By: Lance Beshires
Chester County Trustee
The 2024 Chester County property tax notices were recently mailed out. A glitch in the printing process caused a batch of the tax notices to be printed incorrectly. We are working with the print vendor to print a new copy of the tax notices which are scheduled to be mailed out this week. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Other questions and concerns:
- The tax information in the Trustee’s Office is correct. You may walk in and pay your taxes without your tax notices. According to Tennessee Code Annotated, our governing rulebook, property tax notices are a courtesy reminder, and owners of property are presumed to know that taxes are due without personal notice. Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve the responsibility of payment. Taxes are due and payable between the first Monday in October and the last day of February.
- Several years ago, the Chester County Commission approved a 2% discount for taxes paid in full during the month of October. Chester County is one of only a few counties in Tennessee that offers this discount. Unfortunately, because the discount is not state mandated, state law does not allow for extending the 2% discount past Oct. 31. But remember, you may pay county property taxes in the Trustee’s Office, without your tax notice, during regular business hours.
- The only tax notices that should be affected are in the 2-5 batch, meaning if you own 2-5 parcels, your notices are most likely incorrect. New notices are being printed and will be mailed by the end of this week.
- Mortgage company payments should not be affected. Most mortgage companies obtain an electronic tax file and will never see the printed tax notices. In the rare instance that your mortgage company requires you to submit a tax notice, please ask them to contact our office for assistance.
- If you have already paid your 2024 Chester County property taxes, please check your paid receipts with the new notices being mailed out. If you find that you paid on the incorrect parcel, please contact our office immediately.
- I want to add, your Trustee’s Office has had a long-standing relationship with a local vendor that designs, prints, inserts, and mails the tax notices (annually) and delinquent tax notices (twice annually) since 2011. It is unfortunate that a glitch in the printing software took place, but it happens. We are fortunate to have someone local who prints our tax notices, as well and other county/municipal tax notices across the state. It also allows us to keep our business local, at an affordable and competitive cost, and keeps your tax dollars within our community.
The Trustee’s Office is service oriented and offers various programs to make it as easy as possible for the taxpayer to pay property taxes. We believe in transparency and are happy to address the questions and concerns of the people we serve. Again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we correct this issue.