MARIETTA - Payments of Cobb County property tax bills are due Wednesday.

Tori Steele, Cobb Deputy Tax Commissioner, said bills need to paid or postmarked by Oct. 15.

Collections for 2008 are expected to total $664 million, which is a 5.4 percent increase from the $628 million collected in 2007.

Steele said most of the increase is due to commercial growth in the county.

The Tax Commissioners office sent out 257,598 tax bills in August, a 1.74 percent increase from the 253,116 bills sent out in 2007.

Of those tax bills, 28,786 are for commercial property. Of the 228,812 residential property bills, 159,000 are for homestead properties.

Mortgage companies will pay a majority of the property bills this year, the tax commissioner's office said.

In August, Tax Commissioner Gail Downing predicted about 51.29 percent, or 132,383 bills, would be paid by mortgage companies this year. The mortgage companies collect money throughout the year as part of the mortgage payments.

But the tax commissioner's office is preparing for an increase in delinquent payments this year due to the current economy, Steele said.

"We'll probably not collect as much by the due date," she said, although she said she couldn't predict how many payments would be delinquent.

As of Oct. 3, Steel said their office had processed 103,598 transactions. By the same time period in 2007, she said they had 181,192 transactions processed.

On delinquent payments, Steele said they will send out late notices.

Although tax officials said it's hard to pinpoint how many delinquencies Cobb had last year, the office sent out 20,910 late notices in November 2007.

After the first of the year, Steele said the delinquent tax division in their office will begin levying on property for bills that are not paid. There is a 5 percent penalty and 1 percent interest per month for late payments.

Steele said the easiest and fastest way to pay in online at www.cobbtax.org. She said e-checks are free, but the payment processor charges a small fee for credit card transactions.

Property owners can also pay in person at the Tax Commissioner's office, 736 Whitlock Ave., Suite 100, and at the East and South Cobb Government Centers; by calling 1-866-PAYCOBB; and by mail to Cobb County Tax Commissioner, P.O. Box 649, Marietta, Ga., 30061-0649.

The Cobb Tax Commissioner's office handles the collection of taxes for Cobb County, Cobb County Schools, the city of Acworth and the Cumberland and Town Center Community Improvement Districts. The other five cities in Cobb handle their own billing and collection.

ahungerford@mdjonline.com

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