The deadline for property taxes that are now in the delinquent stage to be turned over to the County Clerk’s office and subsequently subject to be sold to a third party is now less than two weeks away and County Clerk Shelia Booher reminds those taxpayers it is better to pay the taxes now at the sheriff’s office prior to the April 15 deadline.

Beginning in August, the tax bills are subject to be purchased by a third party in the clerk’s office, at which time a substantial amount of penalties, interest and fees will be added to the amount due. If purchased by a third party, the additional cost would be incurred to redeem the bill and fulfill the taxpayer’s obligation.

Booher said the sheriff’s office, by legislation, will turn the bills over to the clerk’s office at the end of the close of day on Wednesday, April 15.

“The amount of the bills increases over 50 percent in some cases,” the county clerk noted.

Once the bills are turned over, they can still be paid in the clerk’s office, and the tax sale will be held either in August or September.

If purchased by a third party, up to one percent interest per month can be added and a lien placed on the property. To get the bill released, some tax bill buyers charge up to 12 percent interest plus attorney fees, Booher added.

“Taxpayers wind up paying two or three times more than what the company (who purchases the bills) buys them for,” she said.

Booher noted that in the past two or three years, there have been a smaller number of delinquent tax bills because property owners are finding that the companies that buy the tax bills after the deadline “mean business.”

Both Booher and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office reminds taxpayers whose bills are delinquent that it is in their best interest to pay the bills prior to the April 15 deadline.

In a notice to taxpayers last week from the sheriff’s office, it was also noted that many bills had been returned with undeliverable addresses, so if you have not received your 2014 tax bill, you should check with the sheriff’s office and see if you have an outstanding bill.

Anyone with questions about your property tax bills or the ramifications of not paying them by the April 15 deadline should contact the sheriff’s office at 387-5111 or the county clerk’s office at 387-5943.