,153.12 on the former Donahue Manufacturing property at 948 290th Rd. in Durham Park Township.
• C Bar S Cattle Co., owing $9,971.21 on the Hunt Brothers Horses property, including a home, multiple buildings, and 314.75 acres at 1858 80th Rd. in Catlin Township. The company also owes an additional $1,344.26 on three other parcels in the township.
• Hillsboro Properties, owing $8,633.32 on the Oakwood Manor apartment complex at 401 N. Ash St. in Hillsboro. The owner, listed as a company in Madison, Mississippi, also owes $8,271.34 for 2023, $8,882.28 for 2022, and $8,795.62 for 2021. It last paid its property taxes for 2020.
• Travis A. and Dakota Tannahill, owing $8,011.92 on the Hillsboro Hunt Ranch residence and 29.13 acres at 2375 Jade Rd. in Risley Township. Travis Tannahill also owes $1,736.27 on three other parcels in Risley Township and one in Clark Township,
• Donna Bryant and Daniel W. Sherbert, owing $7,179.23 on SherBowl Lanes and Willy J’s 9th Lane at 131 S. Thorp St. in Marion.

For the first time in recent years, Marion took the dubious lead as the city with the greatest number of delinquent parcels and the greatest amount of taxes not paid.

Delinquent taxes on Marion properties, recently reappraised at much higher values, shot up 54.0% to $104,982.77. The number of delinquent parcels rose 15.9% to 102.

The next largest number of delinquent parcels was 99 (down 11.6%) in Peabody, and the next highest total owed was $95,771.56 (up 33.0%) in Hillsboro.

City	Parcels	Taxes owed
Burns	30	$ 17,773.54
Durham	3	1,416.70
Florence	74	46,417.24
Goessel	8	9,180.17
Hillsboro	62	95,771.56
Lehigh City	15	9,850.18
Lincolnville	16	16,875.07
Lost Springs	14	6,363.83
Marion	102	104,982.77
Peabody	99	82,115.23
Ramona	10	7,054.63
Tampa	2	1,173.77

Other property owners with five or more delinquent properties include:

• Hett Oil and Gas, 20 properties owing $4,773.41 total.
• Kansas Home Solutions in care of Felix Ramirez, 13 owing $8,133.59.
• Lyle K. and Ann M. Leppke, 13 owing $6,286.77.
• John Rockney and Shirley Jo Hett, 11 owing $10,958.41.
• Edward George Silhan, 9 owing $3,798.16.
• Bryan Grosse, 7 owing $3,660.06.
• Gary W. Suderman, 6 owing $6,681.14.
• Gene Pearson, 6 owing $1,142.68.

Businesses and related organizations other than residential landlords owing more than $500 include:

• Peabody Main Street Association, 107 and 109 N. Walnut St., Peabody, $4,725.46.
• Jonathan and Leora Ramirez of the former Ramirez Auto Sales, 214 E. Main St., Marion, $2,481.69.
• Pease Family Farm Welding, 203 S. Maple St., Peabody, $1,916.77.
• S&S Medspa, 308 E. Main St., Marion, $1,763.95.
• Johsanna M Reid of JR Hatters, 102 and 108 E. Santa Fe St., Marion, $1,024.13.
• Wags and Wiggles Furever, 1404 Flint Rock St., Marion, $954,75. Owner Victor Buckner also owes $4,152.44 for two parcels on Ashley Dr. in Marion.
• Baker Lofts, 117 N. Walnut St., Peabody, $534.06.

Aside from the sheriff’s property, one other “Restricted” property appears on the list.

The property, owing $1,229.14, is owned by Trinity and Jessica Snyder, who have worked as a jailer and a dispatcher in Soyez’s department.

Their names had been blanked out in the county’s assessor database when the list was generated but seemed to reappear sometime after the Record began questioning their exclusion.

The law allowing requests to be excluded from online databases lists many law enforcement occupations that qualify, but jailer and dispatcher are not among the professions listed.

The debts owed by Soyez and the Snyders may be secret, but they aren’t the only high-level elected or appointed officials whose paychecks come from property tax revenue but who are delinquent on paying property taxes. Among them are:

• Peabody Mayor Catherine Weems and Darren Weems, who owe $740.39 on properties at 103 E. 2nd St and 206 N. Sycamore St. in Peabody.
• Marion City Clerk Janet Robinson and Kevin Robinson, who owe $686.33 on property at 240 W. 11th St. in Florence.
• Marion electrical supervisor Steven J. Hart, one of the city’s highest paid workers, and Melinda M. Hart, who owe $2,399.63 on property at 548 W. Santa Fe St. in Marion.
• Jailer Tammy Whiteside, who by herself or with Rosalene L. Thomason or Brian Whiteside owes a total of $4,159.18 on properties at 1001 N. Vine St., 209 N. Plum St., 406 N. Peabody St., and 310 N. Locust St. in Peabody.

Among townships, Catlin, followed by Durham Park and West Branch, has the biggest dollar amount of delinquencies:

Township	Parcels	Taxes owed
Catlin	10	$ 19,886.35
Centre	19	12,464.86
Clark	8	4,754.78
Clear Creek	24	13,622.63
Colfax	4	2,916.33
Doyle	1	37.76
Durham Park	3	15,867.96
East Branch	11	4,907.39
Fairplay	9	5,881.58
Gale	9	6,292.62
Grant	13	10,365.95
Lehigh	7	3,251.62
Liberty	6	5,404.19
Logan	6	5,106.47
Lost Springs	8	5,243.01
Menno	7	10,007.35
Milton	2	4,515.88
Moore	4	1,943.06
Peabody	6	1,738.70
Risley	5	10,112.86
Summit	7	5,413.72
West Branch	9	15,042.28
Wilson	11	5,331.60

Although taxes were due half on Dec. 20 and half on May 10, taxpayers had until Friday to avoid being placed on the list being published this week. They now have until Sept. 2 to avoid having their property “bid in” by the county treasurer’s office.

If taxes are unpaid for three years, property may be subject to foreclosure at a tax sale even though the county typically does not do so until a property is five years’ delinquent, as will now be the case with Oakwood Manor apartments.

Delinquent taxpayers are charged 14% interest on amounts of less than $10,000 and 15% interest on amounts $10,000 or more. They also are charged by the county for the cost of publishing their names in the newspaper.

The full list appears in the Classifieds section of this week’s paper. It will be republished, as required by law, in each of the next two issues of the paper.