First-half tax bills to have a different look
Saturday, January 6, 2007 9:12 PM EST article source
Lawrence County property owners will soon be getting their first-half-year tax bills in the mail and those bi-annual bills will no doubt look a lot different.
Lawrence County Treasurer Stephen Dale Burcham said the new bills are the first printed with the new software installed last fall at his office and the Lawrence County Auditor’s Office.
“They’re easier to read, have greater detail and there is a tear off portion at the bottom they fill out and send back,” he said. “And there is a change of address form on the back.”
The old, carbonless tax bills with duplicate pages were printed under an old system that had been in use since 1984. Burcham said the software company does not service the outdated software anymore so his office and the auditor’s office had to switched to the newer, more up-to-date system.
The new software will not only be kinder to the taxpayer’s eye but also to the county’s pocketbook. Burcham said the new tax bill paper will be approximately $10,000 cheaper to purchase than the old duplicate-style paper.
On the back of the sheet is also a list of local banks that now take county tax payments.
Later on this year, county officials hope to start a program that will allow residents to escrow their tax payments directly with the treasurer’s office.
“If you no longer have a bank mortgage or if your bank doesn’t offer the service, we will be able to offer this to the taxpayers,” Burcham said. “By law, to participate in the program you must be current on your taxes. We probably won’t kick this off until March.”
For Ironton residents, those new tax bills may have a bigger bottom line: these are the first bills with the new city schools’ bond issue and levy included.
First-half tax payments are due March 2.