County sends out tax notices
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 21, 2017 5:50 AM
Approximately 73,000 tax notices are being mailed out by the Wayne County tax office over the next few days.
Taxpayers who do not receive their bill by Sept. 1 should contact the tax office at 919-731-1478 or go online at www.waynegov.com to look at their bill.
The bills are going out on time despite a week delay in adopting the county's budget and setting the county tax levy, Tax Administrator Alan Lumpkin said.
Wayne County commissioners approved the delay while waiting for the state to adopt its budget.
Property taxes are due Sept. 1, but people have until 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, to pay without being delinquent, he said.
A 2-percent penalty is added to bills not paid by the Jan. 5 deadline.
An additional three-quarters of a percent is added at the first of each following month to any outstanding balance until the bill is paid in full.
Taxpayers have several payment options:
* In person at the tax office on the first floor of the Wayne County Courthouse Annex or left in a drop box located on the Ormond Avenue side of the courthouse.
* Online or by phone, but both those options carry a fee collected by the company that provides the service. The county does not receive any revenue from the fee.
* Remove the bottom portion of the bill, write a check and mail it in.
Bills that are mailed must be postmarked no later than Jan. 5 by the Postal Service. Office postal marks are not valid to show that the mailing met the deadline, Lumpkin said.
Lumpkin said that his office receives calls from taxpayers wanting to know why the mailed-in bills are sent to Charlotte.
"It goes straight to the bank and it processes it for us," he said.
Wayne County also handles the billing for all of the fire districts and all of the county's municipalities.
There are two tax rate changes this year.
The Walnut Creek rate increased from 37.75 to 42 cents per $100 worth of property value.
The tax rate for the New Hope West Fire District increased from 6.3 to 7.5 cents per $100 worth of property value.
Wayne County taxpayers who as of Jan. 1 had property that was damaged during Hurricane Matthew, but not yet repaired, could receive a break on their tax bill, Lumpkin said
Taxpayers who do not receive an adjustment, but think that they should, need to contact the Wayne County Tax Office at 919-731-1478 or 919-731-1461.
The county can send appraisers out to look at the property.