CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield County Commissioners on Tuesday extended the deadline for property owners to pay their 2020 county real estate taxes at face value without a penalty in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a virtual meeting that was streamed live on YouTube, the commissioners unanimously approved Resolution #2-2020 that extended the deadline until Oct. 30.
“… We have suffered a lot,” said Commissioner Chairman Tony Scotto. “A lot of businesses have been forced to stay closed … we’ve heard from our small businesses and our constituents.”
He said that the county has the statutory authority to impose penalties for late payment of taxes of up to 10 percent.
He said it also has a 10 percent penalty fee for property owners who fail to make payment within four months of the tax notice.
However, Scotto said the county extended the face value payment period with the statutory authority granted by Senate Bill 841 that was signed by Gov. Tom Wolf on April 20.
He said that means property owners will not incur penalties if their 2020 county taxes are paid by Oct. 30. The deadline for paying taxes and receiving the discount remains unchanged, however.
“That deadline is actually this week,” said Commissioner Dave Glass, who went on to say that didn’t allow adequate time for the county and municipalities to enact a matching deadline.
“… We wanted to make this as smooth as possible for everyone …,” he said, “so it’s important for people to understand that deadline to pay and receive the discount is Friday.”
Solicitor Heather Bozovich said the extension to pay taxes at face value without penalty applies to 2020 real estate taxes only, and municipalities and school districts must enact their own resolutions.
“So far as the other townships, boroughs and City of DuBois, any decision on delay of penalty will have to be made by those municipalities,” said Sobel.
“The school districts will also have to make separate decisions. We don’t want folks to get the idea that … our ruling then determines their ruling.”
Bozovich said the commissioners’ office will notify each municipality of its action this week, as well as provide guidance and a copy of a draft resolution.
“Yes, we moved this and there’s no penalty until after Oct. 30,” Glass said after the board’s vote, “but if you have your money saved up, please pay it.
“That’s the money that keeps your county and your municipalities running. There’s a need to keep that revenue stream going.
“If everyone just delays, delays, delays, then it’s going to cause major problems. If you have [the money] saved, just pay it, get it out of the way.”