The District of Houston has weathered any immediate economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to citizens and businesses paying their property taxes.
Although property taxes are normally due the end of June each year, the deadline to pay was extended to the end of September this year to give people more time to counter any economic troubles arising from the pandemic.
“As of July 31, taxes that were outstanding were significantly higher than in prior years,” said District of Houston chief administrative officer Gerald Pinchbeck.
“However, by Sept. 30, total property taxes outstanding were lower compared to prior years in both the proportion outstanding and the actual amount.”
And that had the District thanking residents and businesses who paid their taxes on time.
Pinchbeck did encourage property owners with outstanding property tax and utility balances to pay what they can to reduce the impact of interest on any outstanding balances and thus reduce their overall taxation liability.
Figures supplied indicate that as of Sept. 30 just 3.22 per cent ($219,343.62) in current year property taxes were outstanding.
A 10 per cent penalty applies in addition to daily interest for each day there is a balance owing.
“From prior years there are $95,330.89) 1.42 per cent in 2019 property tax arreras and $29,331.83 (.45 per cent) in 2018 delinquent taxes,” Pinchbeck said.
Overall, Pinchbeck said the District has sufficient cashflow to meet both its normal business operations and capital project obligations.
“As of September 30, the District has $12.5 million in cash and it possesses investments of $12.32 million, positioning it well to meet demands on cash from capital and operating costs over the next three years based on current spending projections,” he added.