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$26.9M in 2015 Property Tax Bills Sent To Watauga Landowners, Payment Plan Option

By Jesse Wood

The Watauga County Tax Department has mailed out property tax bills with an insert noting the option of a five-month payment plan, which must be paid in full by Jan. 5, 2016, which is the time that interest begins to accrue.

Watauga County Tax Administrator Larry Warren said that this is the second year that the payment plan option insert has been paired with the mailed property tax bills.

“But I wouldn’t say it’s a new thing. We’ve always allowed people to make payments on taxes,” Warren said.

Warren said that property owners have been receptive to the payment plans. Since the insert has been mailed off with the bills for the past two cycles, more people have took advantage of the payment plans.

“It seems to have helped,” Warren said.

Warren referred to all the bills that were sent out as a “snapshot of everything as of Jan. 1, 2015.”

The property taxes will provide more than $26.9 million in revenue to the county if every property owner pays their taxes on time. This figure represents about 60 percent of expected revenues in the fiscal year 2015-16 budget cycle.

The most recent collection rate of the Watauga County Tax Department is a solid 98.31 percent.

For more information, contact the Watauga County Tax Department at 828-265-8036.