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Orange County Treasurer Shari Freidenrich announced that 80,412 unsecured property tax bills totaling over $259 million for fiscal year 2022-23 have been mailed to the names of the property owners on the most recent tax roll. These unsecured property tax bills are available online at octreasurer.com/octaxbill.
These unsecured property tax bills are primarily for business property, leased equipment, boats and aircraft and are due on August 31. Treasurer Shari L. Freidenrich recommends that taxpayers skip the line and pay online at octreasurer.com/octaxbill. There is no service fee to pay online by eCheck (bank account), and taxpayers can pay online up to midnight on August 31 and receive same-day credit and a receipt that can be printed or emailed.
In person payments are due by 5 p.m. at the County Service Center or can be dropped off in the Payment Depository Box located on Ross Street with adjacent metered parking on August 31 by midnight. Unsecured property tax bills not paid by the due date will be charged a 10 percent penalty plus a $75 collection fee. Taxpayers who pay by mail must have a U.S. Postal Service date stamp for August 31 or earlier. Taxpayers mailing the payment close to the due date should have payment envelopes hand cancelled by the U.S. Post Office and should view the information at octreasurer.com/postmarks as your local post office may no longer postmark mail.
“The last several years has been challenging for many taxpayers and business owners. I understand and sympathize with the financial impacts that COVID-19 has caused Orange County taxpayers and businesses, “said Treasurer Freidenrich. “Current State law requires that the owner of record as of January 1, 2022 be responsible for paying the FY 2022-23 unsecured property tax bill even if the unsecured property has been sold or otherwise disposed of after January 1, 2022. Unlike secured property taxes, unsecured property taxes are not prorated by time of ownership.” The new owner of the unsecured property is not responsible for paying the property taxes on the personal property purchased until the new lien date of January 1, 2023. Treasurer Freidenrich encourages taxpayers to sign up for text or email unsecured property tax information at octreasurer.com/unsecuredreminders to assist them in paying timely.
Taxpayers can view prior tax bills online and also view an online statement to see if any current or delinquent unsecured property taxes are owed. This information is available by going to octreasurer.com/octaxbill and scroll to the Unsecured Property Tax Bill section in the middle of the page. Taxpayers can search by business name, the tax collector reference number (TC Ref), the CF Number, the N Number or the tax year and assessment number.
Of the 80,412 unsecured property tax bills mailed, they included assessments sent to 45,858 businesses, 17,173 boat and aircraft owners and 14,339 leased equipment owners. The unsecured property low assessed value exemption for business equipment, boats and aircraft was increased over the last two years from $3,000 to $10,000 by the Board after a request from the Treasurer and Assessor. There are over 37,000 fewer assessments in the last two years primarily due to this increased exemption amount, effectively lowering the tax burdens on small businesses, boat owners and other taxpayers.
