Democrat Mohamed Al-Hamdani, a partner at Flanagan, Lieberman & Rambo law firm, formerly served as president of the Dayton City Schools Board of Education. He’s a member of the Fair Housing Center Board and chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party.
McManus was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and moved to Dayton in early 2014 to attend law school at the University of Dayton. “I fell in love with Dayton as soon as I got here and I decided then and there to make it my home for the rest of my life.”
Al-Hamdani’s family came to the United States when he was 10 years old as refugees. “I have been blessed to call this community my home since my arrival here 32 years ago. I am a product of Dayton Public Schools, Wright State University and the University of Dayton School of Law.”
The two men served on the Dayton Board of Education together.
The county treasurer is responsible for collecting property taxes and managing the county’s investments, and sits on the Montgomery County land bank board. Treasurers do not set tax rates, taxable values or the amount of property taxes owed on individual parcels.
The job’s annual salary this year is $95,491, as set by law.
County treasurers are required by law to collect property taxes. If a property owner fails to pay property taxes, state law offers county treasurers several ways to collect the dollars owed.
The Dayton Daily News asked both candidates several questions regarding how they would work to improve the treasurer’s office. Here are their responses:
Q: You and your opponent seem diametrically opposed when it comes to the responsibility of citizens to pay their taxes and what should be done if they don’t. What is your point of view and why do you believe your solution would work best?
McManus: “When I took office in 2021, it was shockingly common to see a property owner asking for another payment plan after having voided six, 10, 12 of them or more. Delinquent payment plans were being abused because there existed little to no guardrails within the program. They were being used too often to dodge tax liens and foreclosures without the intent to pay off the delinquent balance in good faith.
“(A total of) 28,806 parcels in Montgomery County were delinquent to the tune of a quarter-billion dollars. Even worse, this trend had remained unchanged for a very long time, and delinquencies in Montgomery County had steadily increased for years.
“When I took office, I worked with staff to put scrutiny and reasonable limits on delinquent payment plans. I set a goal of collecting $100 million in delinquent taxes during my first term. By the end of this year, we will have overshot that goal by $30 million, collecting approximately $130 million in delinquent taxes since 2021.
“As of January, the delinquent parcel count had dropped from 28,806 to 17,450, thus removing 11,356 properties from the delinquency rolls..
Al-Hamdani: “I do not believe that John and I are diametrically opposed when it comes to the responsibility of citizens to pay their taxes. Where we do differ, is what happens when a citizen falls behind on paying their taxes and how aggressive the treasurer’s office should be in selling that debt to lien debt collectors. With the historic rise in real estate values in Montgomery County came a historic rise in real estate taxes. Many citizens, especially those with fixed incomes, already struggled to pay their property taxes; this increase has only made matters worse for many in our community.
“Before selling the tax debt to lien debt collectors, the treasurer’s office should be reaching out directly to those who fall behind to put them on an affordable payment plan. Selling the debt to lien collectors only makes matter worse as it increases the debt in our community and the likelihood of foreclosures.”
Q: How do you strike the balance between aggressive collection and working with residents who may have fallen on hard times and want to stay current?
Al-Hamdani: “Balance is the key word. The office of treasurer should do more to identify and filter citizens of our communities who have fallen on hard times. We should be running filters and communicating directly with citizens to identify those who have fallen into hard times. We should also insure that citizens who accidentally pay less than what they owe do not have that mistake lead to more problems in having a small debt sold to lien creditors.”
McManus: “Our office offers delinquent payment plans to those who may be struggling to pay their property taxes and (have) fallen behind. ... If a taxpayer enrolls in a plan and continues to make his or her monthly payments in accordance with the contract, the property is protected from eligibility for a tax foreclosure or a tax lien. ...
“Our office, on average, issues over 3,000 delinquent payment plans a year. Of the 3,000, about half, or 1,500, are voided because the taxpayer stops making payments.
“My office works hard every single day to work with residents who are behind on their taxes. We want property owners to work with us when they fall behind so that we can keep people in their homes. At the same time, it would be highly irresponsible of me or any other county treasurer to erode the standards of accountability that have to exist in a government agency that is required by law to collect revenue. To do anything else would be an insult to those who pay their taxes on time and in full year after year.”
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
Q: What specific proposals do you have to improve upon how the office is run?
McManus: “I am particularly interested in ways that the treasurer’s office could utilize AI (artificial intelligence) to help staff with phone call and email management. During most months, our office receives approximately 2,000 phone calls from taxpayers needing assistance. During collection months, that number spikes to 14,000. ...
“I want to see what solutions AI could offer (in addition to existing website FAQs and automated recordings) to answer simple questions that have the tendency to take up an extraordinary amount of staff time.
“Additionally, I want to work with the Land Bank to look more closely at properties that have ‘forfeited’ to the state of Ohio. If a property doesn’t sell at auction following a foreclosure, it forfeits to the state. This is merely a paper forfeiture. The state doesn’t actually take possession and maintain these properties. These parcels, though, can be taken by a county Land Bank and then sold, transferred, etc. I’d like to build a program around this inventory and explore ways of utilization with local governments, non profits and others.”
Al-Hamdani: “Recently, the treasurer’s office has cut its hours of operation and now closes at 4 p.m., one hour earlier than the rest of the county. If elected I will return the hours of operations to normal hours and close the office at 5 p.m.. I will also work with the county land bank to increase investment in building new properties rather than just tearing down vacant homes and properties. Lastly, I would ensure that tax lien sales are only used as a last resort rather than the first option when citizens fall behind on their taxes.”
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