Tax bills missing for two schools

BROWNSVILLE - Cameron County tax bills for the 2008 tax year were mailed out this week to 201,256 personal property owners and real estate account properties, Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre said.

Cameron County collects taxes for 28 taxing jurisdictions and the total 2008 tax levy for all jurisdictions will be $187,092,250.

Missing will be tax bills for the Santa Rosa and Santa Maria school districts because they will have tax rollback elections.

Santa Rosa school district's election will be Oct. 7 and the Santa Maria school district election will be Nov. 4, the same day as the general election, Yzaguirre said.

Also, there are two location changes for branch county tax offices in the north end of Cameron County, he said.

The Harlingen annex building and tax office has moved from the old county building on Harrison Avenue to the new building at 3302 Wilson Road near Gutierrez Middle School.

The San Benito branch county tax office has moved from the Goolsby Building to the county annex building at the former Levi's factory at the northbound 77/83 Expressway frontage road and Oscar Williams Road, Yzaguirre said.

Also, because bills were printed by a new company in Oklahoma instead of a McAllen company, and mailed out to taxpayers, instead of the mortgage companies, he recommends that taxpayers call their mortgage company to make sure they received a tax bill, Yzaguirre said.

Or taxpayers can mail a copy of their tax bill to their mortgage company just to be sure the company receives a copy, Yzaguirre said.

Taxpayers are responsible for property taxes being paid, even if mortgage companies don't pay, he said.

Property owners who didn't receive a copy of their tax bill by Friday should contact a branch office nearest their home, he said.

His office was able to collect 94.5 percent of property taxes for last year and collected 94.53 percent of this year's taxes, he said. "We were able to exceed our goal," he said.

Taxpayers who pay their bill in October will receive a 3 percent discount, Yzaguirre said. Those who pay in November get a 2 percent discount and those who pay in December get a 1 percent discount.

Taxpayers who cannot pay the full amount may enter into various payment plans by contacting one of his offices, Yzaguirre said.

Because the Santa Rosa and Santa Maria school districts will hold rollback elections, tax notices will be mailed out by the county after their elections, Yzaguirre said.

By making partial payments and arrangements to pay off the balance on their account, property owners can avoid a lawsuit, which adds even more costs, Yzaguirre said.

Disabled or senior citizen taxpayers who qualify may make quarterly payments without penalty for late payments, he said.

Payments may be made over the Internet at www.cameroncountytax.org. by check or credit card or by partial payment plan.

Partial payments, quarterly payments, tax payment agreements, mail-in payments and over the counter payments may be made.

The county tax office collects taxes for Cameron County, South Texas Independent School District, Brownsville ISD, Brownsville Navigation District, Port of Harlingen, Texas Southmost College, Cameron County Emergency Services District, Drainage Districts (1, 3, 4, and 5), City of Brownsville, Town of Combes, City of Indian Lake, Town of Palm Valley, City of Primera, Town of Rancho Viejo, City of Los Fresnos, City of San Benito, Valley Municipal Utility District #2, Paseo De La Resaca MUD (1, 2, 3), Santa Maria ISD, City of Rio Hondo, Paseo De La Resaca Landscaping and Maintenance District, Town of Bayview and Santa Rosa ISD.