Countywide : Record $233 Million in Taxes Collected

Collection of Ventura County’s 1991 property tax is running about 6% higher than the year before, while delinquencies have edged up slightly, the county tax collector reported.

Southern California Edison remained the largest taxpayer in the county, with a total bill of $7.7 million, Ventura County Treasurer-Tax Collector Harold S. Pittman said.

Others among the top 10 are General Telephone, $6 million; Texaco, $2.9 million; Shell Oil, $2.7 million; LSR Ltd., $1.9 million; Pacific Bell, $1.7 million; Rockwell, $1.6 million; Southern California Gas, $1.5 million; Proctor & Gamble, $1.4 million, and Amgen, $860,606.

All 10 of the county’s largest taxpayers paid the first installment that was due Dec. 10 on time, avoiding a 10% late penalty, said John McKinney, an assistant tax collector. The remaining tax is due April 10.

Overall, December payments were delinquent on 16,111 parcels by year’s end, a delinquency rate of 7.64%, McKinney said. At the end of 1990, the delinquency rate was 7.43%, he said.

The delinquency rate “is not as bad as we anticipated, but citizens are watching every dollar more closely this year,” McKinney said.

A record $233.2 million had been collected by Dec. 31, up about 6% from the $219.8 million collected by the same date the year before, he said.