DuPage poised to vote on plan to waive late fees on property taxes

Recently unemployed residents, landlords unable to collect rent and owners of nonessential businesses shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic could qualify for a DuPage County proposal to waive late fees on property tax payments.

County board members are expected vote today on a plan to establish a grace period for some who can't afford their first property tax payment. The taxes are due in two equal installments, the first on June 1 and the second by Sept. 1.

If the plan is approved, some property owners could have late fees for their June payment waived for up to 90 days. But they would need to demonstrate a financial hardship because of the crisis.

"We did not propose a blanket exception for everybody because there still are a lot of people working who are not impacted," Treasurer Gwen Henry said on Monday.

To qualify for a waiver, a property owner must be: someone who was laid off or terminated from employment after March 9; a landlord unable to collect rent on the parcel since March 1; or the operator of a business shut down because it was deemed nonessential.

Business owners who have applied for government loans through the Paycheck Protection Program wouldn't qualify for a late-fee waiver. DuPage's proposed ordinance also doesn't apply to property tax payments made through escrow accounts.

Some taxing districts have raised concerns about the proposal. Dozens of superintendents across DuPage say they're worried removing late penalties could lead to delayed revenue for public school districts and force several to do short-term borrowing just to make payroll.

Henry said it's unclear how many waiver applications the county would receive. But most requests are expected to come from individuals. "We don't expect any large companies to be coming in and looking for a waiver," she said.

Henry said taxes for roughly 38% of properties will be paid on time from escrow accounts. She also said there's a number of taxpayers who haven't taken a financial hit from COVID-19.

"We will have money coming in from the very beginning to get to the taxing bodies," Henry said.

DuPage County property tax bills will be mailed Friday.