Sussex County residents will soon have a clear sign that summer is nearing an end.
Sussex County’s annual property tax bills for the 2020 fiscal year will start showing up in mailboxes soon.
“Annually we bill for property taxes for both the County and the seven school districts within Sussex County,” said Katrina Mears, the billing services manager for Sussex County Government.
She says the County’s tax year runs from July 1st through June 30th of the following year (2020) - so the County actually bills in advance.
“Property taxes will be due on September 30. And we will be mailing them over the next week; we expect them to actually start hitting mailboxes by Friday at the earliest," said Mears.
Mears explains what happens if taxpayers don’t meet the September 30, 2019 deadline.
“What will happen after September 30, is that there will be an interest charge added on a monthly basis to the unpaid tax amount," Mears said. "We do send out late notices four times a year and we also make phone calls to try to collect those past due amounts.”
Mears says for the 2020 tax year, the County is mailing more than 130,000 paper copies, while more than 51,000 bills will be sent electronically to mortgage lenders.
Annual tax bills include County property taxes and County sewer and water, as well as tax ditch and street lighting fees. Additionally, tax bills include local school district taxes, which are set by and vary among the County’s school districts.
Sussex County accepts tax payments by cash, check, money order and debit or credit cards.
