Tax collector compensation taken under advisement
The question of the salary for DeSoto County Tax Collector Joey Treadway is again being considered by the Board of Supervisors.
A lengthy discussion during Monday’s board meeting centered on Treadway’s desire to come out of retirement to receive a compensation package that amounts to more than $235,000 annually.
By statute, the current salary for the Tax Collector and Tax Assessor is $72,200 a year. The Tax Collector is also paid to collect taxes for cities through what is called an interlocal agreement.
Tax Collectors are required to collect ad valorem taxes for DeSoto County, but they don’t have to collect for the cities. Through the interlocal agreements with Southaven, Hernando, Horn Lake and Olive Branch the Tax Collector collects their city taxes and is compensated for doing that. Because the agreements are between government entities, and not with Mr.Treadway specifically, he says he has the right to set how much they should pay him, and refuse to collect taxes for the cities if it is not enough.
Cities can hire their own tax collector do it for them, but by paying a fee to the county, Treadway’s office does that for them.
A fee paid by the cities covers the cost of running the Tax Collector’s three offices in the county. Cities and the Town of Walls also pay Treadway a flat fee for being “their” tax collector.
Monday, Treadway told supervisors that he wanted to come out of retirement and receive the full compensation package of $235,076, or he would stop collecting the city taxes.
Presently, the tax collector package would total more than $159,000, which includes the statutory salary, more than $85,000 for the interlocal agreements between the county and the cities and an additional $2,500 for tax collections for the Tanger Outlets mall in Southaven.
Treadway is considered “retired” for PERS consideration, so he receives his full pension and is additionally paid 25 percent of his total compensation and a 13th check. Treadway wants to also be paid the money that is collected from the cities as outlined in the interlocal agreements. To do that, he would have to come out of retirement and be paid more by the County and cities.
Under what Treadway is proposing, he would come out of retirement for $235,000 a year. That would require more than $160,000 from cities and county under his proposed interlocal agreements, along with his $72,200 statutory salary and the $2,500 from Tanger Outlets. Treadway says If he doesn’t get at least that amount, he will remain retired and refuse to collect taxes for cities.
The request from Treadway is similar to one he originally made back in March 2023, but the figures have since been revised, so this is a different request.
At the end of Monday’s discussion, which included the appearance of all four city mayors, all interested in assuring that their city taxes are collected, board members voted to take the issue under advisement. The move was done to research similar counties in Mississippi about what the tax collectors there are paid so the board can determine a fair compensation for Treadway.
