Medina County Treasurer John BurkePhoto Courtesy of Medina County Treasurer’s Office
MEDINA, Ohio – If you haven’t paid your real estate tax bills yet, you’ll probably be receiving a phone call from Medina County Treasurer John Burke’s office this week.
“We run a report five days before the due date to see who has not yet paid their taxes and automatically call them with a friendly reminder message to pay taxes on time,” Burke said.
“It can usually save the taxpayer several hundred dollars in late penalty fees,” he said.
Friday is the due date for paying real estate tax bills. The Treasurer’s Office has set up a number of ways to conveniently make those payments.
Burke said online tax payments are an easy, safe, fast and convenient option. Go online to the treasurer’s website at www.medinacountytreasurer.com and click on “Search and Pay Taxes” in the left-hand column to find your tax bill amount and payment options.
Taxpayers can pay by electronic check, PayPal or credit card. There is a 50-cent fee for using an electronic check and a 2.25 percent fee charged by the vendor for PayPal and credit cards. (The county does not receive any of these fees.)
MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express are all accepted online.
To pay with a credit card by phone, call 888-607-8389. American Express is not accepted over the phone.
PayPal also has an option that allows people to pay their tax bill on credit – there are no payments or interest charges if the amount is paid off in full within six months.
“I have seen many taxpayers use this option to get extra time to pay and (to) avoid missing the due date and getting a late penalty charge of 10 percent,” Burke said.
Taxpayers can also make their payments in person at the Treasurer’s Office in the Medina County Administration Building, 144 N. Broadway St., Medina. The normal office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. will be extended to 6 p.m. on Friday.
There are also four drop boxes for check payments. These are at the county administration building, the Wadsworth Municipal Building, Brunswick City Hall and the Lodi Library. Remember to include you tax bill stub.
And there’s always the option of using the U.S. Postal Service. Any payments made by mail must be postmarked by Friday.
“I always suggest that taxpayers who mail their tax payment on the last day walk it into the post office and make sure it is postmarked by that due date to avoid any late penalty fee,” Burke said.
Burke encourages taxpayers to make sure their contact information is current. His office staff placed an insert in the first half tax bills asking taxpayers to provide current contact information such as cell phone numbers and email addresses.
This will help Burke’s staff with reaching people through the courtesy calls before the tax bill due date.
“Each time we make those reminder calls, I will have some homeowner thank me for the reminder to pay taxes on time,” Burke said.
The Treasurer’s Office maintains a phone number database linked to taxpayers’ parcel numbers. But many county residents have canceled their land-based home phone numbers and are using cell phones instead.
“Our phone number database has shrunk 25 percent in the last few years, from about 47,000 phone numbers to 35,000,” Burke said.
He would also like to add email addresses to the database.
“We would like to be able to send pertinent tax information to homeowners directly and quickly, by phone and/or email,” he said.
“For example, we would like taxpayers to know when tax bills have been mailed, if there is any issue with their tax bill or payment, and procedure or law changes that would immediately affect their tax bill,” he said.
Taxpayers can update their contact information by clicking the link under “Subscribe to Our Email List” on the Treasurer’s Office website or by calling the office at 330-725-9748.
Information can also be mailed to John Burke, Medina County Treasurer, 144 N. Broadway Street, Medina, Ohio 44256.
For questions about your tax bill, call the office or view your tax balance or tax payments on the website.
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