The deadline to pay for Liberty County property tax bills is Jan. 15. According to Liberty County Tax Commissioner Virgil Jones, as of Dec. 31, 2018 around 64 percent of the $44 million billed has been collected.

“We were able to send mail notices on Nov. 19, 2018 and people were able to begin paying for bills on Nov. 15, 2018 which was pretty early for us compared to past years,” Jones said. “We try to bill as early as we can but it is hindered by the Department of Education.”

Jones said as of now the Tax Commissioner’s Office is where they expected to be by the end of the year. On the final deadline to collect the bills, Jones expects to have collected about 94 percent of the total amount billed.

“We will work on collecting the other six percent we don’t collect throughout the year,” Jones said. “Our due dates have usually been in February, and some had concerns about the date being too early but moving forward we would like to meet the state’s deadline of Dec. 20.”

Jones estimates the $28 million collected so far is majority from mortgage companies paying on behalf of an owner but encourages homeowners to still double check the payment has been sent.

If you do not pay your property tax bill on the due date, you will begin to acquire interest every month it goes unpaid. If the bill continues to go unpaid then penalties will be added along with the interest. After more time, you could face a lean being put against the property after receiving a 30 day notice among other letters, according to Jones.

Jones explained the county typically won’t sell a property that’s one year delinquent due to possible discrepancies on who is the owner of the property and possible hardships a property owner may be facing.

“If a property owner is having a hardship it is possible to make arrangements at request,” Jones said. “We are reasonable and will give a reasonable time to pay.”

You can pay your property tax bill online at www.libertygatax.com, mail in the payment or pay in person at 112 North Main Street, Room 106.