| The Repository
CANTON Stark County’s vendor mailed out 125,577 property tax bills earlier this week.
But taxpayers concerned about postal delays can download and print their bills now, said Stark County Treasurer Alex Zumbar.
First-half property tax payments are due by Feb. 17. Taxpayers paying by mail meet the deadline if their payment is postmarked by Feb. 17.
State law usually sets a payment deadline of the third Wednesday of February.
But last year, Zumbar with approval of the Ohio Department of Taxation extended the deadline to March 4 due to delays in the installation of new finance software in the county auditor’s and treasurer’s offices. So some people may not realize this year the deadline has reverted to its typical time in February. By law, failure to pay on time incurs a 10% penalty.
Property tax bills must be mailed at least 20 days before the due date, said Zumbar. This year, that was Friday, Jan. 29.
“Folks don’t need to have a bill to pay their real estate taxes. The information is available online. They can come down to get a bill. Our office is open,” said Zumbar, who added that some taxpayers have already received their bills in the mail and are calling his staff to ask about them.
He recommends residents who haven’t yet gotten their bills to wait until Feb. 8 for it to arrive before contacting his office.
Stiff late penalty
Zumbar warned that not receiving a bill or receiving a bill late, even with chronic postal delays, does not excuse taxpayers from paying what they owe on time.
He said the county’s Board of Revision might in response to a taxpayer’s application waive a late fee if the taxpayer hasn’t had a late payment the past eight years and has a good reason.
The feature to view bills online and print them out has been available since at least early last summer, Zumbar said. For this to work, you must disable your Internet browser’s pop-up blocker.
Go to the Stark County Treasurer’s website, scroll down and click on “Property Search.” Look up your property by typing in your property’s parcel number, address or the name of the entity that owns the property or the property owner’s last name.
A list of properties meeting the search criteria will appear on your screen. Click on your property. On the menu on the left, click on “Tax Summary” or “Tax Detail.” Then on the right, double-click “Printable Tax Bill.”
A PDF copy of your bill will eventually show up on the screen. You can right-click the document and click “save as” to save it to your computer.
You can print out your bill and cut off the stub at the bottom of the bill to include with your payment, but this is not required.
Zumbar said it’s important that taxpayers write the parcel numbers on the memo line of the check or money order to ensure the payment is credited to the right account. Payment should be made out to Stark County Treasurer. The check or money order should have the name of the property owner.
Owners of about 58,255 parcels of property who pay their property taxes as part of their mortgage payment and have an escrow agent submit the payment to the Stark County Treasurer will receive a courtesy duplicate property tax bill.
Avoid paying in person
Due to the risk of contracting or spreading Covid, Zumbar is discouraging residents from visiting his office to submit payment on the second floor of the Stark County Office Building at 100 Central Plaza S in Canton. However, this is the only option, which has no fee, that allows payment in cash.
Zumbar said only five visitors are allowed at a time in the offices, and people must get a number from the deputies at the entrance. In prior years, the line of people wishing to pay their property tax bills often went out the office door all the way to the elevators, but Zumbar wants to prevent that from happening again.
He’s encouraging people use one of these payment options:
- Leave the check or money order but not cash in the dropbox just inside the front doors of the Stark County Office Building at 100 Central Plaza S in Canton. No need to go through security screening. No fee. Zumbar said use of the dropbox significantly increased last February and March due to the pandemic.
- If Feb. 17 or before, mail a check or money order to Stark County Treasurer, P.O. Box 24815, Canton, OH, 44701-4815. If after Feb. 17, you will be assessed a late fee of 10% of what you owe. After that date, mail payment to Stark County Treasurer, 110 Central Plaza S, Suite 250, Canton, OH, 44702. Failure to use the correct address for a late payment could delay receipt of payment. No fee.
- Pay by phone with credit card or debit card. 2.35% fee. Call 1-877-690-3729 and use jurisdiction code 4518.
- Pay online with your bank account number, credit card or debit card at https://paymentportal.starkcountyohio.gov/. Fee is $1.95 if paid from bank account. Otherwise, fee is 2.35%.
- Direct your bank through its online bill pay to mail a check or electronically send your tax payment to the Stark County Treasurer. No fee. You must designate the recipient of the payment as Stark County Treasurer and the address the payment should be sent to as 110 Central Plaza S, Suite 250, Canton, OH, 44702. You can only make a separate payment for each parcel of property. Type in your parcel number as the account number.
Zumbar said people who cannot pay what they owe or owe property taxes from past years should contact his office at (330) 451-7814 to make alternative payment arrangements.
Reach Repository writer Robert Wang at (330) 580-8327 or [email protected]. Twitter: @rwangREP.
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