County mayor pays some taxes late

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett was late paying his taxes on some property he owns in West Knox County.

He said earlier this year, he called the county Trustee's Office to make sure he was up-to-date on his taxes and was told that he was. On Wednesday, though, he checked again, and realized that he still owned money on two pieces of property near the Amherst Road and Bradley Lake Lane split.

The mayor said that “within five minutes of finding out” he cut a check for $1,966.27, which included a late fee of $57.27.

“I had gotten a call from the bank that they had sold my note to another financing entity and there seemed to be some confusion, so I checked it out (with the trustee's office),” he said. “I made a mistake. The bottom line is at I shouldn't have (initially) taken someone's word for it. I should have gotten a print out like I usually do and verified it. It's totally my fault.”

County property taxes were due Feb. 1.

The mayor noted that the address where his tax bills were sent was at his old house on Airtree Lane that he shared with his former wife. The couple separated last March and at that time, Burchett moved out and said he didn't recall getting a tax bill forwarded to him.