Chatham County mails tax bills this week

Posted Tuesday, August 14, 2007

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Pittsboro, NC - Chatham County residents can expect to receive their 2007 county tax bills this week, according to Chatham County Listing Supervisor Tina Stone.

The current tax rate is 0.617 cents per $100 valuation, up two cents from last year. One cent of the increase will go to open the new Virginia Cross Elementary School in Siler City and to fund increases in the local teachers supplement. One cent will go to fund the County’s capital improvements plan.

Stone said that it is important for taxpayers to carefully review their tax bills after receiving them. If they identify problems, contact the Tax Office as soon as possible by calling 919-542-8250. In some cases, taxpayers will receive one bill covering both real estate property and personal property (such as a boat or mobile home), while some will receive separate bills for different properties.

For residents living outside incorporated towns that offer municipal waste collection, the county property tax bill includes the county’s annual Solid Waste Fee. The county allows an exemption from the fee when a residence is not habitable or it has been vacant for more than two years. To be eligible for the fee exemption, taxpayers must file an application with the Tax Office by January 7, 2008. Waste fees will not be waived if applications are received after this deadline. The County’s Waste Management Department has included information about their services as an insert in the tax bills.

The deadline to appeal real estate property tax values has already passed, but taxpayers may appeal the value, location or taxability of personal property within 30 days of the tax billing date (posted on the bill). Personal property includes mobile homes, boats and motors, airplanes, unlicensed vehicles, or business personal property.

“It is important for people to know that this deadline to appeal personal property values is set by state law and is not negotiable,” Stone said.

Taxpayers are billed for any personal property they owned as of January 1, 2007. “If you owned a boat on January 1 of this year and sold it the next month, you still owe the full year of personal property taxes for that boat,” Stone said.

Real estate property taxes also are billed based on January 1, 2007 ownership, but if the property is sold a few months later, the attorney handling the closing usually requires the seller to pay a prorated share of taxes, with the buyer paying the remaining balance. “We strongly encourage the seller to send the property’s 2007 tax bill to the new owners immediately to avoid problems with delinquent taxes,” Stone said.

The Tax Office offers several methods of payment, including the chance to pay in installments. You can pay your taxes in partial payments by either mailing them to P.O. Box 697, Pittsboro, NC 27312 or visiting the Tax Office in Pittsboro in the Courthouse Annex. If making a partial payment, please include your tax ID account number, found on your tax bill, on all payments.
 

· Mail the payment with payment stub to the address in the return envelope provided.

· Call a toll-free number to pay by credit card. The number to call for this service will be shown on your tax bill. A nominal fee is charged for using a credit card.

· Go online to www.chathamnc.org and click on the Pay Taxes Online link. A nominal fee will be charged for using a credit card.

· Use the drop box located in the parking lot behind the Annex Building in Pittsboro, just south of the courthouse circle.

· Mail the payment to the Tax Collector’s Office (P.O. Box 697, Pittsboro, NC 27312).

· Pay in person at the Tax Office in Pittsboro, located on the ground floor of the Courthouse Annex Building.