By EDWARD HUSAR

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Property owners in Adams County have until Wednesday, Sept. 3, to pay the second installment of their property taxes.

County Treasurer Jean Reddington expects to see increased activity at her office in the Adams County Courthouse in coming days as last-minute taxpayers step forward to pay their bills.

Reddington said 36,541 tax bills totaling $58.3 million were sent to property owners in late May. Half the taxes were due with the first installment July 3. The rest is due Sept. 3.

About $20.5 million remains outstanding, including $976,924 still due from the first installment.

Those who failed to meet the first-installment deadline will be assessed a 1.5 percent finance charge for each month the installment remains unpaid. Reddington said the first installment, with interest, must be paid before the second installment will be accepted.

Any late checks will be returned if the finance charges are not included. Reddington said a late-payment schedule is printed on the stub of each tax bill.

If delinquent taxpayers don't settle their accounts by Sept. 19, their names may be published in the newspaper. Then in early October, certified letters will be sent to delinquent taxpayers warning if they don't pay in full by 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, their tax bills will be included in the county's property tax sale scheduled for Monday, Oct. 27. Only the delinquent taxes are sold at the tax sale -- not the property itself.

Reddington said taxpayers have several options for paying their taxes. They can pay in person at the treasurer's office in the courthouse, 507 Vermont, which is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; at a payment drop box outside the Fifth Street entrance; or at any bank in Adams County.

Another option is to mail payments. Reddington said she will accept any mailed tax bill as long as the postmark is dated no later than Sept. 3.

Taxpayers also can use an "E-pay" system that lets them pay by credit card over the Internet or an "E-check" system that deducts money from one's bank account. Some fees are associated with those forms of payment. The last day credit cards can be used is Sept. 19.

Reddington said she noticed some taxpayers have started to pay their real estate taxes with credit card checks that come in the mail with their monthly credit card statements. However, at least three of these checks have bounced this summer because the property owners apparently didn't realize their credit card limits were exceeded by using the checks.

From now on, Reddington said, her office will accept a credit card check "only if it's accompanied by the promotional letter" spelling out the person's credit limit.

Reddington said workers in her office have noticed a larger number of personal checks than usual have been arriving without a proper signature, which can delay the logging of a person's property tax payment.

"Make sure your check is correctly written and signed," she said.

More information is available by calling the treasurer's office at 277-2245 or by visiting the office's Web site: www.co.adams.il.us/treasurer/

-- ehusar@whig.com/221-3378