The Garland County tax collector's office will be open until 6:30 p.m. Monday for residents waiting until the last minute to pay their 2016 real and personal property taxes.
The annual Oct. 15 deadline is Sunday, making Monday the effective date to pay taxes before they are subject to a 10-percent late penalty. Per statute, county tax collectors have to send their delinquent taxpayer lists to newspapers by Dec. 1.
Delinquent property can be certified to the state land commissioner's office if payments are not received within a year of the October deadline, allowing the state to auction off the property if it's unable to collect the payments and penalties.
"We want to let you have every opportunity there is to get here," County Tax Collector Rebecca Dodd-Talbert said Wednesday. "If you have to work, we'll be open until 6:30 Monday night."
Payments mailed to the tax collector's office at 200 Woodbine St., Room 108, that are postmarked after Monday will be considered delinquent. Electronic payments can be made by clicking the tax payments tab on the county's website: http://www.garlandcounty.org. Online payments have to be received by Monday at 11:59 p.m. to avoid delinquency, and a convenience fee is assessed on all credit card payments.
Payments can also be deposited into the tax collector's 24-hour drop box on the northwest end of the alley connecting Woodbine Street to the Garland County Court House parking lot.
Dodd-Talbert said state law prohibits check payments for delinquent personal property taxes, but checks can be used to pay delinquent real estate taxes. State law requires delinquent taxes be paid in full.
Dodd-Talbert said her office mailed 70,000 tax bills totaling $83.9 million for the 2016 tax year. The office has collected $62.7 million as of Wednesday morning. The taxes are applied to 20 percent of the appraised value of property, with that value multiplied by the millage rate the various taxing entities levy in their respective districts.
Most of the proceeds support local schools. Garland County and Hot Springs respectively levy 1.2 and 2.6 mills for their general funds. Lonsdale and Mountain Pine levy 1.6 and 5 mills for their general funds. The county library levies 1.6 mills, and National Park College levies eight-tenths of a mill.
Local on 10/12/2017