Travis County Tax OfficeJanuary 19, 2022
It’s that time of year.
Those who own homes and business property in Travis County must pay their property taxes by Jan. 31 to avoid penalties and interest.
Travis County is asking property owners to pay their taxes online with an eCheck for $1 at TravisCountyTax.org. The online system allows users to schedule when they want their taxes paid and immediately emails a proof of payment receipt to the property owner.
“There are other ways to pay but eCheck provides a contactless way to pay your taxes and is much safer than mailing in your payment,” said Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant.
With more than 160 new Travis County residents daily, the tax office and the postal service are struggling to keep up with mailed in paperwork. “You need to consider that using an eCheck only costs 45 cents more than a postage stamp and the emailed receipt you get is handy for your personal records and may help should any questions that could arise about your account,” Elfant said.
Those who do plan to mail in their property tax payment should be aware:
- Mailed checks must be postmarked by no later than Jan. 31
- The tax office is not responsible for lost checks
- State law requires the tax office to charge penalty and interest for late postmarks and lost checks
- There is no automatic receipt when paying by mail
The tax office sent out over 400,000 property tax bills totaling more than $5.3 billion that is owed to 141 local government entities, including almost $851 million to fund county services. Instead of receiving bills from each government entity or program, the tax office is the central payment depository.
Travis Central Appraisal District determines the market value of property and individual taxing authorities, such as school districts, cities and counties, set their tax rates annually. Voters also may have passed a bond election to tax themselves for a particular project or to fund a program. The state’s 254 tax assessor-collector offices take the tax rates provided by the government entities and any bond election and applies those rates against the appraisal district’s market valuation to calculate what property owners must pay.
When the property tax bill is paid, the tax office then sends the money due to each government agency or designated fund.
Link to humorous property tax payment video: https://youtu.be/TmXlzo5-l0k