Property taxes late if not paid by Jan. 5
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 26, 2008 2:28 PM
County tax officials have said their office is preparing for the expected last-minute crush as some people still wait until the last minute to pay their taxes and then try to beat the Monday, Jan. 5, at 5 p.m. deadline.
Meanwhile, Jan. 2-31 has been set as the tax-listing period for real and personal property.
Anyone who fails to make the Jan. 5 tax payment deadline will have a 2-percent penalty added to their bill effective Jan 6. An additional three-fourths of one percent is added to any outstanding balance for each additional month that the taxes are past due.
People may still mail in their taxes.
However, in order to avoid the late penalties, the envelope must have a U.S. Postal Service time stamp showing it was mailed prior to the deadline.
Office time stamps do not qualify.
As of November the county's tax collection rate reflected about a 5-percent increase -- about $2.7 million -- over the same period last year.
Commissioners established the tax-listing period earlier this month.
Any listing made after the Jan. 31 deadline will be subject to a penalty of 10 percent of the taxes levied. It is a Class 2 misdemeanor not to list taxes.
Any person or firm owning any real estate on which improvements have been made since the last filling period must report those changes to the tax office. The changes may be reported in person at the tax office located on the first floor of the county courthouse annex or by completing a tax-listing form.
All real estate in the county is permanently listed and is automatically charged to the owner of record on Jan. 1. As such, no filing has to be made on real estate unless changes have been made to it or the owner's address has changed since Jan 1.
Also, any person or business owning tangible personal property, such as machinery, fixtures and equipment, unlicensed vehicles, boats, motors, jet skis, wave runners, airplanes and mobile homes must file a return. A mobile home that is being lived in or is in a livable condition will have a minimum value of $1,000.
All persons residing in the county on Jan. 1., whether temporarily or not, are required to make a return in the county.
For more information, people should contact the tax listing office at 731-1461 or tax collection office.