Owing a few dollars on your property taxes could put your home
on track for a tax sale — or cost you an extra $175 to avoid that situation.
That’s why Monroe County Treasurer Cathy Smith wants all 369
county property owners who are still delinquent on their spring 2011 property
taxes to pay them sooner, rather than later.
By June 30 of each year, Smith is required to certify the list
of properties heading for a tax sale, and on Friday, she and her chief deputy,
Hans Huffman, were hard at work on that list and on preparing letters to each
property owner on the list, urging them to pay up. If they don’t pay by July
13, they’ll have to pay their back taxes plus a $175 fee to avoid a tax sale.
The fee includes $150 in legal costs, plus $25 for postage and advertising the tax sale in the newspaper.
“Here’s one that’s only 99 cents,” Smith said while working on
the list.
She says she’s paid some of the smaller bills from her own pocket, and plenty of them are just a few dollars.
…
Smith explained that when a property owner refinances, and owns
several properties — such as the lot a home is on plus a vacant side lot — the
mortgage company sometimes sets up an escrow account for property taxes, but
only for the parcel the house is on. The property owner assumes the mortgage
company is paying taxes on both parcels, so the taxes on the side lot go
unpaid. Taxes are low on vacant lots, and late tax penalties can literally be
just pennies.
In other cases, property owners simply didn’t receive their tax
bills.
“We get a lot of returned mail,” Huffman said. He said sometimes
property owners have their bills sent to a post office box, then discontinue
the P.O. box without notifying the treasurer’s office of the address change.
Some property owners pay off their back taxes, but not late
fees, so it can be just pennies that send properties to the tax sale list if
the bill goes delinquent for more than three tax due dates.
…
And if the property is sold, but the owner wants to keep the
property, he or she will have to pay the tax bill plus interest that accrues daily
on the winning bid for the property.
How to pay
Property taxes, even those in arrears, can be paid by U.S. mail.
Make out a check to the Monroe County treasurer and send it to: Monroe County
Courthouse, 100 W. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington, IN 47404.
Or visit the treasurer’s office 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through
Friday in North Showers County Government Complex Room, 501 N. Morton St., Room
200A, but note that county offices will be closed on Wednesday for the holiday.
Or pay online from your bank account, which might be a free
service, or through the treasurer’s Web portal, www.paymonroe.com, where
you can use an e-check, credit or debit card, although by law, those services
are not free.
