Real and personal property taxes were due to be paid to the city of Owensboro by Nov. 1, 2018. However, a portion of property taxes still hadn’t been paid as of Sunday, Jan. 20, resulting in those unpaid amounts and the names associated with them being printed in the Messenger-Inquirer Sunday edition that same day.
At a Jan. 15 city commission meeting, it was reported that 848 delinquent real property tax bills and 85 delinquent personal property tax bills hadn’t been paid since the Nov. 1 deadline. The 848 delinquent real property tax bills totaled $527,036 while the delinquent personal property tax bills totaled $38,974.
Around this same time last year, there were 861 delinquent real property taxes unpaid at a total of $456,326 and 38 delinquent personal property left unpaid, totaling $25,927.
Even with an ad running in the local newspaper and a 10 percent penalty fee being applied as of Dec. 1, some of the real and personal property taxes have yet to be paid.
Currently, 53 total bills for real property tax have been paid, totaling $50,510.72. 12 bills for personal property tax have been paid, totaling $4,558.58. This leaves $476,525.28 left in delinquent real property taxes and $21,368.42 left in delinquent personal property taxes that have yet to be paid.
Nearly 75 percent of those real and personal property taxes don’t go toward the city — in fact, the bulk of property tax payments go toward the city’s school system rather than toward the city itself. Only $126,000 of the $527,000 owed to the city as of Jan. 15 would have gone to the city itself, had all delinquent property taxes been paid.
“Only about 25 percent of these amounts is city tax,” Hamric said. “The bulk of it is Owensboro Public Schools’ tax. The city bills and collects for the school.”
Hamric said a monthly .5 percent fee will also be applied each month toward taxpayers who avoid paying their property taxes.
“For those that were advertised in the Messenger-Inquirer, they are also charged $16 for cost of the ad,” Hamric said.
Bills can be paid via cash, check or credit card at City Hall, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Credit card payments can also be made online at www.owensboro.org.
