Its December 10th, Have You Paid The First Installment of Your Santa Clara County Property Taxes?
As Santa Clara County property owners, you should have received your property tax bill for the fiscal year 2007-2008 in September. The first installment is due November 10th and late if not postmarked by December 10th. Over the years, I have been mailing my bill on the 10th of December, but there are other payment options. Tax payers can also pay online with either a credit card (the credit card transaction fee of 2.5% is passed on to the consumer) or via “e-checks” (flat $15.00 processing fee). I think the fees are reasonable and the process saves time. For those trying to avoid the late fee of 10% plus $20.00, the convenience of the online payment makes sense.
Paying online takes only a few minutes. All you need is to type in your street address or parcel number and up pops the tax due. Select payment options. Select paying installment One or select paying both installments. Choose method of payment and complete the transaction.
Just type in your address!
Another nice feature about the online payment system is the ability to pull up your payment history. This can make it easy for those who have lost their cancelled checks to know when (or if) they paid their property taxes. Because the system is so easy and detailed, there is a loss of privacy. For example, that nosey neighbor down the street who is always into everyone’s business, can find out what you pay and your payment history. And yes, I realize this information is of public record, but this system makes it far too easy for anyone to get your information. After having my credit cards stolen, I might be a little more paranoid than usual.
