Waiver of Property Tax Penalties Program Available

A resolution adopted last week by the Door County Board of Supervisors sets the stage for property owners to receive a waiver of penalties on property-tax installment payments due between April 1 and Oct. 1.

Property taxes can be paid in two installments. The first is due by Jan. 31, the second by July 31. Normally, Door County imposes a penalty of 0.5 percent per month on delinquent general property taxes.

Under the waiver program, the interest penalty will not be charged on installment payments due after April 1 through Oct. 1. If an installment was already delinquent prior to April 1, nothing changes for that property owner.

The catch to the program is that individual municipalities must also adopt a similar resolution in order for its property owners to be eligible for the waiver.

To get that message across to municipalities, the county is sending a letter and a copy of the county’s resolution to all municipalities to use as a model for their own resolutions.

County Administrator Ken Pabich said about two-thirds of property owners have already paid their taxes in full this year. That leaves about one-third who may potentially benefit from the waiver, if that property owner’s municipality also adopts the program.

As of last week, 31 counties had decided not to authorize the waiver, four had, and others are still considering it. Pabich said the reluctance could be because of how complicated it will be to track and communicate the program.

Through Act 185, the state had authorized counties to enable the program by resolution, allowing for either a general or case-by-case finding of hardship for a property owner to qualify for the waiver. The resolution the supervisors passed contained a general-hardship clause that declared that all property taxpayers in the county are experiencing hardship as a result of the economic conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.