Deadlines and Taxes : Property Owners Show Up to Pay--or Explain Why Not

Peter Forster strode to the tax collection counter at the Ventura County Government Center on Monday, prepared to plead his case for being two days late with his property taxes.

Then he learned that the April 10 deadline for paying the second installment of 1992-93 real estate taxes had been extended to Monday.

“I was coming here begging for mercy,” the 32-year-old Ventura resident said. “I thought I’d have to pay a penalty.”

Forster’s relief did not last long, however, as he was soon informed that his tax bill was about $1,500, more than twice what he had expected.

“I’m shocked,” said Forster, who works as bar manager at the Ventura Theatre.

As one of more than 20,000 county residents who were expected to wait until the last day to pay the latest property tax bill, Forster found that postponing the inevitable payment did not make it less painful.

But those who traveled to the Government Center to pay the bill rather than mailing their checks were at least spared the traditional long lines at the tax collector’s counter.

“It’s usually a madhouse,” Treasurer-Tax Collector Harold S. Pittman said. While nearly all last-minute taxpayers mail their payments, about 1,500 typically come to Pittman’s counter on the last day.

But only about 500 showed Monday, he said. “I think there’s maybe a little confusion over the day.”

Property owners may not have realized that county officials extended the deadline to Monday because the April 10 due date fell on Saturday, he said.

In addition to the crowds that descended upon the tax collector’s counter late last week--including Saturday--more people than usual mailed their payments, Pittman said.

By Monday morning, the county had already collected about 85% of the $235 million due this tax round, he said.

Some residents who delayed paying until the last day said they wanted to hold onto their money as long as possible.

“Why pay them early?” David O’Haver said after paying his $1,200 tax bill. “I collect as much interest as I can.”

Others said they had not found the time to even put a check in the mail.

“This is my busiest week,” said Cliff Hey, a certified public accountant in Ventura. “I’m swamped with income taxes.

“It’s like the shoemaker’s children” who went barefoot, Hey said as he rushed out of the government center. “You take care of all the tax problems of your clients and then you suddenly remember your own.”

The county mails its annual tax bills to the 217,000 property owners--residents and businesses--in October.

Half of the yearly bill, which averages $2,200 countywide, becomes delinquent after Dec. 10 and the balance is due April 10, Pittman said. The penalty for paying late is 10% of the taxes due plus a $10 service fee.

Some residents said they had not meant to pay at the last minute but had been busy scraping money together.

Theatrice Wiggins said that in the 10 years that she and her husband have owned their Oxnard house, this was the first time that they did not pay their real estate taxes in advance.

“It’s been a difficult time with finances,” said Wiggins, a supervisor for a telecommunications firm.

Unlike some other residents, who complained about the semiannual tax bite, Wiggins beamed after paying her bill of $1,062.70.

“It’s a blessing,” she said. “The Lord blessed me with the money to pay.”

Not everyone was so fortunate.

Susan Jensen came to the tax collection counter empty-handed Monday, explaining to county workers that she would not be able to pay the property taxes on her Oak View house.

“I thought I would be able to,” Jensen said, her eyes filling with tears as she was leaving. But she has financial problems that are “just now catching up to me,” Jensen said.

Despite the lingering recession, John R. McKinney, assistant tax collector, said county officials expect the delinquency rate for the entire 1992-93 tax bill to be slightly less than the 5.6% of the last fiscal year.

Some residents who made the trip to the tax collector’s counter Monday said the property tax due date--which applies statewide--is too close to the Internal Revenue Service’s April 15 deadline.

“It’s terrible to have them both in one week,” O’Haver said.

Others were more philosophical.

“The schedule is the schedule, and you have to adjust your life for it,” Thousand Oaks resident Jerry Thomas said. “I don’t like Christmas so close to New Year’s either.”