Published: March 27, 2008 08:26 am            

Delinquent tax notices coming soon

Property owners in Madison County, Richmond and Berea got an extra month to pay their taxes this year.

Normally, the property tax deadline is Dec. 31, according to officials of the three local governments. This year the deadline was extended to Jan. 31.

A delay of more than two weeks in getting a periodic re-assessment of property approved by the state held up the county’s and two cities’ calculation of their property tax bills, said Madison County Property Evaluation Administrator Stephen Smith.

Each year, about one-fourth of private property is re-assessed, based on the sale of comparable parcels, he said.

Those who got their county property tax bills and paid them by Dec. 31 got a 2 percent discount. Bills unpaid after Jan. 31 were subject to a 5 percent penalty. After Feb. 29, the penalty jumped to 21 percent, Smith said.

Those who persist in tax delinquency face the embarrassment of having their names and amounts owned published in the newspaper and posted on the Internet.

Property owners who have not paid their taxes by summer run the risk of having their tax bills sold to a third party who will be entitled to place a lien on their property.

Madison County Sheriff Nelson O’Donnell, whose office is responsible for county property tax collection announced Monday that the annual list of delinquent property taxes would be published April 11 in the Richmond Register. The list also will be posted on the sheriff’s Web site: madisoncountyky.us/sheriff, and updated weekly.

Richmond offers a 2 percent discount on taxes paid early — Dec. 31 this year — but Berea does not.

Both cities are sending delinquent notices for taxes not paid this year by Jan. 31.

The Richmond notices come in the form of a letter from City Attorney Garrett Fowles, said Deputy Finance Director Nancy Kettler. Berea sends a postcard similar to the original notice, but it is shaded red, said Finance Director Carol Richmond.

Richmond tax bills not paid by Jan. 31 were assessed a 10 percent penalty. An annual interest of 15 percent also is charged.

Richmond will be publishing the names of delinquent taxpayers in the Register. In early March, the city began posting the list on its Web site: richmond.ky.us. The list is updated monthly.

Tax bills are mailed directly to the property owner, Kettler said. Owners whose property taxes are paid by their lenders are responsible for forwarding the bill.

Berea adds a 10 percent penalty to property taxes not paid this year by Jan. 31, said Carol Richmond, city finance director. Also, an annual interest rate of 8.25 percent, calculated and compounded daily is charged.

Berea does not post its delinquent tax list on the Internet, but publishes it twice in the Berea Citizen.

The extra month to pay may help explain decreased delinquency this year.

“Less than 1 percent of Berea’s tax bills were unpaid after Jan. 31,” Richmond said. “Last year the initial delinquency rate was about 3 percent.”

Delinquency rates were not available for Richmond or the county.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.

        

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