Deadline remains unchanged for Sonoma County property taxes totaling $578 million

Sonoma County property taxes totaling about $578 million are due Friday and no extensions are being granted by the county, but officials are scrambling to define the criteria for waiving the 10% penalty for late payments due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Erick Roeser, the county tax collector, reiterated Wednesday the filing deadline for Sonoma County and others like it cannot be shifted without state action and that general financial hardship has not been officially established as a “qualifying event” for the penalty waiver.

However, he acknowledged the widespread economic impact of the pandemic, forcing businesses to close and workers to go without pay checks, constitutes “an extremely unique situation.”

Officials were busy Wednesday trying to determine the standards for evaluating waiver applications based on disruptions stemming from the pandemic. Those waivers won’t be accepted until Saturday when tax payments become delinquent.

Roeser said he hopes to post the guidelines on the tax assessor’s website Thursday.

“We’re trying to look at all legal options for relief from the penalty,” he said. “I do want to get the information to the public as soon as possible.”

San Francisco and San Mateo counties closed their tax collectors’ offices last month, enabling them to extend the property tax payment deadline to May 4. Roeser said his office is operating but is not open to the public.

Waiver applications would have to be based on “significant economic hardship,” such as a business closure or job loss as a result of the pandemic, and would require documentation, he said.

Local labor and social justice advocates said this week that people living paycheck to paycheck are already unable to afford basic necessities like food and rent.

Meanwhile, tax office staffers are busy processing payments that have come in by mail, telephone and online. Nearly 90% of the entire tax levy has been received, Roeser said, the same amount as this time last year.

Tax office staffers are also swamped with so many calls and emails from taxpayers that waiting times for an answer may be lengthy, he said.

Tax officials considered the idea of issuing a blanket penalty waiver but found it would not pass legal muster, Roeser said.

Doug Straub expressed dismay in an email to The Press Democrat that county officials would be “making judgments” on requests for penalty waivers.

“It is unrealistic that I as a taxpayer should have to beg the county to do the right thing,” he said.

Straub did not respond to a reporter’s call.

Roeser said the waiver “isn’t a loophole for people who can afford to pay their taxes. It’s really critical that everyone who can pay their tax in full.”

The average payment due Friday is $3,175 among more than 182,000 ?residential and commercial parcels.

Paid in two installments in April and December, property taxes contribute $936 million a year in general purpose revenues to the county and city governments, schools and special districts, including water and fire districts.