Actions

On the due date, Petersburg discovers some residents didn’t get tax bills

Posted at 6:31 PM, Jun 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-12 08:09:06-04

PETERSBURG, Va.-- Personal property taxes were due in Petersburg on June 11.

Residents in multiple neighborhoods supposedly never got the bills delivered to their mailboxes.

Concerns about missing bills began appearing on social media about two weeks ago and the City said the bills were mailed out May 22.

On Monday morning concerned citizens stood in line at City Hall to try to get some answers.

Vicki Smith said she was "very frustrated" when she learned about the issue over the weekend.

"My neighbor called me and she said did you get your second tax bill and I said no, I said I know it's due in June sometime but I haven't gotten it yet, she said it's due Monday,” Smith said.

Smith said her first thought was to pay online to avoid a penalty.

"I went online to try to do the e-check and they had the amounts all messed up,” she said.

So, Smith stood in line to try to get things straight.

City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides addressed the crowd gathered to either pay bills or find out about them.

"We mail the bills, we take them to the Post Office, unfortunately we do them in bulk and there are some neighborhoods who are impacted.”

Ferrell-Benavides understands the citizens’ concerns and said the issue seems to be with the U.S. Postal Service.

"This is a mailing issue,” she said.

"We've had some issues with our mail service with the City of Petersburg and so it looks like a whole bulk of mail was not sent out in certain neighborhoods, so you just can't miss a whole neighborhood,” Ferrell-Benavides said.

The City of Petersburg announced late Monday that because of the delay, penalties for late payments have been suspended until June 29.

CBS6-News-at-4pm-and-Jennifer-Hudson-480x360.jpg

Entertainment

Watch 'The Jennifer Hudson Show' weekdays at 3 p.m. on CBS 6!

📱 Download CBS 6 News App
The app features breaking news alerts, live video, weather radar, traffic incidents, closings and delays and more.