Adams County Treasurer Culpepper to Continue Temporary Waiver of Interest on Property Tax Payments through August 2020

The Adams County Treasurer continues to waive interest charges on delinquent payments through the end of August 2020.

By working closely with state legislators and county treasurers from Jefferson, Boulder, Summit, and Eagle Counties, the bill was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis on June 14, 2020. The Treasurer, with new statutory authority, immediately approved the continuing waiver through July 31, 2020, for all of Adams County taxpayers, and has decided to again waive interest through August 31, 2020. No further waivers of interest are anticipated, so paying on or before August 31, 2020, is required.

In June, the Adams County Board of County Commissioners made clear their support of county taxpayers by their vote on the record in the Public Meeting held in late June. This further evidenced their approval of waiving interest, at the Treasurer’s discretion, in their written Resolution the following week.

The Treasurer makes clear that her approval of waiving interest is limited law and by county economic factors; interest will again be due and owing for any taxpayer whom has not paid, in full, their real property or business personal property tax on or before August 31, 2020.  This is a window of opportunity being provided to the taxpayers of Adams County to pay their taxes interest-free in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Adams County Treasurer will continue, with her colleague Treasurers in Summit, Jefferson, Boulder, and Eagle Counties, to work with the state legislature to remove very old restrictions on the constitutionally elected county treasurers’ authorities from statutes.  While, as Summit County Treasurer Ryne Scholl stated, the county treasurers’ “…authority granted in” Colorado House Bill 20-1421 “to implement [tax collections] strategy will sunset in 2020,” many county treasurers, including Adams County Treasurer Culpepper, will continue advocating for the constitutional authority of the County Treasurer to more closely align with the Colorado Constitution, and to work with county taxpayers on payment plans and interest waivers.

Culpepper’s office is encouraging the Adams County taxpayers to submit payment as soon as possible, and to not wait until August 31. The collection of property taxes is vital to the funding of daily operations of the county; for funding Fire protection and response; and, to continue the operations of water/sanitation services (amongst many other services provided) in Adams County.

The policy is open to anyone but does not extend to accounts where the taxes are remitted by a mortgage company through a taxpayer’s escrow account or by a title company as part of a real estate closing.

Payment and interest information is available on the Treasurer’s tax history and payment website at www.adcotax.com (fastest source of information); by emailing the Treasurer’s Office at [email protected] (fast); or, as a last resort, by calling the Treasurer’s Office at 720.523.6160 (due to COVID-19 remote working, it may be a business day or two before a return call is made, so be sure to answer if you see a 720.523.6160 call).