While there is perhaps no better feeling than owning your home or the structure in which you conduct your business, this possession of real property comes with a host of real responsibilities. Indeed, not only is it your responsibility to make repairs and secure insurance, it’s also your responsibility to pay both the mortgage and, of course, property taxes.
Regarding this latter responsibility, this is typically the time of the year in which property owners here in Maryland will start to see their property tax bills from the county arriving in the mail. Interesting enough, however, taxpayers in the state’s third largest county — Baltimore County — are now being told to disregard bills that arrived last week.
Why are people being told to disregard their property tax bills?
County officials indicated last week that the need to disregard property tax bills arose from the discovery of “mathematical errors” in a random sampling.
Is there going to be any sort of notification about this?
In addition to attempting to spread the word on social media, Baltimore County has also begun sending letters to the roughly 280,000 taxpayers affected by this issue.
While it has already informed the majority of mortgage companies, it’s also advising taxpayers to contact their lenders directly about escrow accounts.
What happens now?
Baltimore County is in the process of re-analyzing reports to ensure accuracy. Once this is completed, property tax bills will need to be re-printed and re-mailed. In total, this could take another four weeks.
Accordingly, deadlines will be extended, including those calling for discounts for taxpayers who remit payment in a timely fashion.
What if I already paid and it was too much?
Baltimore County has already indicated that taxpayers who paid too much based on the erroneous statements will be refunded.
Here’s hoping this situation is rectified sooner than later.
If you have questions relating to your property taxes or a tax debt in general, consider speaking with a skilled legal professional able to pursue the necessary solutions as soon as possible.