County tax bills are in the mail
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 22, 2013 1:46 PM
Wayne County taxpayers can expect to see a decrease in their county property tax bill when they get it in the mail sometime this week.
The $160 million county budget approved by Wayne County commissioners in June reduced the property tax rate by 3.6 cents from 70.25 cents per $100 of property value to 66.65 cents.
There is no way to determine an average savings created by the reduction, county Tax Administrator David Ward said.
However, a property owner with a house and lot valued at $100,000 would have paid $702.50 in county taxes based on the old rate of 70.25 cents.
Under the new rate of 66.65 cents, the amount owed would be $666.50 -- a savings of $36.
The Wayne County Tax Department Monday mailed out about 73,900 tax notices representing nearly $44 million in county property tax revenues.
The county also bills and collects taxes for all of its municipalities except for the Village of Walnut Creek.
The tax bills are due and payable on Sept. 1, but taxpayers have until 5 p.m. on Jan. 6 to pay before interest begins to accrue, Ward said.
People may mail in their payment, pay at the tax office on the first floor of the county courthouse annex, or use the drop box located on Ormond Avenue next to the annex.
"If you mail it in, it has to be postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service no later than Jan. 6," he said. "If postmarked by then, it will be considered timely."
An office postal machine postmark is not acceptable, he said.
Bills also may be paid online. However, there is an additional fee associated with using that option. The county does not receive any of that fee.
Bills not paid by the deadline are subject to a 2 percent interest charge. An additional three-fourths of a percent is added at the first of each following month on any unpaid balance.