Burnet Co. waives penalties for late payment of property taxes due to an ice storm

BURNET COUNTY, Texas – The ice storm that hit central Texas in early February happened just before the property tax deadline, resulting in some Burnet County residents being charged late fees when outbound mail was blocked.

Spicewood resident Jody Spillman wanted the money before the storm hit.

“I made sure, wrote a check for two different items, and threw them in the mailbox at the Spicewood Post Office,” Spillman said.

It was January 30, the day before the property tax was due. Then she received a nasty surprise in the mail.

“I thought it was just a tax receipt,” Spillman said. “I’m so glad I discovered this because when I posted (on the Internet) asking if this happened to other people when they went to see theirs, they got fined too and didn’t even know it.”

A winter storm, later named Winter Storm Mara, hit central Texas from January 31 to February 2, closing county offices and halting mail delivery.

Spielman’s payment was not stamped until February 3, four days after he left it.

“They told me that I had to ship all these different places and asked me to appeal the fees,” she said.

However, on February 28, about a month after the storm, county commissioners unanimously agreed to waive the fines and interest or refund tenants who had already paid additional expenses.

“I put this on the agenda because obviously we had a lot of requests,” District Judge James Oakley said during a Tuesday morning meeting.

The exemption applies to residents whose payments were collected before February 3rd or stamped before February 7th.

However, the exemption only applies to the county portion of the late fee. This means that residents who are subject to penalties and interest will need to contact each individual tax authority that has jurisdiction over their property and file their appeal directly.

FOX 7 contacted the City of Burnet and Burnet CISD, the county’s two tax authorities.

A spokesperson for the city of Burnet said they were not considering dropping the charges.

Burnet CISD superintendent Keith McBurnett said in a statement: “As in the past, management and the board of directors are reviewing all requests to waive penalties and interest related to late payment of property taxes on a case-by-case basis. The board is expected to review all requests at the March 27 board meeting.”

Both Williamson County and Travis County have already introduced grace periods.

A Williamson County spokesperson told FOX 7 that “payments received or mailed on or after Monday, Feb. 6 are subject to penalties and interest.”

A Travis County spokesman said: “When the decision was made to reopen the county office on February 3, 2023, February 3 was the last day for payment without penalties and interest, and a new default date was set for February 4, 2023.”

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