I have been a Rowan County resident and taxpayer for almost 70 years. I have always tried to pay my tax bills in a timely manner (on or before the due date). As I own no property at this time, I am responsibly to the county for only my vehicle tax. My auto is old, and the amount of tax is small.
This year I let the due date slip up on me by 10 days but made a special trip to pay this bill in person. I paid the amount in full, including a small amount of interest and then offered apologies for my tardiness.
Later the same day, I received in the mail a “final notice” with strong words of warning if this bill was not paid immediately. Holy cow!
Recently, the Post published hundreds of names of people and/or companies who owed thousands of dollars in property taxes. My question is this: What about these people? Some of the same names and amounts have been listed for several years for the same property debts.
The warning from the tax collector states that if taxes are not paid, the property will be sold and debts to the county paid. Well, duh — I don’t believe this is happening. Do you?
I am so glad that I could help with my small contribution. Maybe this can be used to help pay for someone to assist with tax collections due our county, so that maybe next year’s delinquent list could be a little shorter.
— Margaret T. Shumate

Salisbury