Tax Collection Rate Up,
Fewer Delinquent Notices to Be Mailed,
Action to Avoid a Tax Auction in 2011

Property tax payment rates continue to be higher. Ventura County property owners continue to pay their property taxes at a high rate, according to figures released today by Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Matheney. Through the close of business on Tuesday, May 11, 95.6% of the 2009/2010 secured tax roll has been collected. The most recent collection cycle of the second installment of taxes saw an impressive 93.4% of the tax bills paid by the April 12, 2010 deadline. Payments made after that April 12 deadline have incurred late fees of 10% plus $30.

Fewer delinquent notices are needed again this year. Within the next three business days, the Tax Collector will be mailing out courtesy notices to the owners of 15,800 properties that are missing at least one installment of current year secured or supplemental property taxes. This represents a drop of almost 7,000 in the number of properties for which notices were needed in 2008. “From the part of Ventura County’s economy that we see, it seems clear that there continues to be steady improvement,” observed Matheney.

Hopes for 3 straight years of avoiding a tax auction. The Tax Collector has identified 130 parcels that could become subject to public auction to satisfy the unpaid taxes on July 1, 2010, as the result of property taxes going unpaid for more than 3 years for commercial property and 5 years for residential parcels. According to Matheney, a concentrated effort will be made to obtain voluntary collection of all of these taxes with the intention of avoiding the need for an auction in 2011. If successful, it would mark the 3rd straight year of collecting 100% of all taxes and penalties rightfully owed on such properties. Said Matheney,“Property tax revenue is a vital part of making local government work, so we work hard to keep the delinquency rate low. We would be wrong, though, to be insensitive to the circumstances that prevent a small number of property owners from keeping up with their property taxes. By aggressively putting resources into this issue, we’ve discovered situations of widows, the disabled, lost heirs and others and to help facilitate a solution to their unpaid taxes. My staff has been a terrific example of making government work correctly."