MCLENANN COUNTY, Texas — Some of our neighbors in the city of Killeen owe more than 26 million dollars in taxes for 2023. In Waco, that number is smaller with just over a million dollars still owed.
- Taxes become delinquent on February 1st and penalties and interest begin to incur, and the county is required by law to send a notice to pay reminder on May 1st.
- The county offers various options to help people pay their taxes, such as homestead agreements, installment agreements, and deferrals for those over 65.
- The City of Waco maintains a high collection rate of 98%-99% for total tax levies.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
In 2023, more than 114 million dollars have been collected in taxes for the City of Waco.
"95 percent of the public pay their taxes," McLennan County Tax Assessor and Collector Randy Riggs said. "The other 5 percent don't."
The City of Waco has maintained a 98 to 99 percent collection rate of its taxes for the past 5 years.
According to a September 2023 delinquent collections report, the City of Waco still owes just over a million dollars.
In 2022, just under 500 grand are still delinquent. That's money from parking ticket fines to property taxes that could be used to add a first responder to our streets.
"The tax dollars that we collect go to provide services, and citizens usually want more services, and if people do not pay their taxes, that affects their ability to provide those services," Randy Riggs said.
Here are the dates you need to know,
- January 31st: taxes are due
- February 1st is when taxes become delinquent, and a 6 percent penalty fee and a 1 percent interest rate will start accruing each month taxes go unpaid.
- May 1st: the tax office sends out a notice reminder
If July doesn't pay your taxes, they get turned over to the city attorney's office.
"It's our job to work with taxpayers and to try and figure out how much they can pay and how long that's going to take them so that they can avoid any other consequences or repercussions of not paying those," attorney and shareholder with McCreary Veselka Bragg & Allen PC Attorneys at Law, Connor Buchanan said.
Buchanan said that most of the time when people don't pay their taxes, and it's not because they don't want to.
"It's because they can't or because the idea of paying their property taxes is intimidating," Buchanan said.
If you find yourself in a position where you're having trouble with payment, There are options like a homestead installment agreement or a quarter pay system.
"We're not trying to put somebody out of their homes— we're trying to work with you to represent better 95 percent of the public who pay their taxes promptly," said Riggs.
If property taxes remain unpaid after lawyers step in, it could result in a lawsuit and a loss of land, but Buchanan tells me in his 10 years of work, he has not had to sell a homestead.
