Late Tax Allegations Fly On Some Blogs

Some posters on Oklahoma blogs today are asserting that members of the Legislature, Republican and Democrat, have been late paying property taxes when the facts don't substantiate the allegations.

Following revelations in The Oklahoman and Tulsa World about unpaid taxes, some blog posters have begun researching records themselves and then posting what they believe they found. The problem is that what they believe they found doesn't match the practice in the county where they believe they found something.

In Grady County, for example, the property tax collector has a standing policy that taxes paid before January 15th are paid on time. Just looking at records, however, would prompt the conclusion that someone who paid on January 5th or 6th therefore was "late," when that's not the case.

An added complication is that some taxpayers mail their payments in late December and because of holidays and the crush of payments to be processed, some county offices don't get the payments posted until early or mid January. Regardless of the posting date, payments in envelopes postmarked December 31st are deemed paid on time. In some counties, the time lapse can be a week to two weeks between receipt of the payment and its posting.

In its examination of tax records across the state, The Oklahoman apparently found that in some counties, the established deadline for payment is December 31st and in others, it is January 31st. In most counties, a grace period extends for a time after the tax payment due date.

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