Jefferson County Tax Assessor-Collector Allison Nathan Getz said Thursday that Signature Industrial Services satisfied its tax debt with a payment of $531,507.76 this week following the “largest seizure of business personal property in Jefferson County history.”

“I’ve been putting the word out if you owe delinquent taxes, this is a good time to pay them off,” she said in a telephone interview. “I can’t forgive the amount but I can work with the payment agreement.

“Ultimately, the taxes have to be paid.”

Getz said the struggle to collect from Signature Industrial Services goes back several years.

“They’ve received many letters, they’ve been served with many papers,” she said.

A tax warrant was served on the business last week and Getz and constables began seizing equipment Aug. 2. She said her office moved quickly because Signature Industrial Service was due to begin auctioning off equipment this week.

Getz said this was the first time in her five years in office she’s seized equipment. She said the company agreed to a payment schedule, but lapsed in their payments to the county.

She said the county has been paid in full for what Signature Industrial Services owes.

In an issued statement, she said, “I appreciate the public placing their trust in me and I will continue to be diligent in my duties that provide funds to educate our children; provide EMS, police and fire protection; enable our cities to function effectively; and for the largest strategic military port in the nation, which are just a portion of the 28 jurisdictions we serve.”

Getz said the money goes from the tax office and into the county treasury, where it is distributed to jurisdictions for their share of the payments.

“We’ve already had several people call and say they are willing to pay,” Getz said. “I’m just doing my job.

“These are not disabled, elderly people that I’m throwing out of their homes.”