County treasurer Jenny Geirnaeirt told county commissioners this morning this will be the first time payments can be made on the Morgan County website, after several people inquired about it.
“Probably, I’d say about ten people asked about it last year- and, of course, it was just my first year, so that’s all I have to base it on- but several counties, a lot of counties throughout Illinois, accept online payments or come in and pay through debit or credit card. We had only taken cash or check,” she says.
“So, I just feel that it’s another way to ensure that property taxes are paid, and it’s my job as the county treasurer, that primary responsibility is to make sure we receive the tax money that’s due. It’s just another way for people to pay their taxes.”
Geirnaeirt explains property owners who receive their bill will be instructed on how to access the website for the county. From there, she says you’ll be taken to a third-party site that the county is employing to handle the payments.
You can also pay through telephone, or just go to the county treasurer’s office at the Morgan County Courthouse.
Geirnaeirt notes that this year’s due dates for property taxes- July 5th and September 6th- are a little bit different from previous years.
“Typically, the taxes are always due right before the holiday. A lot of people pay taxes at the local banks, and they also have social security and disability checks at that time, and they’re a little bit busier on the first [of the month], so I wanted to try to work with the banks, since they do that service for us, to have it a couple days later,” says Geirnaeirt.
“And this way, we just decided to do it after the holiday, and sometimes, people forget before the holiday, so this way, hopefully, they’ll come in and be pleasantly surprise that they didn’t missed the due date.”
In other meeting action this morning, commissioners approved two resolutions to purchase a dump truck and a “patcher” vehicle for the Morgan County Highway Department.