By Echo Menges
All Knox County taxpayers should have received their 2020 county tax bills.
The Knox County Collector’s Office mailed out all of the tax bills for 2020 on October 3. Bills were mailed to all Knox County property owners, real and personal.
“We probably mailed out 4,000 tax bills,” said Knox County Collector Brent Karhoff.
Karhoff estimates 70 percent of the tax bills were sent to county addresses while 30 percent of the tax bills were sent outside of the county.
This year, the county has billed for nearly six million in taxes with $2,674,554.61 billed for real estate taxes, $1,502,202.02 billed for personal property taxes and $1,851,751.15 billed for railroad and utility taxes.
Knox County will see an increase in tax support for 2020.
“It’s up because of the new transmission line,” said Karhoff. “It’s above $800,000 from last year. That money is being paid by railroad and utilities. It is state assessed and there is a formula where they divide a little out between the other school systems, Lewis, Brashear and LaPlata, but the bulk of it goes to Knox County.”
Taxes are due on or before Thursday, December 31.
“We don’t want people waiting until December 31, please.” said Karhoff. “We’ve always furnished people with a return addressed envelope. With the pandemic situation, we are hoping they use it. We also have a drop box on the east side of the courthouse for those who do not want to come inside. You can also pay online with a credit card. Some people do use it. The credit card company does charge 2.3 percent to the taxpayer. The law does not allow for that fee to be paid by a political subdivision.”
Taxpayers who have not received a tax bill are still required to pay. On January 1, 2021, fees will be added to all unpaid taxes. Anyone who has not received their tax bill should contact the Knox County Collector’s Office at (660)397-2349.
