ELYRIA — An Eaton Township woman picketed outside the county Administration Building on Monday, demanding that county Auditor Mark Stewart return about $1,300 in property taxes she overpaid in February.

CINDY LEISE / CHRONICLE

Kristen Pascoe of Eaton Township pickets at the Lorain County Administration Building. She is seeking the return of $1,300 in overpaid taxes.

Stewart said he sympathizes with Kristen Pascoe but has no way of returning the money.

The checks have already have been cashed, divided up and forwarded to Midview Schools and other entities, he said.

“It’s collected, done and gone,” Stewart said.

He said many people choose to pay an entire year’s property taxes all at once instead of just the first half of their bill by the Feb. 15 deadline.

If a taxpayer sends in extra money, Stewart said, the county applies it to the amount still owed for that tax year.

If taxpayers overpay their total tax bill for the year, the county will issue a refund, Stewart said.

In Pascoe’s case, Stewart said, the money was applied the taxes she would have had to pay in the second half of the year. Pascoe has paid off her taxes for the year, he said.

County workers who deposited funds from the two checks had no way of knowing that Pascoe did not intend to pay both bills at once, he said.

Meanwhile, Pascoe said checks have been bouncing and she and her fiance, Anthony Krecic, have no funds to pay some of their bills, including bills for building a garage and horseback riding lessons for Krecic’s daughter.

“We need that money, and obviously $1,300 to Mark Stewart is no big deal,” she said.

Pascoe said she sent the first check on Feb. 11 but grew concerned when she telephoned on Feb. 19 and discovered the check had not cleared.

Pascoe said she and Krecic were refinancing their mortgage and they had a very small window to turn in financial documents, so she went to county offices on Feb. 21 and wrote another check.

She said she tried to stop payment on the first check, but both checks ended up being cashed by the county. As if that’s not bad enough, Pascoe said, she and Krecic set up an escrow account as part of the new mortgage, which will make their second tax payment of the year in July.

Stewart recommended that the couple cancel their arrangements to make additional payments on their tax bill this year through the escrow account.

Pascoe, who works as a substitute teacher, said she will be in the classroom today, but she plans to picket the county building again soon.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

 

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