Polk County Commissioners said they sympathized with a couple who received a discovery tax bill last year, but were bound by statutes and could not approve an appeal.

The board met Monday and heard a tax appeal from Timothy Davidson, who received over $9,000 in tax bills for structures on his property that the county recently discovered. Davidson said it is not his fault that the county&squo;s books were irregular, but commissioners said those structures have to be taxed in the same manner as other county residents.

The Davidsons had only been paying taxes on the land they purchased in 1997 and said they thought when their taxes increased in 2001 that the county had picked up on the construction of a barn and apartment, which is used as their primary residence.

Commissioners said Monday that the increase in the Davidson&squo;s tax bill was due to a revaluation year and the Davidson&squo;s should have realized by making $189,000 worth of improvements that their taxes should have tripled, but didn&squo;t.

&dquo;If I&squo;d had an itemized bill, I could have said, this is missing,&dquo; Davidson said. &dquo;How was I supposed to know there was an error?&dquo;

The Davidsons also said they thought their arena also constructed after the land purchase was counted as agriculture and not subject to tax.

The county during its recent full list and re-measure revaluation process discovered the structures on the Davidsons&squo; property and sent them a bill with the current 2008 taxes owed as well as years 2003 through 2007.

The Davidsons asked for relief on the penalties and interest for the prior years, but commissioners said they were advised in an earlier case not to provide such relief.

The county by statute can tax for discovery the current year it was found plus the five previous years with interest.

Polk County Tax Assessor John Bridgers said he sympathizes with the Davidsons, but his job is bound by state statutes.

&dquo;I empathize with the Davidsons, but I&squo;m bound by the statutes,&dquo; Bridgers said. &dquo;I would not want to get hit with this bill either.&dquo;

The Davidsons were paying taxes based on a valuation of $75,660 since they purchased the property in 1997. With the discovery, the land and structures have been valued at $75,660 for the land and $177,400 for the structures.

Commissioners said hopefully problems of this nature will be avoided in the future due to the building inspections office and the tax office now being on the same computer system. The Davidsons did receive a building permit for the barn/apartment, but the county did not pick up on it at the time.