The Franklin County Collector of Revenue Office has finished counting tax collections from 2012.
Of the $76.7 million that was billed out for real estate taxes, $71.8 million was collected by the Dec. 31 deadline.
For personal property taxes, $14.4 million of the $16.4 million billed out was collected.
And 100 percent of the $11.7 million in railroad/utility taxes was collected.
The percentage of collections is basically the same as last year, Franklin County Collector of Revenue Linda Emmons said.
She added that she is pleased with the amount of collections.
Emmons noted that more property taxes were billed out this year than last.
That resulted in personal property tax collections increasing for 2012 by $93,303.
Real estate collections in 2012 were up $388,825.
And railroad/utility taxes were up by $541,360 in 2012.
Payments made after the Dec. 31 deadline are charged 2 percent interest each month, capping at 18 percent in September. An additional 7 percent late fee is also charged for keeping the delinquent payer’s name on the books.
If real estate taxes have not been paid for three years the delinquent properties can be sold at a public tax sale.
But Emmons said personal property with unpaid taxes can be harder to track down because people may have left the state.
“We try to run them down, but it gets to a point you can’t find them anywhere,” Emmons said.
Law allows the delinquent personal property taxes to be written off after three years, she said.
Taxes that are collected are divided between the county and more than 60 other taxing entities, with 75-80 percent going to school districts, Emmons said.
Other examples of taxing entities are sewer districts, road districts, fire districts, ambulance districts, East Central College, the city of Union and the city of Washington.
