New treasurer website expands functionality to save taxpayers money

The Lawrence County treasurer’s office has a new website, and Lawrence County treasurer Stephen Burcham wants landowners to know how it could save them time and money.

One of the major innovations is the addition of a shopping cart. This allows property owners who have several parcels to place all of their properties in the cart, and check out at one time. Previously property owners had to pay their taxes for properties one at a time if they wanted to pay them online. This, Burcham explained, should make it easier for them.

“They have a shopping cart now, so they can add multiple parcels to that with only one fee for (an online) check,” explained bookkeeper Kathleen Pemberton, who helped guide the website revamp for Burcham’s office.  “People will be familiar with it from a shopping experience online,” Burcham added. “Where you go to an online retailer, with half a dozen different items, and check out all at once, instead of checking out on each line item, which is how ours used to be.”

Online checkout used to charge a separate fee based on each transaction too. Now, however, there is a one-time fee of $2.50 if they place all those parcels of land in one shopping cart and pay with an online check. Credit card payment also charges a one-time fee if all parcels are placed in the same cart, Burcham explained, however that is three percent of the total.

So for taxpayers with high value property, especially multiple parcels, this can result in significant savings.

“If you had $10,000 worth of taxes,” Burcham said, “and you paid by credit card, that fee would be almost $300 in that regard. However, if you paid by (online) check, for all those same parcels, at $10,000, it’s just $2.50. It will be debited out of their account and payment will be received the same day in our account.”

Taxes on mobile homes can now also be paid online.

“Previously manufactured homes, which is a separate tax bill under Ohio law, had to be paid by check (mailed through the postal service), or come into the bank to pay,” Burcham said. “That’s one of the big things this year, was to get that information so that it’s online.”

Mobile homes are also eligible to be placed in the shopping cart, Burcham said, so if someone had to pay taxes on their mobile home as well as the property it was sitting on, they could place both parcels in their shopping cart and take care of both at once, for one fee.

“They can pay for the mixed use of that,” Burcham said.

The shopping cart concept could also save money, and provide convenience, for everyone from farmers with multiple lots to commercial entities that own several properties, Burcham explained.

The online service allows people to skip the lines or the trip into Ironton to pay their tax bill too, as well as freeing them up from trying to schedule it in the middle of their day when they may be working. Online pay, after all, is “open 24/7,” Burcham explained.

“One of the advantages of $2.50, if someone drives from outside Ironton to the courthouse, they’re going to burn that much in gas going back and forth. Or, if you have multiple parcels, you have to put extra postage on, and you can put a couple dollars in postage on an envelope pretty quickly. In addition to that, they don’t have to worry about missed delivery, or not being done timely, because when they go online, that dates it that day they made that payment. Online is also open 24/7, so 10 o’clock at night or 7 in the morning. If they’re working nightshift and sleep during the day, they can load it up that afternoon or evening and make that payment.”

Partial payments are no longer allowed online, however, as Pemberton explained. You must pay the full amount if paying online. If you wish to make partial payments, that will require you to come into the office, but otherwise they believe the convenience of the new shopping cart system and the reduced fees will prove more beneficial to taxpayers.

Posted payments can be viewed the next day, after they’ve had time to post and process through the system. Penalties for late payment will not be automatically be added to tax bills either, and taxpayers will still be responsible for that amount if they are late. That penalty is five percent for the first week after the due date, and 10 percent after the first week.

Property taxes are due by July 7.