Panola County Chancery Clerk Jim Pitcock and Tax Assessor/Collector David Garner are to be commended for going after a property tax debt owed by former owners of Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

The two Panola County elected officials made sure a federal judge knew that local governmental entities had a claim to funds following that corporation’s bankruptcy and subsequent sale.

Panola County will receive $326,043, South Panola School District $332,000 and the City of Batesville $211,455 as their share of unpaid taxes.

Although non-profits are normally exempt from property taxes, original winning bidder Physicians and Surgeons Group had included property tax payment as part of its bid. The hospital is now in the hands of Alliance Health Partners following Physicians’s bankruptcy in 2007.

So, isn’t it the job of elected officials to look after the taxpayers’ interests?

Of course it is, but it is not a requirement. By being proactive on this issue, these elected officials put local governments in the line to recover some of the funds promised but never delivered.

And settlements also come at a time when every individual, business and government agency is trying to stretch limited dollars.