The first round of property tax notices has been sent out, likely arriving in your mailbox over the next few days.
The deadline to pay property taxes is the end of February. Overton County Trustee Peggy Smith said notices are always first sent out during the first week of October, as that is the earliest property owners can pay their property taxes. Smith said she sees a plethora of mistakes people make every year.
“One thing is, they pay the wrong parcel,” Smith said. “Sometimes we have that, and then sometimes, like when they have bought a tract of land that’s been split off another tract of land, and it’s still together as a whole. Sometimes that causes confusion. It’s just simple errors.”
Putnam County Trustee Freddie Nelson said he is expecting to collect an estimated $53 million from property taxes. Nelson said the trustee’s office takes on the challenge of collecting as much as possible. Nelson said the most common mistakes people make when it comes to property taxes are forgetting to pay before the deadline.
“We try to send notices out about two or three times each year before they become delinquent, so people will have a reminder of it, but I’m surprised at the number of people who know it and just don’t pay it the last day or two,” Nelson said.
Smith said she is expecting to collect an estimated $10.9 million in county revenue from property taxes.
“We collect about 95 percent of the property taxes that are due,” Nelson said. “So really we do a fairly good job of that, and every year we try to get better.”
Nelson and Smith said February tends to be very busy as they work to collect as many property taxes as possible to close out the deadline. Smith said December is usually one of the best months for collecting property taxes.
“That’s when all of your banks pay,” Smith said. “All of your mortgage companies, if you are a taxpayer and you have a mortgage on your property, and the bank pays your taxes, all of that comes in the month of December because they like to pay before the end of the year.”
Nelson said many people may not be able to pay their property taxes. Nelson said there are tax relief programs for residents over the age of 65 and for veterans.
