IRS files tax lien against county ambulance district

Friday, October 23, 2015

Nevada Daily Mail

The Internal Revenue Service has filed a notice of federal tax lien against the Vernon County Ambulance District.

The document was filed at the courthouse in the recorder's office Oct. 19 at 10:45 a.m. It was prepared in Chicago Oct. 7.

The lien covers the tax periods ending Dec. 31, 2013, March 31, 2014, June 30, 2014, Sept. 30, 2014, Dec. 31, 2014, and March 31, 2015. The total amount listed is $213,158.26.

The document states, "As provided by section 6321, 6322, and 6323 of the Internal Revenue Code, we are giving a notice that taxes (including interest and penalties) have been assessed against the following-named taxpayer.

"We have made a demand for payment of this liability but it remains unpaid. Therefore, there is a lien in favor of the United States on all property and rights to property belonging to this taxpayer for the amount of these taxes, and additional penalties, interests and costs that may accrue."

The Vernon County Ambulance District issued this response in an email.

"We had a clerical error due to some lost data after an electrical surge last year that took out both data servers, of which we lost a year of records that were unrecoverable.

"Some of our taxes were not processed correctly when payroll was done and a lack of understanding in how to handle the missed payments with the payroll clerk who had not informed administration that there was a problem in a timely manner.

"We have already addressed this and it will be taken care of with the IRS immediately. There is no impact on the operations of the District and this issue will be resolved quickly.

"The Board of Directors and the staff of Vernon County Ambulance District will continue to offer the highest quality of emergency medical services to this community."

According to the IRS website, a federal tax lien is the government's legal claim against the property when a party neglects or fails to pay a tax debt. The lien protects the government's interest in all the property of the party, including real estate, personal property and financial assets.

A federal tax lien exists after the IRS puts the balance due on the books (assesses the liability); sends a bill that explains how much is owed (Notice and Demand for Payment); and the party neglects or refuses to fully pay the debt in time.

The IRS files a public document, the Notice of Federal Tax Lien, to alert creditors that the government has a legal right to the property.

The Vernon County Ambulance District grew out of a petition filed with the Vernon County Court in March 1978 and from the resulting temporary ambulance service that began Feb. 29, 1978.

The district moved into its current home at 515 E. Walnut in August 1994.

It offers a number of programs and classes for first responders and EMTs.

The district has its own elected six-member board of governors voted on by the citizens.

The district operates off a 15-cent property tax, with the rest of the funding coming through billing of Medicare and private insurance.

VCAD works in tandem with law enforcement, and city and rural fire departments. It operates with a variety of vehicles, including five ambulances, depending on the need.

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this is over payroll taxes starting dec 2013 thru march of 2015. this is a period of 18 months and the ambulance district is blameing this on a crashed computer. come on,if this be true then there should have been a surplus of $213158.26 in the bank account of the ambulance district.wouldnt this bring up questions as to what this surplus should be allocated for payment.who is responsible for this negligence. maybe an audit is due. the daily mail should follow up on this story,the Vernon County taxpayers have a right to know the transparency of this important issue

-- Posted by yogi on Fri, Oct 23, 2015, at 10:57 AM
The reply from VCAD is completely glossed over. People need to be place on administrative leave or fired, NOW. A complete independent audit needs to be done NOW. Competent people need to be hired, NOW. If the board of directors does not do these things, then they should be held liable. NOW.

The article does not mention that paychecks from VCAD have bounced several times over the past few months.

Negligence and incompetence have run rampant. It's time for it to stop. The public of Vernon County need to make their voices heard, and ensure that the appropriate steps are taken. Enough is enough

-- Posted by Horselady on Fri, Oct 23, 2015, at 5:08 PM
Smoke and mirrors, everybody that has information on any computer has a backup program and that backup is always stored separate from the main computer.

-- Posted by thestirrer on Sat, Oct 24, 2015, at 11:51 AM
Evidently they haven't been getting their mail either. All this "bad luck" at once. Computer crashes and the post office not delivering the piles of certified letters they must have never received from the IRS. Their accountant must have been letting them down by not telling them they had an extra 230,000 in the bank. I hope the board is good enough to see through this and let the necessary heads roll.

-- Posted by ccmom on Sat, Oct 24, 2015, at 12:43 PM
What a terrible situation. The important thing is that the problem HAS been resolved, service has not been effected and I'm positive things will be looked at more carefully in the future. **** happens...

-- Posted by terrimeyers on Sat, Oct 24, 2015, at 8:04 PM
It will be very interesting to watch this on casenet to see if it is paid in a lump sum or payments will be arranged. Should have the money to pay all at once. I'm sure glad things will be better in the future, as we were positive the paid adminstrative staff were in fact doing their job. Or are we smug enough to "think" the laws do not apply to Vernon County. I'm sure numerous "notices and ample time was given to resolve this issue. (Management aloof)

-- Posted by thestirrer on Sun, Oct 25, 2015, at 8:51 AM
This will look good on a credit report for bonds in the future. Lets "resolve" that interest problem that might be assessed if monies are in fact needed.

-- Posted by thestirrer on Sun, Oct 25, 2015, at 9:49 AM
Where was the elected board? Why weren't they doing the job that they were elected to do? Why did they let the Director and his secretary just do what they wanted and not hold them accountable? Oh I know, they were to busy worried about the Spoke House, cooking burgers during Bushwacker days and giving money to political hacks!

-- Posted by Bodybag on Tue, Oct 27, 2015, at 2:43 PM
Bodybag, it is not the boards responsibility to oversee daily operations, if information is not given to the board they as a board cannot react. I believe when the issue became public they reacted fast and with the best interes of the district in mind.

-- Posted by thestirrer on Wed, Oct 28, 2015, at 11:54 AM
I agree with thestirrer. This board acted fast and appear to be trying to handle this properly. Any board is only as good as the information they are provided. If nothing looked askew on the monthly financial reports they would have no way of knowing this was happening. I don't know if the ambulance district has an accounting firm that does a monthly profit and loss for them, if they do, that firm should have known. If that was being done in house, then other than the people who have been held accountable, I don't know who else may have had enough information to see what was happening.

-- Posted by ccmom on Thu, Oct 29, 2015, at 9:08 AM

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