COUNTY TAX PAYMENTS FALL BEHIND

JACKSON - Unless there was an exceptionally heavy rush of late mail, it appears that many Cape Girardeau County taxpayers are waiting until 1992 to pay their 1991 taxes.

Personal property and real estate tax bills for all taxing entities within the county were due by midnight Tuesday. But one hour before his office was scheduled to close for the year, County Collector Harold Kuehle reported that Tuesday had been a slow day for taxpayers coming in and that receipts were running as much as 5 percent behind 1990.

"I can only assume that the mail coming in Thursday and Friday is going to be very large," said Kuehle.

Kuehle said there were long lines of people paying taxes on Monday, but Tuesday was very slow.

At the end of the day on Monday, Kuehle reported that only 52 percent of the $12,574,000 in real estate taxes and 58 percent of the $3,148,931 in personal property taxes his office is charged to collect had been paid.

"I think we are running about 5 percent less than the same time a year ago," said Kuehle. "That all might change though on Thursday and Friday when we get the mail in."

Kuehle estimated it will take until Jan. 25 for his staff to process all of the bills paid by mail at the end of the year.

Anyone still holding a tax bill is responsible for paying a 2 percent penalty and 2 percent interest for the month of January. The interest increases at the rate of 2 percent a month through September.

Kuehle said it will be April before delinquency notices are mailed to taxpayers who are late. However, on the right hand side of the tax bill, interest and penalty charges are already set out for each month.

"People can look and see how much extra it will cost them by looking on the right hand side of their tax bill for the month they are paying in," noted Kuehle.

The collector pointed out that people who have not received tax bills, but are responsible for paying them, must also pay interest and penalty charges that are assessed.

Problems with tax bills often occur when real estate is sold during the year and bills are sent to the previous owner and not passed on to the new owner who is responsible for paying the bill.

"The law is pretty specific that failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve you of the responsibility to pay," declared Kuehle.

He noted that persons who believe they may be responsible for a tax bill they have not received or have lost their bill, should contact his office at 243-4476.

Kuehle's office collects property taxes for all school districts, all county entities, and the city of Cape Girardeau. Including state assessed railroad and utility property, the collector's office was charged with collecting $17,803,884 in taxes for 1991.

Kuehle is wrapping up his 25th tax collection season as collector of Cape Girardeau County. Kuehle, who took office in March of 1967, pointed out that in his first year in office total tax collections amounted to $3,250,000.