County tax office may use collection agency for delinquent taxes--Taxes over 10 years old may be turned over

(By Leslie Bray Evans, The Stokes News) - The Stokes County Board of Commissioners is considering allowing the Stokes County Tax Department to use a collection service to collect taxes that have remained unpaid for a decade. At their regular meeting on Monday, the commissioners heard a presentation on this subject by Stokes County Tax Administrator Jake Oakley.

The proposed system would allow the county to use Interstate Credit Collections to deal with those whose delinquent tax bills, particularly vehicle and personal property taxes, are at least 10 years old. Oakley clarified that real property taxes would still be handled in the tax office.

The biggest advantage to using ICC to collect, according to Oakley, is that the company, unlike the county tax collectors, can use the Credit Bureau.