A lawsuit between the Warren County Commission and Collector of Revenue Julie Schaumberg has been decided in favor of the tax collector.The judge presiding over the case awarded a summary judgment to Schaumberg, effectively denying an attempt by the commission to order her to waive late fees on an unpaid tax bill.The decision was made by Franklin County Associate Circuit Judge David L. Hoven, who was appointed to hear the case. He delivered the ruling April 26.The lawsuit stems from a disagreement about how to handle a Warren County resident’s 2017 tax bill.The Warren County Commission in early 2018 decided to intervene on behalf of a taxpayer who believed she had sent her property tax payment on time, but had been told it wasn’t received by the collector’s office. The taxpayer refused to pay the late fee, and the collector’s office declined to accept just the original amount of the bill as payment.The collector required the original amount plus the late fee.Commissioners ordered Schaumberg to waive the penalty and accept payment for the original bill, but Schaumberg refused. She said state statute requires her to assess penalties on all late payments.In April 2018, the commission filed a lawsuit, seeking a court order for Schaumberg’s compliance. Since then, attorneys for both sides have made their cases in court on multiple occasions.At one point Judge Hoven gave preliminary support, but not a final ruling, in favor of the county commission’s authority to review tax bills. But attorneys for Schaumburg argued for the judge to reconsider his reading of state law and reverse course in his final decision.The taxpayer in this case ended up paying more than $200 in penalties and interest on a 2017 tax bill that originally was $832, Schaumberg previously told The Record. The resident paid the tax bill with penalties and interest at the end of 2018 to avoid any complications with the next year’s bill.Attorneys for Schaumberg had requested Judge Hoven make a final ruling on the case, or summary judgment, rather than allow the case to proceed to a jury trial in June.Earlier in April, Hoven had denied a similar request from an attorney for Warren County, seeking a ruling in favor of the commission.Court gavel