Sales tax flap hits sheriff in northern Michigan

BEULAH, Mich. (AP) - A sheriff in northern Michigan has paid $42 in sales tax for new tires after officials learned that he was given a tax-exempt sale for the personal purchase.

There’s no dispute that Benzie County Sheriff Ted Schendel used a personal check to buy the tires for his pickup truck. But the 2014 invoice lists a sheriff’s department employee who handled tire purchases and a county account that’s exempt from sales tax.

Schendel tells the Traverse City Record-Eagle (https://bit.ly/1UmwWit ) that he didn’t know he didn’t pay the tax. He says he was “in shock” at the time over the $764 price of the tires. He paid the tax in June, 17 months later.

The sheriff says he believes the tax flap is related to a feud with a former undersheriff.

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Information from: Traverse City Record-Eagle, https://www.record-eagle.com