The Lincoln County Sheriff is charged with collecting all property taxes assessed on real and personal property. The Lincoln County Assessor prepares the Land Book and Personal Property Book each year by appraising the value of real and personal property of all Lincoln County residents. The Assessor also determines the amount of property taxes that each taxpayer owes on each piece of property. The Assessor then sends the Land Book and the Personal Property Book to the Sheriff. The Sheriff notifies all taxpayers of the amounts of taxes owed for all properties in Lincoln County. The Sheriff is responsible for collecting all such property taxes.
In general, the Sheriff’s Office Tax Deputies prepare all Tax Statements for real and personal property. They mail these Statements to taxpayers on July 15th of each year. The Statements that taxpayers receive in July are for that full tax year. The statements are generated for each “half year”, which can be paid one-half year at a time or for the full year. Although the statements are mailed July 15th each year, the “first half” taxes must be paid no later than September 1st of the same year that they are assessed in order to receive the first half discount. The “second half” taxes must be paid no later than March 1st of the following year to receive the discount.
Another way of saying the same thing: The taxes for which you receive a Tax Statement on July 15th become DELINQUENT on October 1st of that same year for the first half taxes and become DELINQUENT on April 1st of the following year for the second half taxes.
Property Taxes are based on what property you own as of July 1st, of the previous year. For example, on July 15, 2020, the Sheriff will mail tax statements reflecting tax assessments on all real and personal property that you owned as of July 1, 2019. The Tax is due immediately upon receipt of the statement.
Some people mistakenly believe that they have a year to pay the taxes. If you wait that long, your taxes are delinquent!
If the full year amount is not paid by April 30th, the amount due becomes DELINQUENT. All delinquencies are published in the Lincoln Journal, a newspaper duly qualified by the West Virginia Secretary of State, published and generally circulated in Lincoln County. The Delinquent Tax Notices are arranged alphabetically and by District. The publication lists only the amount of taxes owed on each piece of property. However, you also will owe penalties, interest, publication fees and possibly other fees, depending on how long you wait to pay your taxes!
Delinquent taxes can be paid between May 1st of each year (which would be the first May 1st occurring after you received the tax ticket) until the last business day before the Sheriff Sale for that tax year, which the Sheriff generally conducts around mid-November of each year.
The Sheriff’s Office sends TAX REMINDER NOTICES to remind any tax paper who has not paid either a half or all of the taxes owed for the full year. However, Tax Statements (sometimes called Tax Tickets), though required by law to be mailed by the Sheriff to the last known address of the taxpayer, are a courtesy service for the public: That is, it is not required that you actually RECEIVE a Tax Statement, and, WHETHER OR NOT YOU RECEIVE A TAX STATEMENT, YOU STILL OWE THE TAXES ! ! !
After the Sheriff conducts the Land Sale in mid-November, taxpayers have 18 months from date of sale to REDEEM the property and pay all taxes owed plus interest, penalties, publication fees and possibly attorney fees. The taxpayer must contact the West Virginia State Auditor’s Office to begin the redemption process. They can be contacted at 1-888-509-6568.
The Sheriff’s Office maintains paper and computer records of all taxes paid.
The Sheriff also provides a service that is somewhat related to collecting taxes, which is selling License Plate Decals. The Sheriff sells decals for most Class A, and Class G license plates as a service in conjunction with the West Virginia State Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The Sheriff cannot sell decals to anyone whose license plates are expired by more than 2 months. To obtain a decal from the Sheriff, you must have your Tax receipts, proof of insurance, and renewal form sent to you by the DMV. The tax on the vehicle must have been paid for the most recent tax year before the license renewal decal can be issued. If you did not own the vehicle on July 1 of the previous year, you may be required to obtain an affidavit from the Assessor before you can obtain a decal.
Taxes can now be conveniently paid online and we are now linked with the DMV for all renewal purposes. The website addresses is as follows:
Tax Payments: www.wvpropertytaxes.com
DMV: www.apps.wv.gov/dmv/selfservice
