THIS YEAR TAXPAYERS CAN SAY 'CHARGE IT'

JACKSON, Mo. -- Charge it.

Cape Girardeau County taxpayers for the first time can rely on credit cards to pay their 2000 real estate and personal property tax bills. County Collector Diane Diebold said she made the change this year in an effort to make it more convenient for taxpayers, including Southeast Missouri State University students.

"It is an option we have had a few requests for. It is not overwhelming," she said. "It is a convenient way to get it done that minute that day so somebody can get their car license."

The convenience comes at a price -- there is an added 5 percent cost to those who pay with charge cards. For example, if a person's tax bill totals $1,000, he or she will have to pay $1,050, but the county doesn't keep any of the extra $50. The added charge goes to a credit card processing service.

Taxpayers can use MasterCard, Visa or American Express. Diebold said she isn't certain how many people will pay with credit cards but expects few.

Cape Girardeau County isn't alone in the change. Scott County is taking credit card payments for the first time this tax season. Mississippi and Perry counties also take credit card payments.

Diebold said credit card payments will be accepted in the mail or in person at the collector's office in the Cape Girardeau County Administrative Building in Jackson. The collector's office in the Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau won't accept credit card payments because it isn't equipped to handle them, she said.

Not everybody is excited about the change. Paying taxes with credit cards is a bad idea, said Patricia Soileau, branch manager of Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Cape Girardeau.

"You are really paying taxes on your taxes," she said. Most credit card companies charge anywhere from 23 to 29 percent interest.

"I wouldn't do it," said Soileau, who spends her days counseling people who have been buried in credit card debt.

Soileau said people who don't have the money to pay their taxes might turn to credit cards. But the move won't help their money woes, she said. "What they are doing is prolonging their agony."

Tax bill mailing

The collector's office is scheduled to begin mailing tax bills on Monday. Diebold said her office will send out over 60,000 individual tax bills next week, amounting to about 35,000 to 40,000 pieces of mail. They should arrive by Nov. 13, so any taxpayer who hasn't received a tax bill by mid-November should call the collector's office, Diebold said.

Taxpayers must pay their bills by the end of the year. Those who mail in their taxes must have the envelopes postmarked by midnight on Dec. 31.

There is a penalty for paying late, beginning with a 7 percent charge on the amount owed as of Jan. 1. There is an added 2 percent charge for each month thereafter through the first nine months of the year.

Taxpayers who haven't paid their taxes by September will have to pay a 23 percent charge on top of the amount owed on their tax bills, Diebold said.

That won't be a concern for the majority of taxpayers who pay their bills by the Dec. 31 deadline. Diebold said her office typically has collected 96 percent of the taxes owed by March 1 each year.