CAMDEN — Dollar General has appealed to the Village of Camden for a tax refund of $3,100. The mayor of the village will have to assign a board to discuss and decide on the issue, according to village ordinance.

The issue was discussed during a council meeting on Thursday, Nov. 2.

Fiscal Officer Rebecca Wilson read an email from their attorney to all in attendance and explained its contents.

“The Dollar General, for the tax year of 2014 and 2015, believes they are entitled to a refund. RITA is saying they are only getting so much, but Dollar General believes they should be getting more,” she explained. “The attorney says that the bottom line is that RITA believes Dollar General is entitled to a refund of $18, while Dollar General believes they are entitled to a refund of $3,100.

“RITA says the discrepancy arrived, because Dollar General did not report any wages for withholding for the fiscal years 2014 and 2015. RITA believes the store opened in 2014, so the bulk of the discrepancy has to do with 2015. Because Dollar General did not report any wages, RITA is estimating what they believe to be the tax due on the wages.

“[According to the attorney], this often occurs when groups like Dollar General move into a municipality and they don’t pay close attention to the local taxes, so they don’t report anything. RITA says that Dollar General has not provided any explanation for their discrepancy or rational as to why they believe they are entitled to a greater refund.”

She continued to explain, Dollar General is now making the correct withholdings moving forward. According to RITA, the village can simply accept Dollar General’s findings or the village can appoint an income tax review board. This board should consist of three residents and they will be responsible for affirming, reversing, or modifying RITA’s decision.

If the property owner does not like the board’s decision, they can appeal to Preble County Common Pleas Court or the State Board of Tax Appeals in Columbus.

The attorney noted, if the appeal process goes far, costs might actually exceed the $3,100 appeal.

Council member Melissa Shull asked if Dollar General had given them a list of employees and noted she believed the individual would have paid the taxes and Dollar General would not be eligible for the funds, as the employee would have already paid.

“As I said in my email, I don’t want to spend more than $3,100 fighting it,” council member Judy Michael said.

Council member Kelly Doran proposed, “Then why don’t we just split it? From here forward, they are paying as they should, so why don’t we just decide to split it?”

Wilson noted, the decision would be up to the appeals board. Council decided to allow the mayor to appoint the board and to move from there.

At press time, the board had not yet met, but they will hold a meeting with the village attorney on Friday, Nov. 17, to come to their decision.