Property Taxes are Due

Just a quick reminder that the deadline to pay property taxes is October 10.

Many home owners pay their taxes as part of their monthly mortgage payment. The annual tax is divided into 12 and the homeowner pays 1/12 each month. When tax bills are sent out in the spring, the bank pays the property tax. If this is your situation, you can relax since your property taxes have already been paid.But if your bank is not paying your property taxes as part of your mortgage and you didn't pay them last spring when the bills were sent out, then you only have a few more days to pay them. And don’t forget those pesky personal property taxes on cars, trucks, boats, etc. Those taxes are also due now, if you didn't already pay them when you got your bill last spring.

There was an option to pay taxes in three payments so if you took advantage of that, don’t forget the third and final payment is due October 10.

Late payments incur an automatic 10% penalty plus interest.

In addition to paying in person or mailing a check, Washington County offers an ePayment Service. You can pay with a Visa, MasterCard or Discover credit card and the funds will be electronically deducted from your checking account. The important thing to note if using this service is a processing fee will also be deducted. The county website states, “Because we are a governmental entity, all costs associated with the convenience of credit card usage and bank account transfers cannot be deducted from your tax amount due.”

As best I could determine, Benton County does not offer an ePayment Service but you can pay over the telephone, in person, or snail-mail.

The web addresses for Washington and Benton counties are:

http://www.co.washington.ar.us
http://www.co.benton.ar.us