NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez reportedly owes the Internal Revenue Service approximately $42,000.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen is expected to take up discussion about authorization of the payment at a specially called meeting today during which the board will also discuss tourism legislation.

Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell recently reported to the aldermen that he received a call from the IRS indicating the city owed $65,000 stemming from the city’s failure to timely file reports in 2012.

Grennell said Sunday an IRS agent met with Interim City Clerk Melissa Hawk, and it was determined that the city owes approximately $42,000 and the remaining amount is penalties and interest.

The owed payment is related to 2012 reports pertaining to payroll. Grennell said apparently a Form 941, or a required quarterly tax return, did not match W2s for that year.

Grennell said the agent indicated if the city went ahead and paid the owed payment, the penalties and interest may be waived.

“That’s what we are going to talk about (today), whether the board wants to go ahead and pay it,” he said.

Grennell asked the city’s independent auditor Deanne Tanksley to investigate the matter at the aldermen’s last meeting after she presented the city’s 2014-2015 fiscal year audit. Grennell said Tanksley had said prior to the meeting she did not think the city owed that much.

The city paid a few weeks ago approximately $14,000 in penalties for not mailing a Form 941 that was due this year, a duty of city clerk staff, not an auditor.

Tanksley said Sunday she has not had an opportunity or seen the letter the city received from the IRS to properly look into whether the city actually owes the money.

In 2012, Tanksley said at the last aldermen meeting, the city had multiple issues with its payroll system, including W2 reports being issued multiple times.

“That’s the year we disclaimed an opinion on the whole (audit) because it was a mess,” she said.

Tanksley said Sunday before she definitively says the city owes or does not money, files would need to be pulled out of storage so she could properly investigate.

Her recommendation to the city, Tanksley said, would be to make sure the city actually owes money before cutting a check to the IRS, but said ultimately that is the aldermen’s decision.

The mayor and aldermen will meet at 4:30 p.m. today in the City Hall conference room.