Title
An Ordinance amending Chapter 27, Taxation, of the Code of the City of Rock Hill concerning due date, payment and delinquency.
Body
Since 2000 the City of Rock Hill has contracted with York County for the collection of property taxes. The County recently requested City consent to delay real estate property tax penalty dates as follows:
For taxes paid after:
January 16th 3%
February 2 reduce from 10% to 5%
March 17th reduce from 15% to 10%
April 16th 15%
As proposed, the initial and final penalties of 3% and 15% would remain unchanged; however, the penalty phase-in would be extended by one month. Based on past collection history, we anticipate that this payment date extension could reduce City collections by an estimated $41,000 per year. However, this could easily be negated by additional taxpayers in delinquent status due to current economic conditions.
Historically approximately 1% of our property tax revenue budget, about $200,000, is in the form of late payment penalties. While any budget shortfall is a concern, $41,000 is manageable for the City. The penalty date delay will provide some relief for citizens struggling with cash flow while maintaining strong incentives for timely payment.
According to our information, other York County localities have agreed to participate in this penalty date change, so this action appears to be a county-wide effort.