Louisa County heads to small claims court for back taxes

WAPELLO — Louisa County will be going to small claims court in an effort to collect more than $36,000 in back taxes that have not been paid on cabins and trailers located on leased land.

During its regular weekly meeting Tuesday, the Louisa County Board of Supervisors agreed to move forward on the action after meeting with county treasurer Vicki Frank.

Frank presented a table identifying 42 trailer/cabin owners who formerly or currently have units on land they lease from others, but now have delinquent taxes. Fifty trailers/cabins are included in the table, but Frank said some of those are only behind the second half of the current tax bill, so she will provide a revised list excluding those units.

However, the revised list also will include the interest that is due on the trailers/cabins. Frank said in some cases, the amount of interest will double the payment owed to the county.

Frank said other taxpayers often come into her office and inquire about the units because they know the taxes are not being paid.

“It’s frustrating,” she told the board, explaining the trailer/cabin owners know the taxes cannot be shifted over to the property where the units set and feel the county has no recourse for collecting the delinquent amounts.

She told the board though the county can take the trailer/cabin owners to small claims and obtain a judgement. That was done several years ago when former assistant county attorney Julian West took some action.

West was also the initial county attorney office staffer who began pursuing delinquent court fines. Assistant county attorney Paul Choi now administers that program and the supervisors suggested Choi could also take on filing the small claims cases against the trailer/cabin owners.

“This is part of his job,” supervisor chair Brad Quigley suggested.

Frank indicated she will keep the supervisors updated on the effort.

In other action, Quigley distributed Years of Service Awards to several county employees who had reached various milestones in their county employment. Katie Walker, auditors office; and Kenny Marlette, sheriff, each received certificates in honor of their 15 years of service; Selena Gerst, auditor, received a 20-year certificate; while Brad Turner (sheriff) and Tammy Hayes, recorder, were both recognized for 25 years of service.

The board also met with county engineer Adam Shutt, who presented an application from Eastern Iowa Light & Power Co. to bore under 140th Street in the 17000 grid to run power to a cabin. The supervisors approved the application.

Shutt also presented a resolution to sponsor paving improvements on County Highway X99 from the Des Moines-Louisa county line to the X99/County Road X 61 intersection.

Shutt reminded the board the project was part of the Surface Transportation Block Grant program, with funding provided in Fiscal Year 2026.

The board also approved $264,467 in claims and agreed to transfer $5,500 from the county’s Flex Fund back to the Health Fund. Sturgell said the transfer was similar to what has been done in the past.

In final action, the board accepted a proposal from ARCASearch, Cold Spring, Minnesota, to digitize records in the county auditor and county recorder offices.

The proposal calls for a $119,298 down payment, which represents half of the costs for the digitalization work.

Sturgell reminded the board the resolution would start the company’s processing of the county’s invoice, which would include the 50 percent down payment. Once the down payment is made, the company then will place the county on its work schedule.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Louisa County seeks back taxes from more than 40 trailer/cabin owners