Blytheville Finance Director John Callens says he emailed the Department of Finance and Administration that the city failed to pay $978,488.65 in excise taxes over a six-year period.
Thursday night, Callens told the Finance and Purchasing Committee that the state has not responded yet to the email and he cautioned, until hearing back from DF&A, the city won't know for sure what it owes.
Callens' figures show that the city owes the state $621,433.48 and the county, $205,059.01, with the other $151,996.16 being the city's portion of the taxes. He said a portion of the county money will come back to the city, though the amount was unclear following Thursday night's meeting.
Callens broke down the tax numbers by year, adjusting for different tax rates, he said.
According to the recently released 2013 audit performed by the Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit, the city of Blytheville failed to pay sales taxes of $147,632, collected in 2013 on sanitation fees and trash pickup.
"City officials stated that the sales taxes have not been remitted since 2004," the report reads. "The City informed us they contacted the Department of Finance and Administration in attempt to settle this outstanding debt."
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com