Local officials, including County Clerk Sheila Booher and Sheriff Jim Guffey are alerting property taxpayers that delinquent tax bills may wind up costing them much more money if those bills linger on too long.

County Clerk Booher reminds property taxpayers that, “At the close of business on April 15, 2016, all property taxes will be turned over (from the Sheriff’s Office) to the County Clerk’s office. Once the taxes are turned over to the County Clerk’s Office the amount due will increase approximately 50 percent.”

Booher went on to say that property owners have until the date of the tax sale to pay. The tax sale is usually held in early September. A date will be announced in the local newspaper closer to the tax date.

The county clerk continued that at the time of the sale, third party purchasers may buy any delinquent tax bill. And, if a bill is purchased, the company will charge additional fees beyond the delinquent amount. She noted some purchasers have collected double or triple the original amount of the delinquent bill.

“In order to avoid excessive fees, if at all possible, please pay by April 15 to the Sheriff’s Office,” Booher said, adding, “If not paid in the Sheriff’s Office, please try and pay before the tax sale.”

The County Clerk’s Office officials said last week that two companies were on the list to purchase delinquent tax bills, which they can hold until the property owner’s purchase them back. They include LLS Affiliates of Tompkinsville and Tax Merchants of Bardstown, Kentucky.

Once a tax bill is bought, a lien is put on the property and the property can’t be sold until the lien is released. “It’s about like having a mortgage on your property,” Booher said.

Officials warn that if a property owner waits until the delinquent bill is purchased by a third party, they could face spending twice or more than the amount they usually would to get the bill back as opposed to paying their bill in a timely manner.

Booher did say, however, that since more and more property owners have come to realize the cost of having their tax bills purchased by a third party, the number of delinquent payers have been reduced.

For example, in the 2013 tax year, 344 bills were purchased by a third party and that dropped slightly to 321 in 2014, but, that was much less than some 534 delinquent bills that were purchased by a third party buyer back in 2012.