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NAPLES — Some owe only a pittance, about $5. Others, more than $50,000.

Those who owe tangible taxes are past due and Collier County Tax Assessor Guy Carlton completed his required yearly ritual of publishing the list of tax scofflaws in the Daily News in May. Being publicly embarrassed prompts many to pay up.

As a result, 495 of the 3,612 who owed tangible taxes — taxes paid on property other than real estate that is used in a business to earn income, including furniture, equipment, fixtures, signs and machinery — mailed in what they owed for 2007 after becoming delinquent on April 1.

Those who didn’t are now listed among 3,117 defendants in a complaint Carlton files annually in June in Collier County Circuit Court, a validation of tax warrants. The 333-page computer printout attached to the complaint listed scofflaws that include restaurants, mining concerns, nurseries, condominium and apartment complexes.

“Some of these businesses are not doing well or have closed,” said Deputy County Tax Collector Claude Haynes.

The highest owed?

That honor went to Commercial Cleanup Enterprises Inc., on Industrial Drive in Naples, which hadn’t paid $51,237.70 in tangible taxes when the suit was filed. Company representatives could not be reached for comment.

The second highest taxes listed were: $30,086.63 for Inovo Inc., a manufacturer of respiratory care devices in Collier Park of Commerce on Horseshoe Drive; and $29,063.57 for Hydro-Supreme LLC, which has offices in Naples and Fort Myers.

A lawyer and registered agent for Inovo couldn’t be reached for comment and there was no phone listing for Hydro Supreme. Corporate officers listed for Hydro Supreme on the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations also couldn’t be reached for comment.

Not having enough money isn’t always an excuse for owing taxes.

“Some are fairly minute amounts,” Haynes said, adding that some business owners probably put the notices aside and forgot. “When we send out the letters, it jogs their minds.”

The lowest amount owed is listed to Kayak East Coast of Gulf Coast Inn — a mere $5.28.

Attorney Craig Blume, the registered agent for the firm, said he hadn’t been notified about the taxes and would notify his client. But he said he has another client, a former Naples restaurateur, who was sent a notice to pay even though he’d already sold his interest in his Greek restaurant and it has since changed its name.

Many factors are considered in placing a value on tangible goods, such as its original cost and its replacement cost, less depreciation. That value is then multiplied by the millage rate. It’s the property owner who places that value on the property by filing a tangible tax return between November and April 1.

Darlene Muszynski, assistant director of Collier County Circuit Court’s civil section, said many of the green return receipts from the 3,117 mailings on July 18 are now being returned. And court records show answers to the complaint are now trickling in.

“By the time it goes to court, typically most will be paid,” Muszynski said, adding, “The majority do pay.”

Next year, there will be a lot less work for the tax office and clerk’s office. On Jan. 29, an amendment was passed that gives Florida businesses a $25,000 exemption on equipment and other tangible personal property. Beginning next year, only those who owe more than $25,000 in tangible property will have to pay.

Douglas Gorham, director of the county’s Tangible Personal Property Appraisal Office, said the amendment to the law will help many small “mom and pop” businesses — and reduce the county’s work.

“Being able to exempt them is a real boon for them because some were paying to prepare a tax return for more than what was owed,” Gorham said. “Instead of processing more than 30,000 returns, we’ll be processing 5,000.”

As a result of the reduced workload, he said the county has cross-trained employees who would have handled those taxes so they can perform other duties between March and July.

“It’s good for us and it’s good for them,” he said of the amendment’s affect on businesses and county employees. “It was good legislation.”

To see if you’re on the list for Collier County, go to www.collierclerk.com and click on records search, court records and then type in a search for “Carlton, Guy” in June by clicking on the calendars on the third line and entering: from June 1 to June 30.

To check if you owe tangible taxes in Lee County, go to www.leetc.com and click on tangible property records on the right.