Tax statements mailed to local taxpayers

About 25,000 tax statements will be mailed in the next couple of weeks, as local property owners find out what they will owe in taxes for this year.

Assistant appraiser Clayton Snyder at the Shackelford County Appraisal District (CAD) office stated that tax rates for all eight county taxing entities are being entered and calculations are scheduled to be finished by the end of September.

“We’re double-checking some figures and we haven’t gotten imports from some of the overlapping school districts, but we plan to send the files by the end of next week,” said Snyder on Tuesday. 

He added that the appraisal office is getting a new server, and the only time that the installation could be installed is next Monday.

Although the timing is not good, Snyder feels that the server switch-out shouldn’t cause any big delays.

CAD Board Meeting

At the most recent meeting of the CAD board, directors voted to officially name Snyder as chief appraiser as soon as his certification is complete in late October.

The Shackelford County native has been working to complete requirements since he was hired by the district three years ago.

Richard Petree of Abilene has served as chief appraiser for the past several years.

The board also approved the proposed CAD budget, with total expenditures, including a $5,000 litigation fund balance contribution, totaling $373,061. This is 1.9 percent over the previous year rather than the 2.84 percent increase that was previously reported.

Statement Details

For the fourth year, statement files will be uploaded electronically to a mailing company for processing and distribution.

“Until 2015, the mailing was done by the local staff, but it’s actually much more efficient for us to use an outside mailing company,” said Snyder. 

The mailing company is located in Abilene and will mail from there, but Snyder reminded local taxpayers that if they receive multiple statements, the documents may arrive on different days.

“They may not all be mailed at the same time, so if you’re expecting four or five statements, give them a few days to get to you,” he said.

All statements should be in the mail by the second week in October, a few days later than usual. 

Payment Process

Snyder reminded taxpayers that they are responsible for paying their taxes even if they don’t receive a statement.

“If your address has changed, for instance, and we weren’t notified, a taxpayer is still legally required to pay his taxes on time,” he explained. “So if you know you owe taxes and you don’t receive a statement for some reason, you need to call us.”

He explained that a tax obligation is just like a credit card. 

“Even if you change addresses, you still owe that money,” he said, “and you will be charged interest if the payment is late.”

There is no link on the CAD’s website that will allow taxpayers  to make address changes online, but property owners can always click on “Contacts” and send an email with address updates, said Snyder.

Changes can also be called in to 325-762-2207.

“The notices state that taxes are payable starting Oct. 31, but they aren’t past due until Feb. 1, 2019,” said Snyder.