Some Will tax delinquency notices came late
County: Letters to property owners sat in post office
Hundreds of Will County homeowners got notices this month that if their property tax bills were not paid they’d go to a delinquent tax sale.
The only problem was the notices came about a month late. The tax sale, which involved 3,100 properties, was held Dec. 9.
Will County Treasurer Tim Brophy told the Will County Board executive committee Thursday his office sent the notices, via registered mail, Nov. 10. In all, the treasurer’s office delivered 8,184 notices to the Joliet post office that day to be sent via registered mail at a cost of $24,470. The notices should have been delivered within days, Brophy said.
“We have proof they didn’t send them,” he said, noting registered mail is trackable. “They sat them in Joliet and they sat there.”
His office has uncovered cases in which the registered mail notices went to the postal facility in Chicago and then returned to Joliet and sat for two months without delivery, he said.
In recent days, Brophy’s office has been flooded with hundreds of calls and emails from residents who just now received the notice. By his estimate, about 400 homeowners received the notices after Dec. 9.
Brophy said he contacted the Joliet post office and received a a “generic note” from the postmaster regarding the delayed notices.
In the letter, Postmaster Natasha Wesley writes that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Postal Service priority mail products and first class packages may temporarily experience delay due to limited transportation.
“Please be assured, the Postal Service’s goal is to move packages as expeditiously as possible, and we are committed to ensuring timely processing and delivery of essential packages,” Wesley writes in her four paragraph response. “The Postal Service continually reviews its network capacity to provide the American public reliable, efficient and fast delivery service.” Brophy said in many cases, many of the 400 who have called his office had already paid their property tax bill before the tax sale. Those who did not pay, however, are having to work through the process of redeeming their taxes and paying their bills. Brophy said none of the property tax bills affected by the delay involved someone losing their home due to the tax sale.
Homeowners who receive a notice in the mail are encouraged to contact the Will County treasurer’s office at 815-740-4675 or visit www.willcountytreasurer.com. Homeowners can also check the status of their property tax bill payments on the treasurer’s website.
Brophy also presented plans to allow property owners to split their tax payments in four installments this year. Brophy’s office offered the additional installments in 2020 as a way to provide some financial relief to property owners during the pandemic.