Trustee to accept partial payments

Wayne Prater, Cannon County Trustee, announced beginning Oct. 1, 2013, the office will accept partial payments during the collection period of Oct. 1, 2013 through Feb. 28, 2014, before penalties are applied.

Taxpayers must come to the office to sign an agreement. Two options are available.

1.Divide the total bill equally over the number of months to pay: 2, 3, 4, 5 months, or

2.Accept the partial payment amount the taxpayer wants to apply to the property bill.

Also, beginning Oct. 1, the Trustee's office will accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express cards as another type of payment for taxes. Taxpayers will also have the freedom to use their cards for payment from the comfort of home through an online lookup and payment at http://www.tennesseetrustee.com. This website will also be a convenient way to check for payment by your mortgage company or you can check the amount of your property taxes.

Taxpayers may still play in the Trustee's office from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. In addition, payments may also be made through the mail to: Cannon County Trustee, 200 West Main St., Woodbury TN, 37190. Keep in mind that self-addressed stamped envelopes are required for the return of receipts.

Current year taxes run from Jan. 1 through the last day of December and are due and payable beginning Oct. 1 through the last day of February the following year. After February, property taxes become delinquent and begin to accrue 1.5 percent penalty and interest on the first day of each month.

On April 1, prior year delinquent taxes are turned over to Chancery Court and are handled by the Clerk and Master. For more information, contact the Clerk and Master at 615-563-5936.

The Trustee's office aids elderly, qualifying veterans or their widows and disabled taxpayers in application and certification procedures with the Tennessee State Property Tax Relief Program. For qualifying applicants, the State of Tennessee will pay a portion of the property taxes for their home. Applications for the 2013 tax year must be completed no later than 35 days after the last day of February, which will be April 7, 2014, for the 2013 tax year.

The Property Assessor is responsible for reappraising the property values on which taxes have been assessed. If your mailing address should change, please notify the Property Assessor's office at 615-563-5437.

Tennessee law does not require the mailing of tax notices indicating the amount of taxes due. Property owners are presumed to know that taxes are due without personal notification. Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve the responsibility of payment, nor is it a reason for penalty and interest charges to be waived if the tax bill becomes delinquent.