TAX TIME NOT SEASON FOR GIVING

'Tis the season for giving, except when it comes to taxes.

Most taxpayers aren't in any rush to pay their taxes. Most will wait until after Christmas.

About 80 percent of the taxes in Cape Girardeau County are paid the last week of the year, said Harold Kuehle, county collector.

As of Monday, Kuehle's office had collected more than $2.9 million. Most of that -- $2.5 million -- has been collected this month.

Tax bills were mailed out in November and some people paid their taxes that month, Kuehle said.

Real estate and personal property tax bills total more than $22.4 million this year. Kuehle said about 92 to 94 percent of that will be paid on time.

"Cape Girardeau County is a good paying county," he said. "We've got good folks here."

Tax bills must be paid in person or postmarked by Dec. 31 for taxpayers to void a penalty of 5 percent and interest payments of 2 percent a month.

Taxpayers can pay in person at the Cape Girardeau County Administration Building in Jackson or at the collector's Cape Girardeau office at 44 N. Lorimier.

The hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Kuehle said the office is open during the lunch hour.

For years, the collector's offices remained opened on the last two Saturdays of the year for the convience of taxpayers.

But Kuehle said few people have taken advantage of the Saturday hours in recent years. As a result, he said, there won't be any weekend hours this tax season.

About 65 percent of Cape Girardeau County taxpayers pay their bills by mail.

But Kuehle said taxpayers should pay in person if they want immediate receipts so they can obtain their vehicle license plates in early January.

Kuehle said it takes his office until the middle of January to process all the last-minute taxes that arrive by mail.

This year, the county sent out over 52,000 tax bills in 30,000 some mailings.

The county collects taxes for 31 local governments ranging from cities and schools to library and fire protection districts.

Without computers, it would be almost impossible to keep up with all the levies that must be calculated for the tax bills, he said.

Kuehle said he has received a surprising number of phone calls from people who said they didn't receive their tax bills.

The county collector said tax bills aren't sent by registered mail so his office doesn't know if the taxpayers received them.

Taxpayers who haven't received tax bills should contact the collector's office, he said.

Kuehle said many times people buy property during a year, but the tax bill ends up being sent to the previous owner.

"If you own real estate, taxes are due on that real estate property," he said.