Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Arkansas Politics Florida comes to town; check tax records
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 10:51 AM
The Arkansas Republican Party is bringing in a Florida resident for a GOP campaign fund-raiser Sept. 19. Maybe they could sit him down for a round of tax-related questions along with gubernatorial nominee Jim Keet.
We're talking, of course, about Mike Huckabee.
The county assessor's records currently show that the Huckabee manse on Silverwood Trail in North Little Rock carries a homestead exemption worth a $350 credit. Presumably, if this hasn't already been corrected on account of Huckabee's move of his legal residency to Florida in April, Assessor Janet Troutman Ward will shortly be making a courtesy call to the former governor to make sure he understands he no longer qualifies for that tax reduction next year. That's the credit Keet erroneously claimed while he was a resident of no-income-tax Florida. (The assessor's office says Huckabee has paid his tax bill due this year, with the credit, but that's perfectly legal. Under the Arkansas system 2010 amounts due are for property owned in 2009 and Huckabee was an Arkansas resident then.)
NEWS RELEASE
The Republican Party of Arkansas announced today former presidential candidate and Fox News host Governor Mike Huckabee will be in Little Rock Sunday, Sept. 19 to headline a fundraiser benefiting their 2010 Victory program.
The Arkansas Victory “Families for the Future” Rally will take place in the River Market Pavilion from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and include all-you-can-eat catfish and live music from The Luke Williams Band. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students 18 and under. Kids 10 and under eat free.
Local and statewide candidates will also be in attendance. Advance tickets may be purchased online at www.arkansasgop.org or at the Republican Party headquarters located at 1201 W. 6th St. in Little Rock. Tickets will be available at the event. For more information, please call 501-372-7301.
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Comments (4)
Showing 1-4 of 4
Max, something to be aware of is that occasionally the Assessor's office gets things wrong. I have some personal experience with homestead errors: I own several rental houses. While checking my mortgage records in spring, I found that one of them had erroneously been given a homestead exemption. It was a mild surprise, as I've owned it for several years and never had the exemption before.
Since being audited by the IRS scares the crap out of me, I called and straightened out the exemption issue, and paid the extra $350.
During the conversatoin, the clerk mentioned that a number of people had erroneous homestead exemptions flagged on their properties. There was a suspicion the mistakes were a result of the reappraisal process. She didn't mention whether it was human or computer issues.
Now... do I believe that Keet and Huckabee have played fast and loose with the rules? Sure, especially Keet. But... I suggest that you take the Assessor's website data with a grain of salt.
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I didn't take the website at its word. I called the office. A worker confirmed that the exemption was currently in place and had been applied to the 2010 tax bill.
A clerk confirmed mine, too Max (grin). The website and the clerk's screens pull from the same Oracle database. In my experience, once the physical paper is filed, it is almost never referenced again by the working staff.
In my case, I had to "insist" that I owed more taxes, and the clerk was rather stunned by my honesty! She actually asked me why I didn't just "leave it alone" and pocket the $350.
Will Huckabee rent his own plane from himself to fly to
Arkansas? Or will Keet rent his own plane from himself to fly Huckabee here to raise money for him? Or will they do some twisted aerobatical 69 and rent each other's airplanes from themselves....uh....er....
Or will Ted Suhl loan his Lord's Ranch jet to carry His Heftiness to Arkansas? And if Jesus himself flew in on a bevy of trumpeter swans would it make a damn bit of difference in the outcome of this race? I think not.
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