Beaufort County treasurer: Take my money, please!
Here’s a couple of suggestions to help cash flow for Beaufort County:
One of our companies made a property tax payment, but was notified that since it was not the full amount the check was being returned. It was in fact erroneously submitted in an amount that was 99.54 percent of the amount due. Why wouldn’t they cash that check and notify us of the outstanding balance (still subject to the full penalty if not paid in full by the due date)?
Related to the same error, I visited the county treasurer’s office in Bluffton at 3 p.m. on the afternoon of Jan. 12, which was the last business day that it would be open prior to the penalty date on the property tax payment. I took a number and then realized that it was taking an average of eight minutes per person at the one window that was open.
My number was 73rd in line. Do the math. If I waited, it would have been nearly 10 hours before the one clerk working would have gotten to me. Do you think they would have kept that one clerk there until 1 a.m. to get to me? Why would the treasurer’s office only staff one of the four windows on the last day of a tax payment period?
Making it easier to funnel cash into our county treasurer’s accounts would be a good thing for all.
Ric Gorman
Hilton Head Island
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This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Beaufort County treasurer: Take my money, please!."