State of Minnesota reverses course, will pay Moorhead veteran’s tax bill

Hours after KVRR asked questions about the case to the auditor's office, state officials abruptly reversed course

MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) — Kevin Shores had been receiving letters from the Clay County Auditor’s Office informing him about missing deadlines for delinquent taxes.

Because of communication issues, the taxes were never paid which led to the state seizing Shore’s home this week.

“The auditor is saying that I need to pay these taxes, I’m thinking we’re working together but they, unbeknownst to me, continue to process of the delinquent taxes. Because of this, the state of Minnesota took my home away from me,” Shores said.

As a disabled veteran struggling with blindness and Gulf War illness, Shores is eligible for a waiver to avoid the taxes which added up to over $16,000.

“Again, it goes back to, how do I address letters and mail being blind when we are in such a technological state? We can utilize email. We can utilize text messaging where I could’ve been more informed exactly what is occurring. Then I could address it and I’d never be in this situation,” Shores said.

As he was explaining his case, Shores says someone from the Clay County Auditor’s office gave him news that left him flabbergasted.

“One of their staff told me that Minnesota property tax law supersedes the ADA and I can’t understand that,” Shores said.

Clay County Auditor Lori Johnson says she was informed by the state that his tax bill will now be paid.

“This is another challenge in itself about veterans and how well are the veterans being treated? There’s trillions of dollars that go into the Defense budget. I just recently learned that all of that money that goes into Defense budget, has nothing to do with taking care of veterans after the fact of being cannon fodder. There’s a separate budget to the veterans and you would think if the Defense Department can get trillions of dollars to go to war, prepare for war, there should be a couple pennies set aside for us veterans that come back,” Shores said.

Hours after KVRR asked questions about the case to the auditor’s office, state officials abruptly reversed course. Shores says he’s happy about the news, but says it’s unfortunate the process took this long.

He’ll be running for mayor against Shelly Carlson in November.