VENTURA — Steven Hintz, Ventura County’s Treasurer-Tax Collector, on April 7 announced that beginning April 11, 2020 he will accept taxpayer applications for waiver of late-payment penalties and fees for the second installment of the 2019-2020 secured property tax billings. If the applications are granted, the new payment due date will be August 31, 2020. There is no additional grace period.
Hintz stated that the application form will be available starting April 10 on the Treasurer-Tax Collector website, https://ventura.org/ttc/. The form can be filled out and submitted online, or it can be downloaded and submitted by mail. The form is to be submitted under oath under possible penalty of perjury. The office will mail the form to taxpayers who are unable to download it from a computer.
In addition to the usual acceptable reasons for waivers, Hintz stated that he will also consider waiver applications that are based on significant economic hardship that prevented the taxpayer from paying between February 1, 2020 and April 10, 2020, which hardship was caused directly by the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Applicants for waivers are encouraged to submit additional documents that may be persuasive on the waiver issues.
Waivers will not include a waiver of already-existing penalties and fees from prior years. Waivers will include the requirement that the 2019-2020 tax bill must be paid in full by August 31, 2020, or the penalties and fees, including redemption penalties and fees that begin accruing on July 1, will be restored to the bill. A separate application will be required for each property for which a waiver is sought.
Payments made pursuant to a waiver cannot be paid online or by credit card.
For further information, please contact the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office by telephone at 805-654-3738, or by email at helpinghand@ventura.org, or by U.S. mail at Treasurer-Tax Collector, 800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura, California 93009-1290. The office continues to be closed to the public pursuant to Ventura County’s Stay Well At Home Order. More information at www.vcemergency.com.