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The tax collecter cometh

Among all those holiday cards and letters from relatives and friends updating you on their activities in the year about to pass comes the official letter mailed by local advising you of your property tax bill, with the first half of your payments due Jan. 10, 2025.

Those letters were mailed Dec. 5 and outline various ways of processing your payments:

• Pay online between Dec. 9 and May 31 using an echeck that will be subject to a flat fee of $1.75 or by credit card to which a 2.45% cost of processing will be added. Those service fees are collected by the processor, not Shelter Island Town and those payment must be made on line or by phone.

• Pay by phone with access to a live agent at 888-8770450

• Mail payments  with the postmark date being used to determine the date of the payment

• Drop your payment in the black Drop Box at the front entrance to the Assessor/Tax Receiver office.

• Pay in person by check, cash or money order. Checks made payable to Annmarie Seddio/Receiver of Taxes and if mailed, should be sent to Ms. Seddio at the Receiver of Taxes office at 38 North Ferry Road, P.O. Box 1854, Shelter Island, N.Y. 11964-1854

are accepted subject to collection and should be accompanied by payment stubs and your phone number. 

Property owners are responsible for payments even if they have not received a tax bill, according to Receiver of Taxes Annmarie Seddio who noted that is in line with Suffolk County tax laws.

With first half payments due by Jan. 10, there will be penalties for those payments after that date as follows:

• Between Jan. 11 and Feb. 10 will incur a 1% penalty

• Between Feb. 11 and March 10, a 2% penalty

• Between March 11and April 10, a 3% penalty

• Between April 11 and May 10, a 4% penalty

• Between May 11 and May 31, a 5% penalty

If partial payments on the first half of taxes is made, penalties will be applied only to the unpaid portion of what was due on Jan. 10.

Second half payments are due without penalty until May 31 and made payable to the Suffolk County Comptroller and mailed to the Comptroller at 330 Center Drive, Riverhead, N.Y. 11901-3311.

A 5% penalty will apply to unpaid tax and interest will be added at the rate of 1% per month from Feb. 1. A $20 tax sale advertising charge per item will be included after Aug. 31.

Mailed payments must be processed by the Post Office, to receive an appropriate date stamp so private meter stamps are not acceptable. If there is not post office stamp, the day the payment is received will be considered as the date the tax is paid. 

An additional $20 will be added to any account on which a payment is made b check or other written order is returned because of insufficient funds. Any returned checks or written orders will cancel payment, not necessarily redeposited and incur a $20 fee.

Questions about payments of first half taxes should be directed to Ms. Seddio at 631 749 3338 and for second half payments or other unpaid taxes, call the Suffolk County Comptroller at 631 852 3000.

Such questions do not apply to issues about your assessment since the opportunity to question your assessment or grieve your taxes ended last May.

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