Due date for Morgan tax bills shifts back

Payment for Morgan County property tax bills for 2007 has been pushed back this year. Both installments are due Sept. 5 — something the county treasurer said she could not avoid.

Although the county school districts rely on funds from property taxes, superintendents from Franklin, Waverly and District 117 say they do not anticipate the later collection date will be a problem for school budgeting.

School District 117 Superintendent Les Huddle said he discussed the delay with Assistant Superintendent of Business Carol Link and determined, “the money will come in somewhere close to when we anticipated anyway, so really, it’s not a big deal.”

Ms. Link said she has been in contact with the county treasurer all year, and the late date was not a surprise.

“I make decisions based on when the money will come in, so I would have invested money a little bit longer, if real estate taxes would have been due in July,” she said.

She added that, besides losing a little bit of interest on those investments, the September date won’t affect the district’s budget.

“Using a Sept. 5 due date this year was necessary, in order to allow me to complete the entire tax year cycle,” said Morgan County Treasurer Gayla Hornbeek.

“If I had picked a due date later than Sept. 5, I would not have been able to complete the 2007 tax cycle as required by state law,” she said.

The tax cycle includes the mailing of certified notices, publication of delinquencies and sale of delinquent taxes.

Mrs. Hornbeek stressed that the tax cycle goes through several county offices before her office can issue tax bills. The supervisor of assessments, the county commissioners’ board of review and the county clerk all must complete their part of the tax cycle before the bills can go out.

By Illinois law, county treasurers are required to mail tax bills 30 days before the first installment due date, which the statute says is June 1. The second due date is Sept. 1.

“I have never received tax bill information in time to meet the state-mandated tax bill due dates in the 10 years I’ve been treasurer,” said Mrs. Hornbeek. There have been no repercussions, she said, and added that Morgan County property tax bill due dates vary from year to year.

This year, all property tax bills — more than 20,000 — were mailed out of the treasurer’s office June 27.

“I received the tax information from the county’s clerk’s office on June 17,” said Mrs. Hornbeek. “I have to do some test bills and check all the calculations. Then I have to wait for the assessor’s office to enter all the changes they have received since they rolled the information to the clerk’s office in March. There were 102 changes, including exemptions and errors, that affected the 2007 bills.”

Individuals can pay their property tax in installments leading up to Sept. 5 if they prefer.