How do I avoid interest for late payments?

The Clerk’s office accepts postmarks so as long as your payment is postmarked by the due date, it will not be considered late.  We also have a drop box on the outside of City Hall where payments can be made after hours.  These payments are picked up the next business day at 8:30 am when the office opens and are considered paid the previous business day.  For example, if your payment is due on Friday, August 31, you can put your payment in the drop box Friday night, Saturday, Sunday or even Monday morning before 8:30am.  Anything in the box will be picked up Monday, in this example, September 3rd and be accepted as though it was paid on August 31st thus incurring no penalty. Additionally, if the last day of the month is on a weekend or holiday, we will accept payment on the next business day without penalty. 

Penalties vary depending on the type of bill you are paying.  Water/sewer bills have a 10% penalty the first month they are late then 1% thereafter.  Tax bills have a 5% penalty the first month they are late then 1% thereafter for each installment.  Once they turn to a lien, an additional 15% fee is incurred.  Please note that failure to receive the bill does not relieve the property owner from penalty. 

As a property owner, one should be aware that water/sewer bills will be sent every three months and tax bills will be issued on May 1st.  If for some reason you do not receive your bill within a few days of when you should have received it, please give us a call to get the amount due!