Fayette County's delinquent property taxpayer list longer than usual

Third-party purchasers will have a chance Friday to buy property tax bills in Fayette County because the owners missed the deadline for paying them. It’s not a typical list of taxpayers this fall.

The Fayette County Clerk’s Office late last month published the list of delinquent property taxpayers. It was a much larger list of names than usual. County Clerk Susan Lamb said there’s a reason beyond just not getting them paid on time.

“What people don’t know is that this year’s delinquent property tax sale includes three different separate sets of property taxes,” said Lamb.

Those are the primary property tax plus two supplemental levies from the school system and one for urban services tied to streetlights. Lamb said the deadline to pay delinquent taxes is 11:00 a.m. Friday which is when the online third-party purchase of delinquent taxes occurs.

And Lamb noted missing the deadline can mean running up a much bigger bill.

“The bills will nearly double in the amount due once they are transferred to the certificates of delinquency from the sheriff’s office, all due to the statutory fees and the penalties that are set out by Kentucky Revised Statutes,” said Lamb.

And Lamb said they continue to accrue interest each month thereafter. As of last week, Lamb said 23 of the delinquent bills were over $10,000 while almost 15 hundred were under $100.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.