Mount Vernon School District Sues Comptroller Reynolds for Withholding School Taxes

The Mount Vernon City School District has asked the state Supreme Court to order Mount Vernon Comptroller Deborah Reynolds to turn over all the school taxes she has collected.

In the March 22 lawsuit, the school district claimed that the Comptroller violated a long-standing agreement between the City and the District by not giving the District all the school taxes that her office has collected.

Specifically, the Comptroller the court papers noted that the Comptroller didn’t give the District any tax money in December. According to the court papers, when District officials reached out to the Comptroller in February to ask about undelivered school taxes, she ignored their inquiries and did not respond.

When the Comptroller finally turned over the school taxes, the total was $21 million less than the District received at the same time last year.

“To date, Reynolds had not returned the tax warrant or the tax list and has not provided the District with an account of unpaid taxes and affidavits as required by law,” stated the District’s court papers. “The District requires the school taxes collected by Reynolds to be immediately paid to the District in order to meet the District’s financial obligations in the coming months.”

The district asked the court to order Reynolds to:

· Give the District the tax warrant and tax list and an accounting of unpaid taxes

· Provide records of school tax payments made to the Comptroller’s office

· Award the District court costs and attorney fees

The District asked the court for an April 19 hearing on the matter.

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