Real Estate Tax bills mailed Friday

Douglas County Real Estate Tax bills were mailed on Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. The first installment due date is Monday, Sept. 10, 2018, and the second installment due date is Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018.

“This year we are again using a mailing service,” a press release says from the Douglas County Treasurer’s office. “You will receive a separate envelope for each tax bill. Taxpayers with a high volume of tax bills will receive a single large envelope. Please look over your tax bill(s) and make sure all of the information is correct. Please read the back of your tax bill.”

It is the responsibility of the property owner to report all address changes to the Assessor’s office at 253-3031. Questions about assessments and exemptions are to be directed to the Assessor’s office. If you do not receive a tax bill and should, please call the Treasurer’s office at 253-4011. Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve a taxpayer from their tax liability.

You may pay your taxes at any participating bank in Douglas County. Contact your local bank for hours and information. We accept postmark as date of payment (on due dates, not late payments), so please feel free to mail your payments to: Douglas County Collector, PO Box 320, Tuscola, IL 61953.

If you wait and mail your payment on the due date, we suggest that you request your post office hand cancel your stamp. Also, check with your post office for any time cut-offs that may affect the postmark date on your envelope. If you are mailing your payment and would like a receipt other than your cancelled check, you MUST include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and the whole tax bill with your payment.

You may also bring your tax payment to the office of the Collector/Treasurer at the Douglas County Courthouse, Room 206. You may also drop your payment in the gray Circuit Clerk’s drop box at the east door of the Courthouse. Payments in the drop box will be picked up at 8 a.m. each business day. You may also pay your taxes with a credit/debit card over the phone or internet with all major credit cards. For instructions for phone and internet payment, go to our website at douglascountyil.com/treasurer/Credit/Debit Payments or call this office if you do not have internet access. Convenience fees apply.

This is the fourth year we will offer an automatic withdrawal option to pay taxes. Call this office or go online to douglascountyil.com/treasurer/forms to print off the form or get a form from this office. A signed request must be received in this office at least two weeks before the due date to participate.

There will be no grace period after the due date. Tax payments received (other than with a postmark of Sept. 10, 2018 or before for the first installment and Oct. 10, 2018 before for the second installment) after each installment due date will be charged a penalty of 1.5 percent per month or any part of a month that the installment remains delinquent.

If your taxes are paid by a mortgage/escrow company, contact them for further instructions.