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Lee County Now Allowing Multiple Payments For Real Estate Taxes

WNIJ

Lee County property owners can now pay their real estate taxes in smaller increments.

Property owners must still have the full installment amounts paid by July and September. Treasurer John Fritts says his office sent out 29,000 tax bills last month. In an effort to make sure more people make those required deadlines, Lee County is allowing people to pay in intervals instead of two large chunks. He says the software the office uses allows for multiple payments leading up to the deadline.

"Now they can come in and make partial payments however--weekly, monthly, every other day--depends how they get paid," Fritts said.

Marion County Treasurer Patti Hahn is President of the Illinois County Treasurers' Association. She says her office has accepted monthly payments for about three years. She says several hundred people take advantage of the alternative payment method. She says it helps people budget and avoid getting overwhelmed by the bi-annual payments.

Rock Island County has four installment deadlines each year instead of two. Hahn says only a few counties in the state have that many installments. Lee County Treasurer John Fritts says he prefers accepting multiple payments instead of adding additional installments.

Jenna Dooley has spent her professional career in public radio. She is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois - Springfield. She returned to Northern Public Radio in DeKalb after several years hosting Morning Edition at WUIS-FM in Springfield. She is a former "Newsfinder of the Year" from the Illinois Associated Press and recipient of NIU's Donald R. Grubb Journalism Alumni Award. She is an active member of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association and an adjunct instructor at NIU.