Hamilton County Trustee Bill Hullander told members of the Pachyderm Club on Monday that tax bills are on the way.
”In Hamilton County, as we are speaking, tax bills are being printed,” said Mr. Hullander, “We have about 158,000 pieces of property that we send out for our real property bills. If everyone pays their bills, the county will get to $266 million in property taxes.”
Fortunately for Hamilton County residents, they have many avenues for paying their bills. They can walk into a First Tennessee bank, or they can go to the courthouse and do so that way. Or if they want to pay their bills from the comfort of their home, then the county has a way for citizens to pay using a credit card online.
Mr. Hullander also told the Pachyderm Club members about how the county works to assist people who may be struggling financially. Rather than have to pay the entirety of their bills all at once, the county has a system in place that allows people to pay their bills in small installments. Hamilton county also has a plan that allows citizens who are 65 or older to get tax relief if they make less than $30,000.
But for some residents, they will have to declare bankruptcy, a move that Mr. Hollander endorsed if the situation was right, even though he personally “hated” when that happens.
“When I was in business, in business I hated getting a paper that said someone went bankrupt,” said the speaker, “We have about 10 or 12 who will file bankruptcy every week.”
He also made sure to tell the club about "the proverbial bad apples” of the county.
“We have some of them down here, they know the system, they file in May so we can’t sell their property,” he said of these people, who wait until right before the June deadline to file for bankruptcy. He added, ”But there’s these people that own rental property and a house. But they don’t pay taxes on that property or their house. We have to ask the judge to not allow them to file bankruptcy.”
“The property tax does not go up every year, but every four years we have a reappraisal,” said the speaker, “The County Commission votes every year if they want to have a tax increase."