News from Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector Joseph Kelly

Pursuant to the California Revenue and Taxation Code (R&TC) Sections 2609 and 2610, announces that the Department will mail approximately 2,400,000 2018-19 Annual Secured Property Tax Bills on or before Thursday, November 1, 2018, to all property owners at the addresses shown on the tax roll. The R&TC Section 2610.5 does not relieve a property owner of the responsibility to make timely payments due to failure to receive a tax bill. Therefore, property owners who have not received a bill by Thursday, November 1, 2018, should call us on our Bill Request Line at 1(213) 893-1103 to request a Substitute Secured Property Tax Bill. Substitute Secured Property Tax Bills are also available in our office, located at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 225 North Hill Street, First Floor Lobby, Los Angeles, CA 90012, and at each office of the County Assessor —assessor.lacounty.gov/office-locations/. Property tax information is available on our website at lacountypropertytax.com.

“As a result of this mailing, property owners may find it difficult to reach us on the telephone,” Mr. Kelly advised. “Property owners may obtain answers to the great majority of their questions, including the amount due on any parcel, from the Los Angeles County Property Tax Portal at lacountypropertytax.com. Taxpayers may also call the toll-free Property Tax Information Line at 1(888) 807-2111, where automated information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

PAYMENT DUE DATES
Your tax bill has two payment stubs. The 1st installment payment is due on Thursday, November 1, 2018, and becomes delinquent on Monday, December 10, 2018. The 2nd installment payment is due on Friday, February 1, 2019, and becomes delinquent on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. If the Tax Collector does not receive your payment by the delinquency date, or if the United States Postal Service (USPS) does not postmark your payment on or before the delinquency date, the Tax Collector will impose a 10 percent penalty on each installment and a $10 cost on the 2nd installment. If the delinquency date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or County observed holiday, by law, the Tax Collector extends the delinquency date to the close of business on the next business day.

PAYMENT OPTIONS
PARTIAL PAYMENTS — We recommend you pay the total amount due. However, if you are unable to do so, we accept partial payments, which reduces the amount of penalties imposed.

PAY ONLINE — To make payments online, go to lacountypropertytax.com, and select “Pay Online” under “Payment Options.” You can make online payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the delinquency date.
There is no cost to you for electronic check (eCheck) payments. The Annual Secured Property Tax Bill contains your Assessor’s Identification Number (AIN) and Personal Identification Number (PIN), which you will need to complete the transaction. Each eCheck transaction is limited to $999,999.99.

When paying by eCheck, your bank account must be Automated Clearing House (ACH)-enabled, meaning the transaction can settle through the ACH Network. If your bank account has a debit block to prevent unauthorized organizations from debiting your account via ACH, you must notify your bank to authorize ACH debits from Los Angeles County with a debit filter with the Company Identification Number of 0000079161. Los Angeles County updated its Company Identification Number in September 2018, so you must update this Company Identification Number
if you previously had a debit filter on your bank account.

You may also pay online by using major credit cards or debit cards. Each online credit/debit card transaction is limited to $99,999.99, including a cost of 2.25 percent of the transaction amount.

PAY BY CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD OVER THE TELEPHONE — We accept major credit card and debit card payments over the telephone. To pay by telephone, call toll-free 1(888) 473-0835. The Annual Secured Property Tax Bill contains your Assessor’s Identification Number (AIN), Year, and Sequence, which you will need to complete the transaction. Each credit/debit card transaction is limited to $99,999.99, including a cost of 2.25 percent of the transaction amount.

BY MAIL — Please use the envelope enclosed in your Annual Secured Property Tax Bill and include the payment stub from the tax bill. If paying both installments, please include both payment stubs. Do not attach staples, clips, tape, or correspondence. You must mail property tax payments to the Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector, Post Office Box 54018, Los Angeles, CA 90054-0018. You should not mail your payments to any other address. Property tax payments must be received or USPS postmarked by the delinquency date to avoid penalties.
If we receive your payment after the delinquency date, with no postmark, the payment is late and we will impose penalties, in accordance with State law. We caution taxpayers who send their payments by mail that the USPS only postmarks certain mail depending on the type of postage used and may not postmark mail on the same day taxpayers deposit envelopes. To assist taxpayers in understanding how to avoid penalties that could result from postmark issues, we have compiled important information on how to “Avoid Penalties by Understanding Postmarks.” Visit our website at ttc.lacounty.gov/Proptax/Postmarks.htm.

You may use an Internal Revenue Service designated delivery service (DHL Express, FedEx, or UPS) to mail your payment, properly addressed with the required fee prepaid, delivery of which shall not be later than 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on the next business day after the effective delinquency date. Mail payments to Los Angeles County Tax Collector, Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 225 North Hill Street, Room 137, Los Angeles, CA 90012. You should not mail your payments to any other address. The remittance shall be deemed received on the date shown on the packing slip or air bill attached to the outside of the envelope or package containing the
remittance.

PAY IN PERSON — We accept cash, check, money order, cashier’s check, and major credit cards and debit cards at 225 North Hill Street, First Floor Lobby, Los Angeles, CA 90012, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday, excluding Los Angeles County holidays. Each credit/debit card transaction is limited to $75,000.00, including a cost of 2.25 percent of the transaction amount. ,

We also accept payments at 335A East Avenue K-6, Lancaster, CA 93535, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time for several days each installment period: 1st  installment — Friday, December 7, 2018, and Monday, December 10, 2018; and 2nd installment — Tuesday, April 9, 2019, and Wednesday, April 10, 2019. You must make your payments by check, money order, cashier’s check, major credit cards or debit cards. We do not accept cash payments at this location. Each credit/debit card transaction is limited to $75,000.00, including a cost of 2.25 percent of the transaction amount.

ONLINE BANKING OR BILL PAYMENT SERVICES — We DO NOT recommend using these services to pay property taxes. The USPS does not postmark the envelopes these firms use to mail us the payment. In the absence of a postmark, we determine penalties based exclusively on the date we receive payment. For more information on how to “Avoid Penalties by Understanding Postmarks,” visit our website at ttc.lacounty.gov/Proptax/Postmarks.htm.

EMAIL NOTIFICATION SERVICE
Taxpayers can subscribe to receive property tax related emails from the Treasurer and Tax Collector regarding special notices and upcoming events, such as annual property tax deadline reminders, office location updates and other news. To subscribe, taxpayers may go to Email Notification Service at ttc.lacounty.gov/eNotify.