New fee could add about $25 on to tax payments by credit and debit card
by Mary Rupert
Some residents are evaluating the most economical way to pay their real estate taxes this year.
The way you pay for real estate property taxes could add an extra $25 onto the bill in fees, if you use a credit or debit card. The old saying, “time is money,” also applies to some residents if there is a line to pay taxes in person.
One Kansas City, Kansas, resident, Elizabeth Folsom, a former writer for the Wyandotte Daily and Wyandotte West, said she was trying to pay real estate taxes recently on a parcel and saw there would be a 2.5 percent fee if she used her debit card.
The second half of real estate property taxes in Wyandotte County is due May 10, and Folsom recently was trying to pay her taxes early.
This year, the online tax payment system went to an agency outside the UG, she added. Last fall, when she paid the first half of her property taxes, there was not a fee for using her debit card, she said. For a tax bill of about $1,000, this 2.5 percent fee could total around $25.
“It was quite a shock,” she said. “I wish they would go back to the old process.”
Debit cards should be handled about the same as a check, she believes.
A Unified Government spokesman confirmed that the UG recently changed its method of paying online real estate property taxes to a third-party vendor named PayIt.
According to the UG spokesman, the new platform offers additional payment options and flexibility, including the ability to make payments online using a mobile app and creating an online account to store transaction receipts. Customers can either save or not save the account information within their PayIt account, according to the spokesman.
The fee for debit card payments caused Folsom to pause to think about the method of paying for her property taxes, she said, and she also wondered how secure her information was in new system. She said she needs more time to think about it before she pays her taxes, and now may wait until they are due in May.
A UG spokesman responded to a question about security.
“The payment portal has a much higher level of security than the previous payment website,” the UG spokesman stated.
There is an option for online and electronic payments, besides in person and mail options by check, but there is no option for paying by telephone, according to the UG website.
Folsom also noted that her property valuation had gone up around $4,000 recently, for taxes that will be due next December.
The UG spokesman outlined the current ways to pay for real estate property taxes:
Paying in person:
• There is no fee or charge to pay by check in person.
• There is a 2.5 percent service fee for payment by credit card and debit card in person.
• There is no option for electronic transfer payments made in person – that is not available in person.
Paying online:
• There is a 2.5 percent service fee for online payments by credit card and debit card.
• There is no fee for online electronic transfer from a checking account in an online transaction.
Paying by mail:
• There is no fee or charge for paying by mail. (Checks and money orders only)
Those who are paying their property taxes in person can go to City Hall at 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas; or to the annex at 8200 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
More information about real estate property taxes is online at http://www.wycokck.org/Treasury/Real-Estate-and-Personal-Property-Tax.aspx
and at http://www.wycokck.org/Treasury/FAQ.aspx
