Taxpayers who miss Friday's deadline willl incur penalty
Posted on Tuesday, October 7, 2008
County residents who miss Friday's deadline to pay property taxes will face a 10-percent penalty, and only about 55 percent of the projected total had been collected as of Monday morning.
"We've had long lines today, but we've taken care of them,"said Washington County Collector David Ruff.
Payments postmarked or dated Oct. 10 will be accepted as on time, he said.
Anything dated Oct. 11 will be considered delinquent, Ruff said.
Personal property and real estate taxes carry penalties for being even one day delinquent; the penalty is roughly 10 percent of the amount owed.
For real estate, 10-percent interest on the amount owed begins accruing Oct. 11 and continues until the taxes are paid.
The drive-through window in the Washington County Courthouse parking lot is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Ruff said he did not see taxpayers using the drive-through window Monday.
"They don't use that until the last couple of days, or if it's raining,"Ruff said.
Even though it was raining a bit Monday, he said, he did not see it used.
"Most of them are coming in. They want to put it in our hands. They feel more secure that way,"Ruff said.
"As long as somebody's in line, we will stay here and serve them,"Ruff said. "As soon as the lines are gone and nobody's there, we'll shut her down."
He said in addition to coming directly to the Collector's Office, taxpayers may drop off payments at the Arkansas Revenue Office in Springdale, which is at 3159 Springdale Ave. It is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Taxpayers may also drop off payments in the Arkansas Revenue Office in Lincoln, which is at 215 S. Main Ave. It is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The night depository in the courthouse parking lot in Fayetteville is open 24 hours a day seven days a week, and any payments dropped in there before the start of business Monday morning will be considered on time.
To date, $77.8 million has been collected for the schools, all of the cities and the county. This is about 55 percent of the amount scheduled to be collected -- $140 million, according to Teresa Soares, head bookkeeper for the Collector's Office.
Property taxes fund several different governmental entities -- mostly school districts -- throughout the county.
There was a rush of payments in the spring, Ruff said, but that had ebbed in recent months.
The books opened in March, but April is when the office began actually collecting property taxes, which include personal and real estate taxes, because statements were sent to people the first week of April.
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