Alan Mauldin
MOULTRIE — Property taxpayers who have not paid 2009 taxes in the county have a little over a month before severe penalties really start to kick in.
Those who pay before Wednesday will only pay 1 percent interest on delinquent bills, with another 1 percent being added after that date. But those who do not pay before March 10 will face an additional 10 percent penalty and 1 percent interest on top of the 2 percent interest incurred before that time.
“For ones that are 90 days late there’s a state-set 10 percent penalty,” Tax Commissioner Cindy Harvin said. “If they’re not paid by March 9 it goes up another 10 percent. That’s what everybody tries to beat.”
As of Friday afternoon collections of 2009 taxes, which were due Dec. 10, were at $18,744,195 of the $21,630,247 billed, or about 90.8 percent. At this time last year collections were slightly higher, at 92 percent.
For a Moultrie homeowner whose home is valued at $55,000, paying before Wednesday would save $25.29 in penalties and interest. The payment through Wednesday would be $758, compared to $783.29 if the owner pays after Wednesday. A payment made before March 10 and after Wednesday would mean incurring another 1 percent interest.
Residents with properties valued more would see a correspondingly steep jump in penalties and interest owed.
A property valued at $157,000 for example, would have a tax bill of $2,296 through Wednesday, but after March 9 that would climb to $2,627.80.
“It really adds up if the bill’s big,” Harvin said.
For those who do not pay by the end of April, the tax commissioner’s office will begin serving property levies.
The cancellation for 2009 of the governor’s grant homestead exemption, which added about $199 to tax bills for residents in non-incorporated areas of the county and more for residents of municipalities, did not appear to have affected payments, Harvin said. Those who are delinquent at this time are mostly those who have paid late in previous years.
“The people that that affected and it really put in a tight, like the elderly, they set up payments to get it paid by the deadline,” Harvin said.
Another way that taxpayers can make their lives easier is by accessing the office’s Web site to get tax information for state and federal income tax filing purposes, Harvin said. Residents can get the information online and print it at home and use that copy when filing taxes.
To access information online for income tax purposes, visit https://colquittcountypaytaxes.net. and click on “Search & Pay Bill - Property Tax” at the customer panel.
