Property tax deadline extended to Feb. 1

The Jan. 31st deadline to pay property taxes has been extended to Monday, Feb. 1. Property owners can pay online at www.co.gonzales.tx.us , by mail, or in person at the County Tax office. Property owners are encouraged to pay their taxes before the Feb. 1 deadline to avoid penalty and interest. Payments must be postmarked Feb. 1 or prior to be considered timely. (Texas Property Tax Code Sec. 31.02)

There is much confusion when it comes to mailing your payment versus timely mailing your payment. It is suggested by my office to get your local post office to postmark the envelope upon mailing. The postmark is put on your envelope either by machine or by hand with cancellation bars to indicate that the postage cannot be reused; it contains the name of the USPS office that accepted the mail (distribution location), along with the state, the zip code, and the date of mailing. In our case, the postmark date is used to determine if the payment was mailed on or before the tax deadline. If you are waiting until just before the delinquent date to mail your payment, we recommend that your personally witness the postmark being placed on your envelope instead of dropping it in the drop box.

Please note, there are some parcels of mail that are not postmarked. If we receive a payment without a USPS postmark, we will consider it received on the date it physically comes into our office.

•   Permit imprint is postage that is paid for at the time of mailing through a USPS bulk mail acceptance facility. Online bill payments made through your financial institutions are usually sent in these permit paid envelopes. Please schedule these payments accordingly.

•   Metered mail has a meter stamp applied to it. Metered mail allows the user to manually adjust the date. This mail is not canceled at the USPS processing center therefore these will not have a postmark.

•   Pre‐canceled stamps are stamps that do not need to be cancelled by the machine at the processing center therefore these will not have a postmark.