Delinquent taxes? Washtenaw County buildings close for 2012 after Friday
Most Washtenaw County buildings, including the register of deeds, clerk and treasurer’s offices, will be closed for the remainder of 2012 after Friday because of the Christmas and New Year's holidays, as well as unpaid furlough days.
This is the first time county buildings will be closed for the final week of the year.
That means the last day to pay delinquent taxes in 2012 in the county treasurer’s office or by credit card over the phone is Friday during business hours from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and from 1 to 5 p.m.
Washtenaw County buildings will be closed for the remainder of 2012 after Friday because of holidays and furlough days.
Chris Asadian | AnnArbor.com
“I apologize to the public,” McClary said. “But the building is closed and locked up.”
Tax payments submitted to the drop box located on the Main Street side of the county's building at 200 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor will be considered paid by Dec. 31, McClary said.
People can also pay their taxes by submitting their credit card information to the treasurer’s office through a secure fax line at (734) 222-6632. McClary said any payments submitted by fax will be considered paid by Dec. 31 and need to include the following information in the fax:
- Individual’s name and daytime phone number
- Credit card number, expiration date and three-digit security code
- Amount the individual would like to pay
Payments will also be accepted by emailing taxes@ewashtenaw.org, but McClary said she didn’t recommend the practice and cautioned about the insecure nature of communicating credit card information via email.
Questions regarding how to submit delinquent tax payments can also be submitted by email to taxes@ewashtenaw.org.
To find out how much is owed in delinquent taxes, go to www.ewashtenaw.org and click on the “Property/Parcel Lookup” link located on the right side of the web page under the “Most Requested” section.
Enter the appropriate information to find the assessment information for your property and scroll to the bottom of the page for the link to “Delinquent taxes.”
Tom Richardson, CEO of Liberty Title Agency in Ann Arbor, said the nine-day closure of Washtenaw County’s Register of Deeds office will mean a large backlog of documents that will be coming in to the office Jan. 2 when it re-opens.
“Commerce will not stop,” Richardson said. “Hopefully it won’t result in mass confusion.”
Keeping the claims in the order in which they were executed could be difficult with the backlog, Richardson said.
Certified copies of birth certificates, death records or marriage licenses can be obtained Dec. 26-28 by calling the Michigan Department of Community Health at (517) 335-8666.
Marriage applications and licenses can be obtained Dec. 26-28 by calling Washtenaw County's help desk at (734) 222-3737. Leave a message with the answering service with your name and phone number, and staff will return calls from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 26-28 to make an appointment.
The treasurer’s office, as well as most other county buildings, will reopen at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 2.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
arborani
Thu, Dec 20, 2012 : 9:32 p.m.
As it happens, I put my winter prop tax check in the mail today. I trust that as long as it's postmarked by 12/31, I don't owe any penalty because it will sit in a city mail box until January 1?
Brokentwinhalos
Fri, Dec 21, 2012 : 3:45 p.m.
It sounds like you're submitting a current winter tax bill that's going (correctly) to the local municipality and NOT the county. If that's the case, you'd probably want to check with that municipality versus the county, which handles delinquent property taxes. Washtenaw county Equalization department has links to local units of government, http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/equalization/links.html.
yohan
Thu, Dec 20, 2012 : 10:54 p.m.
The county DOES NOT honor postmarks!
Indymama
Thu, Dec 20, 2012 : 9:21 p.m.
Perhaps next year there should be no new raises given to anyone in our City/County Government and with a proposed one day a week savings for a day closure..,.our Budget could be BALANCED with a reserve for true emergencies...or much needed Police & Firemen.
kmgeb2000
Thu, Dec 20, 2012 : 11:52 p.m.
Actually that plan has already been implemented for some time, as there have not been raises at Washtenaw County for the last three or four years and mandatory unpaid furlough days for the last two.
Amy Biolchini
Thu, Dec 20, 2012 : 9:20 p.m.
According to the county, closing the buildings for nine days will save $14,500 in energy, gas and water costs and will reduce the county's carbon footprint by 333,600 pounds of carbon dioxide.
Indymama
Thu, Dec 20, 2012 : 9:17 p.m.
It is too bad, that this announcement came so late!! However, the Dollar Savings represents a fair amount. Which makes me think that perhaps these offices should be closed for at least 4 days every month or one day a week, to save money on your/our taxes. Close one day a week.. for a savings of approximately ..let's see, sorry... (I just lost where I saw the total figures for savings, but it was about $14,000) So 14,000 divided by 9 days = $1,555.00 per day. One day a week closure would result in savings of $80,860.00 for the year,. A little less if it was only 4 days a month. GREAT IDEA!!! Let's save some money!!
Napalm.Morning
Thu, Dec 20, 2012 : 8:32 p.m.
I agree Gary. I would expect that the our public officials would have a better plan to serve us, particularly at the end of a calendar year. Nine days of shut-down is unacceptable for the essential [sic] administration of county affairs.