The Town of Mount Kisco in New York was recently advised by the Postmaster of Mount Kisco branch of the U.S. Post Office that all of the 2013 property tax bills that were mailed out by the Town on May 31, 2013, have gone missing. Yes, all of them.
As difficult as it is to believe, there isn’t much in the way of explanation beyond that. A Mt. Kisco employee apparently took the mail – 2,000 first-class window envelopes in two plastic tubs – to the post office. The bills were dispatched to the White Plains processing center. And then, those bills simply disappeared.
To remedy the situation, the Town is sending out a new set of bills (yes, in the mail). And to its credit, the post office has agreed to reimburse the town for the cost of the replacement mailing.
So problem solved, right? Not exactly.
Those residents who haven’t paid their bills yet – because they didn’t receive them – are now on the hook for penalties and interest. Under state law, at New York Real Property Law §922.3, the penalty for paying late cannot be abated, even if the taxpayers do not receive a bill:
The failure to mail any such statement, or the failure of the addressee to receive the same, shall not in any way affect the validity of the taxes or interest prescribed by law with respect thereto.
As a result, the Town has already advised its residents that the deadline for paying the tax will not be moved and a failure to pay on time will be subject to penalty. For this purpose, “on time” means June 30; since that date falls on a Sunday this year, the deadline is pushed to July 1.
Since it’s a state law, the Town doesn’t have the authority to extend the deadline; that can only happen on the state level. Mayor Michael Cindrich is looking into whether state lawmakers could enact a law to offer residents some relief but Mt. Kisco officials don’t appear optimistic that it will happen.
How do the residents feel about the snafu? So far, they appear to be taking it in stride. A long time resident and retired postal worker, Herb Steinhauser, summed up feelings about the mysterious loss of the tax bills best, saying, “It will show up — it always does.”
