HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio — County treasurer Robert Goering said the decision to delay property tax collection has been “a balancing act.”
Taxes had been due on June 22, but officials decided to move the date because the treasurer's office is closed and some residents may be unable to work due to the pandemic.
The decision was difficult because the real estate taxes fund schools, the zoo, local governments and police and fire departments, Goering said.
Property tax makes up about 15-16% of the overall revenue for the county’s budget, Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus said.
Driehaus said the move is a measured approach to the idea that officials need to provide some relief to taxpayers and not put those that rely on property tax in a difficult financial situation.
But there are negative impacts; the delay in collection means that the inflows of the tax money will also be delayed, Goering said.
“The county residents are happy, and the governments are concerned,” Goering said.
Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Alutto said this will cause cash flow implications, but it shouldn’t be dramatic since the date was only moved a few weeks.
“If we were talking several months, I think we would be in a different situation,” Alutto said.
Goering said that statutory penalties and interest will occur if taxes are paid after July 17.
Goering said tax bills will be mailed to residents on June 22.
