County taxes increase $27.6 Million this year

Historic City News has received the final numbers from the St. Johns County 2015 property tax rolls. Tax collector Dennis Hollingsworth distributed the official tax bills totaling $385,987,421.20 via email and snail mail on Friday, October 30th.

Last year, St Johns County taxpayers were billed $27,645,506.07 less for the operation of the local county government.

“For the past 26 years, your Tax Collector’s office has maintained a 99.3 percent or greater collection rate, with this year’s collection rate standing at 99.81 percent,” said St. Johns County Tax Collector Dennis W. Hollingsworth, CFC. “Ultimately, this assists all local taxing authorities to finance services for the citizens’ needs.”

Although the tax collector receives the annual tax payments for real estate, railroad, certain non-ad-valorem assessments, and tangible personal property, the amount of tax that is owed is calculated based on valuations and exemptions established by the county property appraiser.

Contact information for the Property Appraiser and taxing authorities is provided on an insert in your tax notice. Anyone unable to pay their homestead property taxes should contact the St. Johns County Tax Collector as early as possible to determine eligibility for the Homestead Tax Deferral.

The good news for taxpayers is that there is a way to save up to 4% on this year’s tax bill. All tax notices become due November 1st; however, they may be paid through March 31, 2016, without incurring a penalty. Better yet, when you opt to pay your taxes in November, you are eligible for a 4 percent discount. The amount of the discount decreases by 1 percent every month until March 2016 when taxes must be paid and no discount is applied.

There are various methods of payment available to St. Johns County property owners. The easiest, most efficient and economical means is by e-check payment on the tax collector’s website, www.sjctax.us. Online payments can be made via e-check for just $1.30, or by credit card for a 2.5 percent transaction fee that we pay to the credit card companies. Payment can also be made by mailing a check or visiting one of our five office locations.

In addition to the 87,221 tax notices sent to property owners, 42,411 tax notices were sent to mortgage companies with escrow accounts. Property owners with escrow accounts should receive an “information only” notice detailing your tax status and stating, “THIS IS NOT A BILL-DO NOT PAY- YOUR BILL HAS BEEN FORWARDED TO YOUR ESCROW AGENT.”