The City of Combine closed its 2024 fiscal year with $58,833.59 in uncollected property taxes. The figure comes from the city’s financial statements. A certified public accountant prepared those statements.
Some of the unpaid balance dates back nearly two decades.
What remains unclear is how much of that money has since been recovered. The city’s public financial records do not show a current balance.
Combine’s financial statements cover the year ending September 30, 2024. They include a detailed schedule of delinquent taxes.
The schedule showed $796,609 in taxes outstanding during the reporting period. The city recorded $737,775.41 in payments and adjustments. That left $58,833.59 uncollected.
That amount equaled 7.39 percent of the total on the schedule.
The $58,833.59 should not be treated as Combine’s current delinquent tax balance. It was a snapshot as of September 30, 2024. A review of more recent city financial information did not turn up an updated delinquent tax schedule. No newer record shows exactly how much remains unpaid today.
More Than $36,000 Traced to Older Tax Years
The unpaid total was not the result of a single year’s tax bills.
Of the $58,833.59 remaining at the end of fiscal 2024, $22,206.10 came from the 2023 tax roll. Another $36,627.49 came from earlier tax years.
The largest older balance came from the 2022 tax roll. That balance stood at $15,804.82.
Other unpaid amounts by year included:
- 2021: $6,038.13
- 2020: $3,264.59
- 2019: $1,816.78
- 2018: $1,502.94
- 2017: $1,726.53
- 2016: $1,094.08
- 2015: $983.35
- 2014: $901.14
Smaller balances remained from tax years dating back to 2005.
A significant portion of Combine’s unpaid balance was already several years old when the report was prepared.
How Much Was Actually Collected From Older Delinquencies?
There is evidence the city reduced part of its older delinquent balance during fiscal 2024.
The schedule began the year with $41,418.47 in delinquent taxes from earlier tax years. The city recorded $4,790.98 under a combined category. That category was labeled payments and adjustments. It left a $36,627.49 balance at year end.
The city’s report does not separate cash payments from accounting adjustments. That distinction matters.
The schedule shows negative adjustments for the 2020 and 2021 tax years. Those adjustments actually increased the outstanding balances for those years.
Because of this, the $4,790.98 figure cannot be described as $4,790.98 in delinquent taxes collected. It represents the net effect of payments and adjustments combined.
The publicly posted records also do not include a comparable schedule for the period after September 30, 2024. There is no way to verify how much Combine has recovered from that specific balance since fiscal 2024 ended.
No Separate Accounting for Write Offs
The 2024 financial schedule does not identify a separate amount for tax write offs. Changes are grouped into one category. That category is payments and adjustments.
Nothing in the public records confirms that any part of the $58,833.59 was written off after September 30, 2024. Nothing confirms it was forgiven either.
It would be inaccurate to subtract unspecified adjustments and call the difference money collected. It would also be inaccurate to assume old balances were written off just because they stayed unpaid for years.
A newer delinquent tax ledger would be needed to sort this out. That ledger would need to separate payments, appraisal changes, corrections, and cancellations.
Kaufman County Handles Tax Collection
Combine does not manage tax collection entirely on its own. The Kaufman County Tax Assessor and Collector is the collecting unit for the city.
The 2024 delinquent tax schedule was based on a certified affidavit. Kaufman County Tax Assessor and Collector Teressa Floyd provided that affidavit.
Portions of Combine extend into Dallas County. The city’s report states that the Kaufman County office also collected taxes on that Dallas County property.
Combine’s municipal code provides tools for pursuing overdue taxes. City property taxes become delinquent if they are not paid by January 31.
Delinquent amounts carry penalties and interest under state law. Unpaid taxes also become a lien against the property.
The city code allows an added 15 percent penalty. That penalty applies to qualifying taxes still delinquent on July 1. It helps cover collection costs.
These tools give the city and its tax collector a way to keep pursuing old balances. Nothing suggests those balances are simply being abandoned.
The Current Balance Remains the Missing Piece
Combine now posts budget and tax information for two future periods. Those periods run from 2025 through 2026 and from 2026 through 2027.
The records reviewed for this report did not include an updated delinquent tax schedule. No version has replaced the one from the 2024 annual financial statements.
That leaves a basic question unanswered. Residents cannot see how much of the $58,833.59 has been paid. They cannot see how much was adjusted or cancelled. They cannot see how much is still owed.
A current delinquent tax receivable schedule would answer these questions. So would a collection ledger from the tax assessor and collector’s office.
Until such a record is public, $58,833.59 stands as the latest verified year end balance. It is not a verified statement of what residents owe the city today.
One more distinction matters here. The 2024 document was prepared by a certified public accountant. The accountant’s report states the statements were not audited. They were not reviewed. They were not compiled under a formal engagement. No assurance was expressed on them.
The document should be called the city’s annual financial statements. It should not be called an audited financial statement.
