All tax bills mailed, although some arrived later than usual
County residents who are worried because they have not received their county and township tax bills can rest assured they will receive it in the very near future.
That’s the word from Mark Gordon, the county chief of economic development and planning, after township tax collectors and the county tax assessment office began receiving calls from property owners whose tax bills had not yet come in the mail.
Gordon explained that Midwest, the company that sorts the tax bills for mailing by the Postal Service, is required, through a contract with the county, to ensure all tax bills are postmarked by the close of the business day on March 1.
He said 100% of the county’s tax bills were mailed out by that deadline, but the Postal Service allows three days for delivery for first class mail, which is the class of the tax bills.
He said the county currently collects about $55 million in taxes annually.
“The last thing the county would want to do is screw up a revenue source,” Gordon said. “Property taxes are the cash register of the county.”
He said residents have 60 days to pay their taxes at the slight discount offered by the county to early taxpayers, so receiving a tax bill a day or two later than normal should not be a problem.
“We love those people who are chomping at the bit to pay their taxes the day they get their tax card,” Gordon said.
P.J. Lind, Cranberry Township property tax collector and president of the county Tax Collectors Association, said some residents contacted him to report they had not received their tax bills by Wednesday or Thursday.
Lind, who said he had talked to the county assessment office, told the residents to wait a few days and has not heard back from them.
“They probably got their tax bills in the mail,” Lind said.
Mallory Muchnok, Middlesex Township tax collector, said some taxpayers there had not received their tax bills by Thursday and some of the bills residents received were not sealed.
Muchnok explained that the county tax assessment office sends the bills to township tax collectors so they can be checked for accuracy, then are returned to the county.
The tax assessment office, Muchnok said, then sends the tax bills to Midwest for sorting and mailing.
Muchnok said 250 to 500 tax bills had not been received as of Thursday by residents whose last names begin with “So” through “Z.”
Donna Nagle, Winfield Township tax collector, said she has seen the issue in her township as well.
“We have people who still haven’t gotten their tax bills,” Nagle said on Friday.
Both Muchnok and Nagle want to ensure that residents know the delay is not their fault.
Nagle said by Friday, she would have expected to receive tax bills that were returned due to various issues, like bad addresses, a property that had been sold or a tax bill sent to an individual who had sold their property.
“I have not received any mail today,” Nagle said on Friday.
She also told those who called her office to wait a few days to see if they receive their bills.
Gordon stressed that all tax bills had been mailed and taxpayers will easily make the deadline to pay at a discount.
