Property taxes due April 10 — for now

California county tax collectors cannot extend the April 10 deadline for making the second half of 201920 property tax payments, but they can waive latepayment fees and interest under certain circumstances, according to a memo sent out by the California Association of County Treasurers and Tax Collectors.

After the Internal Revenue Service and California Franchise Tax Board extended their April 15 income tax deadlines until July 15, many readers have been asking whether the April 10 property tax would also be extended as a result of the coronavirus.

Although the second installment was technically due February 1, penalties do not apply until after April 10. And they’re stiff — 10% of the amount due if you are even one day late. (Mailed payments are considered on time if they are postmarked by the due date.) If the payment is still delinquent after June 30, interest starts accruing at the rate of 1.5% per month, which equates to 18% a year.

Because the April 10 due date is set in state law, only the Legislature could change it, said Keith Williams, who is Mariposa County’s tax collector and the association’s current president.

However, there are two revenue and tax code sections under which property owners could pay their tax after April 10 and avoid penalties, but it’s not entirely clear how these exceptions would apply in cases related to coronavirus disruptions, and it could vary by county. The code sections were not written with epidemics in mind.

One is if the county tax collector’s office is closed on April 10, in which case taxes are not due until the office reopens and penalties would not apply until after that date.

This code section states that if April 10 “falls on Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday, the time of delinquency is at 5 p.m., or the close of business, whichever is later, on the next business day. If the board of supervisors, by adoption of an ordinance or resolution, closes the county’s offices for business prior to the time of delinquency on the ‘next business day’ or for that whole day, that day shall

be considered a legal holiday for purposes of this section.”

Some county tax collector offices, including Marin’s, are still open to the public under the shelterinplace order exemptions for essential services. Some are closed now, but could reopen on or before April 10. As long as the office is open to accept payments on April 10, then an exception to the due date would not apply, according to Dan Mierzwa, Yuba County’s tax collector and the association’s legislative chair.

If a tax collector’s office is closed on April 10, it gets hazy.

Technically, this exception would not apply unless the board of supervisors closed the office,

Mierzwa said. Most shelterinplace orders have come from mayors, public health departments or Gov. Gavin Newsom. San Mateo County is preparing a resolution that would allow the Board of Supervisors to close the county offices so that code section could apply. Some counties don’t think that is necessary.

The second code section says a county can waive penalties for an individual taxpayer if a late payment “is due to reasonable cause and circumstances beyond the taxpayer’s control, and occurred notwithstanding the exercise of ordinary

care in the absence of willful neglect.”

In normal circumstances, financial hardship, unemployment, business failure or even bankruptcy “is not a justification” for a waiver, Mierzwa said. He believes the Legislature would have to expand this section to cover people who lost their jobs because the government ordered their workplace shut down.

Many county tax collectors have posted notices on their websites saying the tax is due April 10 and property owners should pay if they can, because counties, cities, schools and special districts rely

on that money — especially now. But if they can’t, they should apply for a penalty waiver and submit documentation.

“Before, I couldn’t consider the fact that the person didn’t have money” to pay the tax, said Roy Given, Marin County’s tax collector. “That is their responsibility. Before today, if you were admitted to a hospital and unable to take care of your affairs, that could be a reason (for a waiver). Now that has changed because the paradigm is different. I’m going to look at each individual and make that decision.”

The San Francisco tax collector “has a process in place for traditional waivers, we have to decide whether the process will remain the same” in the case of the coronavirus, said Molly Cohen, the office’s acting policy director.

Even if they could, extending the deadline could be problematic for

counties. Many homeowners have already paid their property taxes throughout the year with their mortgage payment. Their loan servicers hold this money, or more often send it to a thirdparty processor that holds it, “until almost the last minute,” said Geoff Neill, a legislative representative with the California State Association of Counties. “If you extend the deadline, those companies will take a huge portion of revenues and set it to a new last minute.”

He added that the IRS or state can extend the April 15 incometax filing deadline because they continue to get taxes throughout the year, through payroll deductions. Counties only get paid twice a year, and count on that money coming in at specific periods, in some cases to pay off shortterm debt that comes due within the same fiscal year. If the money didn’t come in,

they couldn’t borrow money across fiscal years without voter approval.

That’s why counties have reserves to cover shortfalls.

Even if county offices are shut down, most accept tax payments by phone, mail or online. Some closed offices have drop boxes for payment. Credit card payments generally incur a fee, debit card payments do not, but check with your county. Some counties, including San Francisco and Santa Clara, accept partial payments.

“If you have the means and ability, you should pay on time,” said Brad Marsh, a tax attorney with Greenberg Traurig. If you can’t, “document the reasons you can’t. Do it today. Then attempt to get penalties removed.”