Collection attorneys for Hays County taxing entities began seizing personal property from Thompson Supply, Inc. last week.
The company, located on South Camino Real in Uhland, owes $50,000 in delinquent property taxes for 2011-2012.
“We hate to have to resort to seizing the assets of any business, but when the owner refuses to take care of the matter and tells us he’s winding down his operations, we really don’t have any other choice,” said attorney Steve Bird of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP, the law firm that represents Hays County.
According to Hays County tax records, Thompson Supply, Inc. sells commercial printing supplies and equipment. The company also lists pre-press, pressroom and finishing supplies for conventional, digital and flexo printing, new and used equipment and fulfillment services.
The company is listed on its website as being in business since 1960 but has only been in Hays County since 2007. The company is on the tax rolls of Hays County, Hays CISD, the city of Uhland and five other taxing districts.
Hays County Tax Assessor-Collector Luanne Caraway said last year’s taxes were paid one day late, so the company had to pay penalties. The company was paying its taxes until recently, she said.
“I guess they just haven’t been able to pay,” Caraway said. “There haven’t been any payments made or attempts to pay since the beginning of June.”
Texas Property Code allows for the assets of any company to be seized if taxes remain unpaid. The assets are then sold at auction to recover the amount owed. Caraway said her office has not had any calls or payments from Thompson Supply, Inc. since the seizure.
“I don’t like to see this happen,” Caraway said. “It’s not a fun thing to do. We never like to go this route, but when we can’t collect, it raises taxes for everyone else. We do this to keep everyone else from having to pay more.”
Two phone numbers listed for Thompson Supply, Inc. are out of service. Bird said the owners have made no effort to pay.
“We plan to go back to the facility … in order to take a detailed inventory and with an auctioneer so as to prepare for the sale of the assets,” Bird said.