Taxes trickle in as due date looms

With only a month until the Dec. 20 deadline to pay ad valorem taxes without penalties or interest, Grady County Tax Commissioner Phyllis Gainous reports only 13 percent of the county’s tax digest has been collected.
A total of $13,142,816.64 has been billed to local taxpayers and through Tuesday $1,730,870.46 has been paid.
“We expect the mortgage company payments to start coming in soon. They usually start around the first of December and come in right up to the due date,” Mrs. Gainous said Tuesday.
Of the $1,730,870.46 collected to date, the biggest chunk, $803,955.86 has been disbursed to the Grady County School System; $765,286.70 to the Grady County Commission; $148,468.06 to the city of Cairo; $5,302.92 to the city of Whigham; and $7,856.92 to the state of Georgia.
This is the third year the county tax commissioner has collected municipal ad valorem taxes for the city of Cairo and the second year for the city of Whigham.
“People seem to like receiving just one tax bill and it is working well,” Mrs. Gainous said.
The tax commissioner’s office mailed out 14,593 tax notices this year and, to date, 2,233 of those bills have been paid.
The county’s top 25 tax payers are paying more taxes in 2013 than they did in 2012, according to Mrs. Gainous’ records.
In 2012, the county’s top 25 taxpayers collectively paid $1,422,934.23 in ad valorem taxes, but in 2013 that total has climbed to $1,495,412.01.
The total appraised value of the top 25 taxpayers last year was $160,937,892.00 and this year it is up to $165,721,362.00. The assessed value collectively is also up from $64,375,155.00 in 2012 to $66,288,542.00 in 2013.
Taxpayers who need to make payments on their taxes can make arrangements with Mrs. Gainous for a payment plan. Partial payments made between now and the Dec. 20 due date will not incur interest or penalties.
According to the tax commissioner, taxpayers can continue to make payments after the Dec. 20 deadline, but interest and penalties will be added to the balance due as of Dec. 20.
Mrs. Gainous currently has 25 taxpayers who are making partial payments. To learn more about the split payment program contact Mrs. Gainous at 229-377-3322.