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Hamilton County: Taxpayers are in no hurry to shell out

By: Matt Wilson
(Contact)

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Carl Levi

In uncertain economic times, it’s hard to say whether Hamilton County residents will have a harder time paying their property tax bills on time, but if the last two years are any indication, county Trustee Carl Levi will have to be patient.

“I don’t have the slightest idea what’s going to happen,” he said about the prospect of late tax payments. “You just never know.”

More than 157,000 tax bills worth nearly $228 million in revenue for the county and several municipalities went out to Hamilton County property owners starting Sept. 25.

The bills were due Wednesday, though taxpayers won’t face penalties if they pay by Feb. 28.

Only one taxpayer, James Thomas, of Chattanooga, came to the County Courthouse at lunchtime Wednesday to pay his taxes. Mr. Thomas said it was harder to get together the money to pay his taxes this year.

“Everything’s tougher,” he said. “You have to pay when you can.”

The number of people who don’t pay on time has grown, although the percentage of late payers remained the same at 13 percent, data provided by the trustee’s office shows. About 19,500 tax bills out of 153,100 weren’t paid on time in the 2006 tax year; in 2007, that number was up to 20,624 out of about 156,400.

Mr. Levi said he is not surprised by the low traffic at his office.

“October is kind of a slow month,” he said. The majority of those who pay around the due date are retirees, Mr. Levi said, while most everyone else waits until the end of the year or the February deadline.

Also, Mr. Levi said fewer people are paying their tax bills at the courthouse. He said 93,000 of last year’s bills were paid online or at First Tennessee bank branches.

His office sent more bills to mortgage companies this year, likely because of the increase in home foreclosures in the past two years.

In 2006, mortgage companies received about 39,000 bills. By 2007, that number was up to about 43,000. The amount of property tax revenue the county receives would be the same, despite the home foreclosures, because banks still have to pay the taxes on the properties they own.

If the county has to seize the property because of unpaid taxes, those properties are sold.

The number of parcels to be taxed in the county is on the rise, too. About 1,600 more bills went out for the 2008 tax year than did for 2007.

Taxable property includes so-called real property and personal property.

Real property includes residential, commercial and farm land or buildings, according to the county assessor’s office. Personal property includes cars and industrial equipment.

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