Going after owed taxes

Friday, May 8, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

This may come as a shock to most Nevadans, but the state is owed $382 million in unpaid taxes. That’s what state Controller Kim Wallin has told lawmakers.

As reported Thursday by Cy Ryan in the Las Vegas Sun, Wallin said she believes the problem can be attributed to state agencies that have not been aggressive enough at collecting that money. As a result the average debt owed to the state has been on the books for 486 days, Wallin told the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

Fortunately, Wallin has a solution. She is urging lawmakers to approve Assembly Bill 87, which has already passed the Assembly and is now before the state Senate.

AB87 would require agencies to turn over debts to the controller’s office within 60 days. The controller, which has three debt collection agencies under contract, would also have the authority to file lawsuits to collect owed money and charge interest to debtors who choose to make payments through installment plans.

The controller’s office is charged with collecting money owed to the state, which includes not only back taxes but also fees, fines and overpayments. But it is obvious that the office cannot do its job without the cooperation of agencies through which that debt was accrued.

Wallin told lawmakers at a separate hearing in February that agencies often lack resources or expertise to follow regulations for collecting debt, an issue her office is addressing through training. But the legislation would give her office a lot more clout to go after unpaid debt and get that badly needed revenue flowing into state coffers.

The unpaid debt is nowhere near enough money to bridge the massive gap between the government services Nevadans need and the revenue necessary to pay for those programs. But legislation to improve the efficiency of state government is always welcome, regardless of whether times are good or bad.

That’s why the state Senate should waste no time approving AB87.