Mirror staff reports:

King County residents will get bad news a little earlier than in the past. The county announced that delinquency notices on property taxes will now be mailed out in June instead of September. The policy change came after King County Executive Dow Constantine met with community members and King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson.

“By sending notices earlier, we can help taxpayers avoid unnecessary late fees and provide better customer service,” Constantine said.

Ferguson said he feels this policy change is a good one for the county.

“I reached out to Executive Constantine to see how we could improve our notification system and save taxpayers money after hearing concerns from a constituent,” Ferguson said. “This simple change will save taxpayers from accruing unnecessary late charges and sets a new standard of customer service for King County.”

According to the county, the first half of property taxes are due April 30. If property owners meet that deadline, then they avoid any penalties.

In the past, the county had sent delinquency notices in late September to property owners who “missed the April deadline and whose taxes remained unpaid as of Sept. 1.” That September date was used to be near the Oct. 31 deadline for the second half of property taxes to be paid, and was intended to help taxpayers avoid an 8 percent penalty that is imposed in December.

The county anticipates that the new June notice will be received by approximately 14,500 taxpayers. Of those 14,500 taxpayers, the county is expecting that about half will pay by July 1, which will help the taxpayers avoid additional monthly interest charges and the December penalty.

Constantine and the county are also working on an email notification system for when property taxes are due, something they anticipate will be rolled out by next year.