Woodkirk Stone
The City of Pendleton urged property owners who sent in tax payments this month to check their bank accounts to make sure the checks cleared.
At least 22 mailed payments, sent two or three weeks ago, have not been cleared and the matter is under investigation, City Clerk Deborah Maurer said Tuesday.
Maurer said she was contacted by residents concerned that their property tax checks had not been processed.
She said most of the missing checks were mailed around January 4 or 10, while checks mailed on other days appeared to have been received and processed as normal.
“They have to make a payment by Jan. 31 to avoid a penalty,” Maurer said. “I cannot adjust these penalties.”
Tax bills cover not only municipal taxes, but also Niagara County and special district property taxes.
Payments by mail were among the four options offered by Pendleton for paying property taxes, along with in-person payments at City Hall, payments in a locked drop box at that building, or online payments through the city website. A “convenience fee” is charged online.
Maurer said the mail-out option involves sending a check to a post office box leased by Evans Bank, the bank that processes the payments. The address is Post Office Box 2305, Buffalo, NY 14240.