Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Journal & Courier Reports Leeway Possible for Missed Property Tax Payments in Tippecanoe County

From the Lafayette Journal & Courier:

Some property owners in Tippecanoe County had difficulty using a new online system to pay their tax bills, Treasurer Bob Plantenga said.

Monday was the spring installment deadline, but some accommodations may be made, Plantenga said, for those who make “frantic phone calls” Tuesday because they had trouble with the website Monday night.

He said improvements are in the works but that the system has been working properly.

“It works fine, and lots and lots of people are using it,” he said, noting that most of the complaints fielded by his office thus far stem from users going too quickly and missing a step.

Each session generates a unique number that users must re-enter later to finalize their transactions online.

“That’s where most people are getting tripped up,” Platenga said. “They’re not writing down that number, the internal ID number.”

He noted, too, that the search function is finicky. He advised most users to simply search by last name, then scroll through the properties listed, rather than entering detailed information for a specific property record sought.

“It is cumbersome, but we’re trying to make some progress,” he said of the system provided by a third-party vendor.

Payments can be made in the treasurer’s office on the second floor of the County Building, 20 N. Third St., Lafayette. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Payments that were mailed needed to be postmarked no later than Monday.

http://www.jconline.com/story/news/2014/05/12/leeway-possible-missed-property-tax-deadline/9020075/