(A) Any tax bill paid after October 15, shall be paid in its face amount as shown thereon. Any bill remaining unpaid after November 15, shall be deemed delinquent and the tax shall have a penalty in the sum of 10% of its face amount until paid. If any bill is unpaid after January 1 of the year following the year that the tax bill was originally due, there will, in addition to the penalty, be 1% interest per month due on the unpaid bill, until paid. Penalties and interest are cumulative; and, if suit is initiated, then the taxpayer shall be charged and be required to pay court costs and attorney and/or paralegal fees. The provisions of this section shall be effective as against all tax bills that are delinquent when this modification is passed, and as against all tax bills that become delinquent after this modification is passed.
(B) Any tax bills remaining in the hands of the City Clerk on December 15, or for any prior year thereto which have not been paid shall be endorsed by the City Clerk as delinquent, at which time the City Clerk shall proceed to compute the penalty described by this section and add the same to the unpaid tax bill. After one letter of notice of delinquency has been sent to the taxpayer by the City Clerk and taxes remain delinquent for a period of 30 days thereafter, the City Clerk shall then deliver the unpaid tax bills to the City Attorney for collection. The City Attorney shall receive a fee of $150 per hour for time spent collecting delinquent taxes and this fee shall be charged as a cost against the delinquent taxpayer and this fee rate shall be effective as against all tax bills that are delinquent when this modification is passed.
(C) The city shall have the right to place a lien as described by statute on the property and record the lien in the County Court Clerk’s office, which recording fees shall be added to the tax bill and shall be paid prior to any lien being released. Failure to file a notice of lien in the office of the County Court Clerk does not invalidate the statutory lien granted by state law and is not a waiver of the right to enforce the same.
(Ord. 5-86, passed 5-22-1986; Ord. 12-92, passed 8-3-1992; Ord. 9-96, passed 9-5-1996; Ord. 16-97, passed 9-8-1997; Ord. 13-98, passed 9-8-1998; Ord. 2-2011, passed 3-7-2011; Ord. 2-2012, passed 4-2-2012; Ord. 1-2013, passed 2-4-2013; Ord. 8-2020, passed 9-8-2020)
Editor’s note:
Ordinances setting tax rate may from time to time alter specific due dates for that particular tax period.