Friday, January 1, 1904
PAYING THE PIPERHamilton County property taxes for 2011 not paid by Feb. 29, 2012, will accrue late fees at the rate of 1.5 percent per month. Taxes can be paid in person, by mail or online. For more inform-ation, visit http://www.hamiltontn.gov/trustee.
Hamilton County property owners ponied up about $1 million in property taxes Saturday to make the deadline for a credit on their 2011 income taxes.
Hamilton County Trustee Bill Hullander decided to keep the downtown and Bonny Oaks offices open Saturday to collect taxes because the last day of the year fell on a weekend.
About 50 people showed up with checkbooks Saturday, according to Hamilton County Trustee Chief Deputy Susan Bedwell. She said most came to the Bonny Oaks office.
"We wanted to be open so that people could pay their taxes against their 2011 income," she said.
People have until Feb. 29 to pay their 2011 property taxes, but those who haven't paid by now will have to take the credit on their 2012 income tax returns, Bedwell said.
Bedwell said that on Tuesday, the staff will look for any mailed-in taxes postmarked from 2011 and count those taxes against 2011 income. Any taxes that come in after Tuesday, even if postmarked before Dec. 31, will count for 2012 income.