Sun Nov 08 2009
By JENNY DERRINGER
The taxman came and went last week in Defiance County and if area property owners missed that Monday deadline, a 5-percent penalty is coming their way compliments of the county treasurer.
Tax payments were due in July for the second half of 2007 and not everyone was as timely as county treasurers would like them to be.
In Defiance County, Treasurer Karen Tubbs relayed that for the year 2007, a total of $30,465,456 was due by county property owners on July 21. But according to numbers tallied mid-week, only $28,550,000 was actually collected, with $1,915,456 still outstanding.
Tubbs noted that to date, 6.5 percent of those owing property taxes for this second half are considered delinquent. In the week following the deadline, she expects to see up to one-fourth of those making payment. By the end of the calendar year, she anticipates the total delinquent number to be reduced to about 3.5 percent.
Payments were still arriving via the U.S. Postal Service throughout the week though. As long as the envelopes were postmarked by July 21, they are considered paid on time. In addition, those on the west end of the county had the advantage of dropping off their taxes at Hicksville banks, as long as they were paid on Monday, they are not delinquent, according to Tubbs.
According to Ohio Revised Code, the penalty for the first 10 days is 5 percent, and after that, the penalty goes up to 10 percent.
In the fall, Tubbs' office goes into a third collection for delinquent taxes. Those who have yet to pay will be given plenty of notification that their names will be published in this newspaper. Those property owners will have a week in advance to pay up or read about it in this publication.
Also posting a list of delinquent property owners is Paulding County Treasurer Lou Ann Wannemacher. That list is commonly published in October.
With the tax deadline in Paulding County set at July 16, Wannemacher would have liked to see paid in what was due the county -- $13,940,542. Instead, $12,793,721 was collected as of Wednesday afternoon. So more than 7 percent of property owners are considered delinquent in their payments as of this week.
Wannemacher noted that the statistics are somewhat higher than last year at this time which was approximately 6 percent.
By the end of the year, "I hope to get to 5 percent," said Wannemacher, "but in the real world, who knows."
Payment plans can be set up in any county for those who are in need of a little financial supervision.
In Paulding County, Wannemacher encourages people to work with the treasurer's office and set up a six-month payment plan. This can be done on a monthly or bi-weekly basis.
Those wishing to participate in a payment plan can contact their county treasurer's office: Paulding, 419-399-8280; Defiance, 419-782-8741; Henry, 419-592-1851; Williams, 419-636-1850; Fulton, 419-337-9252; and Putnam, 419-523-6588.
Another payment plan of sorts is paying one's taxes on a monthly basis with the mortgage as it is paid off.
Defiance County treasurer's website reports that "approximately 30 percent of the county taxpayers pay their taxes through their mortgage company. This works well until their mortgage is paid off."
After the property has been paid in full, homeowners must then continue to be fiscally responsible and pay their taxes at the treasurer's office directly every six months or enroll in some sort of payment plan.
Henry County Treasurer Calvin Spiess avoids the traditional formal payment plan that involves a contract. This way he can take any form of partial payment the property owner is able to give.
"This way they are in an area where they can see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Spiess.
The Henry County tax total for 2007 should have been $25,539,631, though $23,735,942 was actually collected to date. Spiess estimates that at the July 9 closing, the county's delinquency rate was 7 percent. More than two weeks after the deadline, the rates stands at 3 to 4 percent.
Comparing previous year's delinquency rates, Spiess hasn't noticed much change. "It would be nice to collect it all," he said, "but we never do."
Spiess publishes the delinquency list in his county's newspaper once by law.
"It doesn't matter whether they owe $100,000 or a penny," he added.
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
Crescent-News.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Defiance Publishing, LLC 1995-2009. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expresse written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expresse written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications