Real estate and personal property tax bills in Charlotte County have been mailed, according to County Treasurer Patricia Berkeley.

Berkeley said the bills were mailed last Friday from the printers and she wanted to remind everyone to check their bills for accuracy and to make sure they understand the wording.

“They have until the 20th (December) to pay without penalty,” she said.

A motion was made during a Nov. 7 special called meeting of the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors to allow 30 additional days to pay real estate and personal property taxes without penalty after the bills are mailed.

The due date for tax bills in Charlotte County will not change, however, individuals will be given an additional 30 days after the bills are mailed to pay.

“What will that date be?” asked Aspen/Phenix Supervisor Donna Fore during the Nov. 7 meeting.

She said at that time, the verbiage would be on the statement outlining the last day to pay before receiving a penalty.

“If for any reason you have to extend it by a couple of days, that won’t require us to meet again. We’re going to give her enough lead way … “ said Fore previously.

Berkeley previously said by law, the individuals are required to have at least 14 days to pay. “We feel like it’s in the best interest of the citizens to at least give them 30 days. It’s not their fault that we’re in the situation we’re still in carrying over from last year being late.”

She said at that time while the due date will still say Dec. 5, a verbiage would be clearly added to the bills to make individuals aware they can pay later without being penalized.

In August, Berkeley said while things are not as chaotic as they were last year with the updated tax software system, “they are still very problematic and very concerning to me.”

“I’m not happy with the situation …” said Berkeley previously. She said her main concern is the fact that the company is not able to fix the issues being faced in both the Treasurer’s Officer as well as the Commissioner of Revenue’s Office in a timely manner.

The company, RDA Systems, updated the existing software to a program called Breeze, in which Charlotte County served as the beta test site for an updated version of the software.

Previously, the due date for real estate and personal property taxes in the county were extended because of problems with the software system.

Berkeley also previously discussed going out with an RFP to see what other tax software systems are available.

“My thought has been for months we need to go ahead and do an RFP if the Commissioner is in agreeance with me because we are joined together in the same system,” said Berkeley in August.

She said the problems have been going on since May 2017.

Berkeley said getting the tax bills mailed out was the first priority before focusing on an RFP.

Any assessment question regarding tax bills should be directed to the Commissioner of Revenue at (434) 542-5546.

Other questions regarding taxes should be directed to Berkeley at (434) 542-5125.