From the Lafayette Journal and Courier:
Property owners are expected to pay property taxes twice a year. The deadline for the fall payment is rapidly approaching. Tippecanoe County Treasurer Bob Plantenga answered a few common questions about this autumn’s payments.
Question: When are property taxes due?
Answer: The due date for fall property taxes is Nov. 12 this year. The normal due date for taxes is Nov. 10, but that falls on Sunday, and the following day is Veterans Day. The treasurer’s office and all other governmental offices are closed for Veterans Day, so then the due date statutorily moves to Tuesday, Nov. 12. This year, the date should be easy to remember, it is 11/12/13.
Q: How can property owners pay their taxes?
A: Options are available to make a timely payment. Payments in person in the treasurer’s office must be made by 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 12. Payments may be mailed to the treasurer with a federal postmark no later than Nov. 12. Payments may also be placed in our drop box at the corner of Third and Columbia streets by midnight on Nov. 12.
Online payments are available through our website at www.tippecanoe.in.gov and clicking on “Pay Property Tax” and following through with the payment instructions. In order for online payments to be considered timely, the payment must be made by midnight Nov. 12. A convenience fee of 2.5 percent on credit card payments will be added. The convenience fee for an e-check payment is $1 per parcel paid.
Q: What happens if a property owner is late paying taxes?
A: Any tax unpaid on Nov. 13 must, by law, be assessed a penalty. If there are no other unpaid taxes or penalties and the payment in full is received within 30 days of the due date, the penalty is 5 percent of the unpaid tax. If there is prior unpaid or the unpaid amount is not paid in full within 30 days, the penalty is 10 percent.
Partial payments can be accepted.
If taxpayers are unable to pay the full amount, I encourage them to pay as much as they can afford by the due date. A partial $100 payment, for example, can save $10 in penalties.
In case a payment is not made, no follow-up delinquent tax bill will be sent. Delinquencies would be included in the 2014 tax bill mailed next April.
Any real estate charge from spring of 2013 or earlier would be eligible for the county to sell at the 2014 tax sale. Those spring taxes must be paid in full by the middle of June 2014 to avoid the sale and other tax sale fees.
Delinquent personal property taxes, such as mobile home taxes and business taxes, that are due this year would be filed as a court judgment next fall, and our collection agency would impose an additional 25 percent collection fee.
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