Just five of California’s 58 counties have decided to defer the deadline for payments of property taxes.

SAN JOSE » The deadline for payment of property taxes is just days away, with different counties in California taking varied approaches for when the taxes are due amid the coronavirus woes.

San Mateo County officials earlier said they had decided to push back the due date until around May 4, which is the tentative day for the end to shelterin-place restrictions imposed by the state government and local public agencies.

Now, San Francisco County also has decided to delay the payment deadline until May 4, according to a property tax expert.

Just five of California’s 58 counties have decided to defer the deadline for payments of property taxes, said Wes Nichols, a principal executive with Paramount Property Tax Appeal, a San Diego-based firm that provides people with an array of services related to property taxes.

In the Bay Area, Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, Sonoma County, Solano County

and Napa County are forging ahead with April 10 — this Friday — as a deadline.

One tiny bit of relief: Santa Clara County says it will accept partial payments and impose penalties and interest fees on only the unpaid portion of the bill.

Alameda County said it has arranged with the Oakland branch of East West Bank to accept cash payments. Bank officials, however, won’t be able to look up a property’s parcel number.

“I have clients who say they can’t pay at all,” Nichols said.

Numerous businesses have been forced to shut

their doors under state, county and municipal government orders to help combat the spread of the coronavirus. The state-mandated shutdowns have triggered the layoffs of potentially millions in California, including many real estate owners who are on the hook for paying property taxes.

San Mateo County took the approach to temporarily close the tax collector’s office to create the equivalent of a holiday or a weekend. This way, the collection of taxes wouldn’t occur as scheduled, and taxes would not be due until the next business day that the office is formally reopened for business.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that he had begun discussions with California counties about

the property tax situation and the economic battering caused by the coronavirus.

“We are assessing our options as it relates to property taxes,” Newsom said. “We are seeing if there are ways to soften this” for property owners. Details were scant last week.

For now, Nichols has some advice — and virtually no comfort — for people who might be in a financial squeeze as they contemplate a forbidding deadline to pay property taxes.

“If you are unsure whether there is a delay, pay the taxes,” Nichols said. “If you are in a position to pay the taxes, definitely pay.”