Good Question: Are tax fees getting waived again?

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC)— It’s here. It’s the start of tax season.

You have to take care of what you owe for 2021 town and county property taxes. The easiest and quickest way to pay is with a credit card online. While it’s easy and quick, it’s not the cheapest.

There’s usually a fee.

A viewer named Bob asked News10NBC’s Brennan Somers about it:

"Will credit card payments be assessed a 3% fee this January for property tax payments, or will the county waive that fee as they did with school tax payments? I assume, since the pandemic is worse in our county now more than in September, the fees will be waived again!"

That’s one of the many changes we saw last year. Monroe County officials waived all online credit card convenience fees for school taxes back in the fall.

In his announcement, County Executive Adam Bello said that was to cut back on demand for staff during a pandemic and to make everything easier and cheaper for you.

So, are you getting a pass this time? No. There is a slight change to the fee. It’s not 3%.

Local tax officials say the online credit card fee for the county has been lowered to 2.75%.

As for why it wasn’t waived altogether, county spokesperson Steve Barz told Somers:

"Earlier this year, Monroe County paid the credit card fee for school tax payments by utilizing a portion of CARES Act funding to cover the cost. Unfortunately, the latest relief package from the federal government did not include funding for state and local government, which has impacted our ability to provide this service again."

You do have options to save some money by mailing in a check or dropping your payment off in person. Be sure to check with your local tax office ahead of time for details.

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Watch previous Good Question segments here. If you have a question you’d like answered, email GoodQuestion@whec.com.