Politics & Government

St. Charles County Waives Penalties for Taxes Paid by Jan. 23

The St. Charles County Collector objected to dismissing the fees, saying it's unfair to the majority of residents who paid on time.

The St. Charles County Council waived penalties for residents who pay their real estate taxes by Jan. 23, 2012.

The council passed the bill 6-1 Wednesday in an emergency session. The waiver is meant to compensate for real estate tax bills being mailed out Dec. 19, 2011, almost three weeks late. The deadline for them to be mailed out was Dec. 1, 2011.

St. Charles County Collector Michelle McBride said problems with new software caused the delay. McBride opposed waiving the penalties, saying it wasn’t fair to those who made the effort to pay their taxes on time.

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Councilman Jerry Daugherty, D-District 6, was the only councilman to vote against the bill. “I still don’t think this is fair to the people who waited in line and made a good faith effort to pay their taxes on time,” said Daugherty, of Portage des Sioux.

Councilman Terry Hollander, R-District 5, said the bill does not minimize the efforts of those who paid on time. “This is just an effort to say things didn’t go right this year and we’re trying to correct it,” said Hollander, of St. Charles.

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McBride also disagreed with waiving penalties after the Dec. 31 deadline.

“I believe that something should have been done before the deadline passed,” she told the council. “I believe it’s too early to determine whether there’s been an effect on payments.”

County Executive Steve Ehlmann said that if the bill had been passed before the deadline, it would have encouraged people to pay their bills late.

McBride said the move would cost political subdivisions such as school and fire protection districts about $37,000 in interest payments, and would cost the county government about $56,000 in late payment fees.

The waiver does not cover those who do not pay real estate taxes by Jan. 23. They will pay interest and late payment fees accrued through that date.

McBride said the county had received about 2,000 more real estate payments this year than at the same point last year.           

“I think with all the publicity, more people paid their bills early this year,” she said.

Ehlmann said the bill isn’t perfect, but it does address the situation. “I can’t think of a better way to right the wrongs that have been done,” he said.


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