County Treasurer Jan Sears reported last week that her department began running the final calculations for taxes on each of the 17,127 taxable properties in San Juan County. The calculations are complex, as the bills include levies for 43 different taxing entities within the county; many with complex systems of rates and exemptions. Sears reports that the bottom line, including all taxes, assessment and accrued penalties and interest is $41,050,167.05 – an increase of $2.16 million over last year.

By law the tax bills have to be in the mail no later than Feb. 15.

When the calculations are complete, they must be printed and then they are stuffed into envelopes by county staff.

“We are one of the few counties in the state still doing that in-house,” said Sears.

“It gives us the opportunity to check for errors and special situations where we need to pull the statements for adjustments. We are also able to insert informational flyers from our taxing districts.”

Taxpayers may choose to pay half of their taxes by April 30 with the second half payable by October 31. Penalties for missing the April 30 deadline start with a 3 percent penalty plus an additional 1 percent interest for every month the payment is late. An additional 8 percent penalty is tacked on if the total payment isn’t received by December.

Last year the Treasurer’s office collected 97.3 percent of the taxes due by the end of the year. It also collected $327,325 in interest and penalties.