Escrow info missing from Cape County tax bills

Thousands of Cape Girardeau County residents are opening their county real estate tax bills this week and wondering whether they need to write a check to the county even though their taxes were held in escrow.

The county’s tax bills typically include a statement explaining no payment is necessary because the tax will be paid by the taxpayer’s bank or escrow company.

But the escrow statement was omitted from the 2020 real estate bills.

County Collector Barbara Gholson said the problem was discovered Monday afternoon when county residents started calling her office.

“The bills began arriving in mailboxes Monday and we started getting calls Monday afternoon,” she said.

At first, she thought the escrow statement had simply been moved on the bills, which were reformatted this year, but then confirmed the escrow disclaimer was, in fact, missing.

“We outsourced the bills last year and everything was fine,” Gholson said. “The printer is trying to find out what happened. Somehow, when the yellow highlight color was added to the bills, it wiped out the escrow information. That’s it in a nutshell.”

Gholson said she and her staff expect to receive a flood of phone calls and emails over the next week or so from people questioning their bills.

“Hopefully, people will know they have their tax escrowed and won’t pay the bills,” she said. “They should give their bank or escrow company time to pay it. Paid receipts will be mailed to them after payments are made by their escrow companies on their behalf.”

Gholson said taxpayers who do not receive paid receipts for their real estate taxes by Dec. 21 should call her office at (573) 243-4476 to verify payment.

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