Commissioner demands transparency after $1.5 million school tax overpayment

A dispute over a 2022 tax levy error has put Morgan County officials and Jacksonville District 117 in the spotlight after the district received roughly $1.5 million more in property taxes than the county intended to collect. Commissioner Michael Woods on Monday urged greater openness, saying the overpayment has been "only partially resolved and insufficiently explained to the public."

County, district and clerk's office officials agree the excess collection stemmed from a clerical error in levy year 2022 that overstated the taxable base, but how the mistake occurred remains unknown. The county clerk at the time, Jill Waggener, declined to comment.

Jacksonville schools Superintendent Steve Ptacek said he discovered the discrepancy while preparing a presentation for the county board in December 2024. "I'm sitting there at the board meeting in December of 2024, and I looked at our financial officer, Rick Cunningham, and I said, 'They collected too much money on ... taxes paid in 2023,'" Ptacek recounted. He said the district alerted county officials the next day and that the prompt action limited longer-term impacts, which he estimated saved taxpayers about $10 million over the next 12 years, including the most recent tax year.

County residents have already received roughly half of the excess collections back, and Morgan County Clerk Sherry Sills said officials expect the remainder to be returned around the end of spring. Ptacek put the outstanding amount "somewhere in the line of $717,000." "The school district and county are working on a repayment plan," Sills said.

Woods has publicly pressed for a fuller accounting and broader disclosure of the circumstances that led to the overcollection. "I believe this needs to be fully transparent and not just handled internally," he said. Woods also denied that his statements were timed to benefit his campaign, saying, "I think it's important to talk about regardless of timing of elections. It may not always be the popular thing with certain groups, but I believe that it's important regardless."

Ptacek pushed back on Woods' characterization of events, saying the district acted quickly when it found the error. "When he (Woods) says there's no urgency — we (the school district) found the error, and we went over to the county to talk about it the next day." He also called Woods' attention to the matter part of a longer-running dispute, saying, "This is a personal vendetta for Mr. Woods."

Beyond the immediate dollar amounts, the episode raises questions about internal controls in county tax administration and how information about errors is communicated to residents. For property owners in Jacksonville and throughout Morgan County, the issue touches direct household budgets and school funding projections that feed into board decisions and levies voters face.

The takeaway? Ask for a clear, itemized accounting from the county clerk and the school district so residents can see how the $1.5 million was collected and repaid, and track when remaining refunds are issued. Our two cents? Demand the kind of transparency that prevents repeated mistakes and keeps local budgets—and public trust—on solid ground.