News 12 at 6 o'clock, November 4, 2009

COLUMBIA CTY., Ga.---They may be a few months later than usual, but the 44,000 Columbia County property tax bills are signed, sealed and almost delivered.

They say death and taxes are the two things you can't avoid, and homeowners in Columbia County need to get ready, property tax bills are just about in the mail

They're three months late, but soon property tax bills will coming to a mailbox near you.

"Ive told several people that the tax bills were going to be delayed nobody seemed to be unhappy about that," says Tax Commissioner Kay Allen.

Ashley Walden and her family just moved into a new home. She's not sure how much it's gonna cost her.

"We're in a new house so it's a whole new ballgame for us this year to see what its gonna be like, so hopefully it's not too bad," says homeowner Ashley Walden.

The assessments are done and even though a lot of property values went down, they warn you'll still probably pay more. "Unless it dropped about $10,000 dollars in assess value, you will have an increased tax bill," says Allen.

Another thing to look out for is the increase from the homestead tax grant. They money the state of Georgia needed to keep this year.

"The homestead is still on the tax bill, it's just worth less. Instead of getting $260, it's about $60," says Allen.

Ashley says it's the timing that costs the most. "For us, it definitely is in our escrow account so I don't know that I notice it as much but for fixed income families I can see how it would be a huge issue for them right about now, especially with the holidays coming," says Ashley.

The 102-million dollars collected will head straight from your pocket to the state, county, cities, and schools.

The deadline to pay the bills will be moved back because of the delay to get them out, they will be due back January 15th.

But remember to claim them on your 2009 income tax, you've got to pay them by the end of the year.

Something else to keep an eye out on are the street light bills, if you have county lights you can count on adding another 11 dollars to your bill.