Local taxes due Wednesday
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 30, 2010 1:46 PM
People who own property in Wayne County have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to pay their 2010 property taxes in order to avoid paying interest on the bill.
Interest will begin accruing Jan. 6, when two percent will be added. The first of each following month, an additional three-fourths of one percent will be added to any outstanding amount until the full amount is paid.
And the county offers several payment options for those who want to avoid the last-minute lines.
The bills may be mailed, but they must have a U.S. Post Office official postmark of no later than Jan. 5 to be counted as being on time.
Office metering postmarks do not qualify.
Payments also be paid online or by phone and make your payment that way. People who use either of those methods will need their tax bill because they will need a couple of numbers off that bill.
There is a caveat to using either of those two methods -- expect to pay additional fees. The fee goes to the company processing the payment and not the county.
The fee based on a graduated scale depending on the amount that is being paid.
However, the process for online and phone payment provides the amount of the fee and allows the person to opt out if they do not want to pay the fee.
The telephone number and the website are listed on the tax bill and on the tax office's official website. People may go to www.waynegov.com, click on departments and then select tax department.
People also may pay their bill at the tax office on the first floor of the county courthouse annex. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office will be closed this Friday for New Year's.
The county also provides two drop boxes for taxpayers to use. One is located on Ormond Avenue and the other is inside the annex lobby. The boxes are checked daily, tax officials said. However, people should not leave cash in either box, the officials said.
If there are problems with paying, people should contact the tax office. People who cannot pay the full amount are encouraged to pay as much as possible.
Tax officials said that depending on what amount that is delinquent that they would try and work with the taxpayer.
While the county does not make arrangements for people to pay their taxes over the course of the year, taxpayers have the option to do so themselves.
Tax officials said that people should know what their taxes were for the previous year. They can divide that amount by 10 or 12 and starting late January pay a little each month on that.
The tax office will issue receipts on the payments. When the bills are created to be mailed, usually in August, anything that has been paid would be applied and when the bill goes out it would show the difference that is owed.
A number of taxpayers are taking advantage of that method, tax officials said.
While the deadline for paying taxes is near, the start of the personal tax listing will is ready to start.
The listing will begin Monday and will continue through Jan. 31 for items such as boats, mobile homes and unlicensed motor vehicles.
People who fail to list during January will be subject to a 10-percent late-listing penalty.
Land and houses are automatically listed and do not have to be listed unless. Changes have been made such as additions, remodeling, adding a deck, adding outbuildings or even demolishing an outbuilding.
Business listing will be ongoing at the same time and business owners will receive an abstract on which to list their personal property.
All business firms, in lieu of filing a return, must file a business listing form. County tax officials said that caution should be exercised that the values are identical or reconciled with those appearing in the state income tax return.
All business firms with property in the county on Jan. 1 must submit a return regardless of the location of the home office or residence of the owner.
All residents, even those here temporarily, are required to file a return Jan. 1. Armed forces personnel are required to file, under their legal or voting residence, and not by where they might be located on Jan. 1 because of military orders.
Civilian personnel attached to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, and who resided in the county on Jan. 1 are required to file a return like any other county resident.