Last Monday was “very, very, busy,” said Bladen County Tax Administrator Renee Davis.
This Monday, Davis and her two clerks expect to be very busy again.
That’s because Monday, Jan. 6 is the final day to pay property taxes without incurring a penalty. As of Thursday, 76% of tax bills had been collected, Davis said. Last year, the tax office had a 96% collection rate.
“Usually Monday is pretty busy,” said Davis, who was appointed tax administrator in 2015. “(Friday) has been steady and Monday is going to be one of our busiest days. Then, on Tuesday, it will just drop until we get our second notices out.
“We have people who want to pay by the end of the year and then people who want to pay before the interest starts.”
People can pay their property tax bill at the tax office located adjacent to the Bladen County Courthouse in Elizabethtown, online at bladeninfo.org and clicking on tax administration or by phone at 877-369-0025. A transaction fee will be charged for paying by credit card.
“The biggest payment method is mail,” Davis said, “then coming in to the office. Online is growing every year.”
Taxes were due Sept. 1, but the penalty will not be assessed until Jan. 7. The penalty is 2% of the bill for January, then 3/4% percent each month thereafter until paid. So, if your tax bill is $1,000 and it’s not paid by Monday, then the bill will be $1,020 on Jan. 7.
“We are enforcing collections more,” Davis said. “We are doing bank attachments and that is something that we have not done in the past. We started in the fall of 2019 doing bank attachments.”
As for Monday’s possible crush of last-day filers, Davis says the tax office is prepared.
“We have two clerks. We don’t have any extra during that time,” Davis said. “If there is a lengthy line and we need another person in there, we do have another person who can take payments. There’s a dropbox at the courthouse still and people still use that.”
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