New online pay available for county taxes

You can now pay your property taxes online with a credit or debit card.

County Collector Pam Williams says the county’s new online service is ready and waiting at www.sfcgov.org/collector for those who’d like to pay from the convenience of their home.

An additional fee does apply to using the service, to cover the cost of providing the option.

“We can’t endure that cost. It has to go on the person using it,” Williams explained. “The county doesn’t get any of those fees.”

The address is printed on the tax payer’s bill for convenience.

For right now, the credit/debit card option is only available online.

“We are going to try and enhance it next year,” Williams said, “so they can use the methods in the office, but right now it’s just on the Internet.”

Williams said they pursued online bill pay to make paying more convenient for tax payers.

“We have had several requests for it, so we have taken on the challenge of getting all that together and try to make it easier for people to pay if they want to use that option,” she said.

The County Collector sent out 64,000 tax bills Nov. 13, so most tax payers should have received their bills by now. They are due Dec. 31. After that late fees apply.

If yours appears lost in transit, the Collector’s office is 756-2645.

Those who didn’t receive a bill because they failed to turn in a personal property tax statement earlier in the year will need to do so with the County Assessor. A late penalty between $10 and $100 will apply. The exact amount of the late fee depends on the assessed value of the property you failed to report.

Along with the new online payment option, all the old payment options are still available. Property taxes may be paid in person at the Collector’s Office in the County Courthouse Annex at 1 West Liberty. There is also a drop-box available or the bills may be mailed to the collector.

A paid receipt for property taxes is required to license vehicles for operation in the county.

Collectively, county residents owe a tax bill of about $30 million dollars. That’s only slightly above last year’s $29.2 million total.

“Tax rates have remained nearly the same in most cases,” Williams said. “Some have gone up a tiny bit, others have actually gone down.”

Not all the $30 million goes to county government of course. It is divided between schools, fire districts, health and senior services, developmental disabilities, MAC, the state and some cities.

TIF districts will also take a portion, which won’t be calculated until December.

The county’s share of that revenue is about $1.7 million for both general revenue and road and bridge.

Williams said the county averages a 90 percent collection rate each year.

Renee Jean can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 117 or at rjean@dailyjournalonline.com.