It’s that time of year when property tax bills find their way into mailboxes.
Collector Michelle Worth said about 200,000 tax notices were mailed out Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 to residents and businesses around Jefferson County.
The deadline to pay is Dec. 31.
Worth, who has worked in the office for almost 24 years, said people started calling on Nov. 17 and questioning the amount they’re being charged since the value of both real estate and used vehicles have been going up over the past few years.
“The phones started ringing almost immediately after we sent the bills out,” Worth said. “But that’s not the Collector’s Office’s job to determine how much taxes you pay. That’s the Assessor’s Office. They assess; we collect. So, we send the phone calls downstairs.”
The Assessor’s Office can be reached at 636-797-5466 or at jcassessor@jeffcomo.org.
Worth conceded that such calls are part and parcel of the business.
“No one likes paying taxes, including me,” she said.
While antipathy toward taxes is a constant, Worth said the way people are paying them is changing.
“We’re seeing a lot more people choose to pay their taxes electronically,” she said. “I would guess for the most part, they’re younger people.”
While the paper bills went out recently, the county’s website has had billing information up since October.
“We had at least 1,300 people pay – before the bills actually went in the mail – by credit card,” she said.
A new credit card processing vendor is offering different ways to pay, she said.
“For people who want to pay through their phone, which is a lot of people, they offer payment through Apple Pay, Venmo, Google Pay and PayPal,” Worth said. “You should know that there’s a 2.5 percent convenience fee across the board no matter how you pay by phone.”
Taxpayers also may pay by credit or debit cards through the county’s website at jeffcomo.org. Those payments carry the same 2.5 percent fee.
Worth said those who arrange for payment by electronic check through their bank’s online payment system should be aware that the process can take several days; they will be charged $4.95 for the service.
“You need to schedule your payment in that method five to seven days before the end of the year,” Worth said. “If you schedule it on, say, Dec. 30, the bank probably won’t get to it before Jan. 5 or so. And that’s when the check will be dated. Even if you ordered it before the end of the year, if it’s dated in January 2024, we will have to add a late fee. We don’t have any discretion in that; if we don’t handle it that way, we’ll get in trouble with the state.”
Worth said 34,000 to 35,000 property owners paid their taxes electronically last year, and with the new online vendor, she expects that number to swell this year.
The more traditional methods of payment – dropping by the Jefferson County Administration Center, 729 Maple St., in Hillsboro to pay in person by cash or check or sending it by U.S. mail – also carry warnings for those who delay paying until the last minute.
“Dec. 30 and Dec. 31 this year fall on Saturday and Sunday, so our office will not be open then, so plan accordingly,” she said. “If you’re going to the Post Office, you also need to keep that in mind. You need to make sure if you go on Saturday, Dec. 30, that it will be postmarked on that day. If you drop in by the Post Office after they close, it will not be postmarked until January, and again, that will compel us to charge a late fee.”
A drop box right outside the main entrance to the Administration Center is another option.
A new wrinkle this year, Worth said, is that her office is mailing personal property and real estate bills in the same envelope, rather than separately.
“That’s if they’re going to the same name at the same address,” she said.
Those whose real estate taxes are paid by their mortgage lender also will receive a statement of the amount that was paid.
“Make sure you look in back of your personal property statement,” Worth said.
Worth encourages those with taxable property who don’t receive a bill by Dec. 1, or anyone else with a question, to call her office at 636-797-5406 or send an email to collector@jeffcomo.org.
“We try to make it easy,” she said.