From the Johnson County Daily Journal:
More local property owners are paying their taxes, an increase local officials attribute to a better economy and more people working.
After taxes were due in May, the county is still owed $4.6 million from local property owners who have not yet paid their tax bills.
But that amount is down significantly from past years. At the end of 2009, the county was owed $13.3 million in unpaid property taxes. By the end of 2011, that amount was $6.6 million, according to an analysis by the county’s information technology department.
“More people are coming in, trying to get their taxes paid,” said Marsha Curry, deputy treasurer.
Curry thinks the improvement is due to a better economy. In 2008 and 2009, she and her staff heard over and over from property owners who just couldn’t pay their tax bill, often after losing their jobs.
In 2009, the local unemployment rate was 8.4 percent. Last month, the rate was 6.8 percent.
The county tried to work with them, allowing to make payments over time, but some just couldn’t. That was difficult to watch, she said.
“They can’t help it. They could only pay what they could pay,” Curry said.
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/local_story/County-sees-drop-in-property-t_1341537094/
