FOUR YEARS AGO — Outing Tax Collector Greg West gets sworn into office four years ago. West was beat in the fall election by Sebastian Cothran, who will get sworn in Monday — marking the third time the office has changed hands since 2014.
FOUR YEARS AGO — Outing Tax Collector Greg West gets sworn into office four years ago. West was beat in the fall election by Sebastian Cothran, who will get sworn in Monday — marking the third time the office has changed hands since 2014.
Trying to find a company willing to bond Haywood County’s newly elected, 21-year-old tax collector turned out to be a challenge.
The bond had to be in place before Republican newcomer Sebastian Cothran could be sworn into office — something that's supposed to happen during the county commissioner meeting on Monday, Dec. 5. Now, however, additional action will be required by commissioners on Monday before that can happen.
The Haywood County Board of Commissioners had initially set the surety bond for Cothran at $1 million, decided unanimously by a voted at their Nov. 21 meeting.
It turned out, however, that finding a company willing to take a chance on a student who is still completing his senior year at UNC-Asheville, never owned real property and has never held a regular job wasn’t an easy task.
“We spent 10 days trying to find any agency that would ensure him under any circumstances,” said Kristian Owen, the county’s finance director.
That meant to have a bond in place for Cothran by the Monday required a pivot.
To secure the bond, the county had to reduce the amount to $250,000 and take measures to assume more of the risk.
“We felt through our internal controls that the $250,000 bond would cover the liability,” said County Manager Bryant Morehead. “It comes down to how much risk are you exposed to, and we felt comfortable with our internal controls.”
Incumbent Tax Collector Greg West, who was defeated by Cothran in the November election, had a bond of only $100,000.
Commissioner Chairman Kevin Ensley said the county sought a higher bond for Cothran due to his lack of work experience.
“We set up some internal controls that will protect the county and protect the new tax collector,” Ensley said.
Owen said part of the internal controls will include more frequent audits of the office and more day-to-day oversight. Such actions were necessary to find an agency willing to take the risk, and required using a company the county has never been associated with before. The bond cost to the county under the agreed-upon arrangement is $5,000 annually.
The Haywood County tax collector is responsible for collecting $40 million in property taxes. Any hiccup in collections could jeopardize county services. A surety bond, which is required by state law, guarantees compliance or performance of a position up to the covered amount.
Eight years ago, the swearing in of then-new tax collector Mike Matthews, also a Republican, had to be delayed for a week due to hurdles obtaining the bond. Matthews had a bad credit record, including numerous liens for back taxes and lawsuits by collection agencies for unpaid bills.
County leaders opted for a $410,000 liability bond for Matthews.
Matthews lost his re-election bid to West four years ago after just one term. West, a Democrat, went on to achieve the highest property tax collection in the county’s history. West lost his re-election bid to Cothran in November. Haywood is the only county in the state that still has an elected tax collector.
Because he had no resume and minimal work experience, Owen said Cothran had to write out a narrative of his past experiences, including volunteer work and membership in organizations. Though the narrative isn’t considered a public document, it likely included Cothran’s side gigs like mowing lawns and selling used books on eBay, experiences he previously discussed with The Mountaineer.
Since the last official county action on the tax collector bond was to set it at $1 million, a vote will need to be taken Monday to authorize the lowered $250,000 amount in conjunction with the county’s internal controls that were necessary to make securing a bond possible.
Vicki Hyatt contributed to this story.
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