Madison Will Let Residents Pay Property Taxes In Up To 4 Payments Starting In 2015

Transition To Letting Residents Pay More Often And In Smaller Amounts Could Lower Delinquency Rates

By
Photo: Christian Wilcox (CC-BY-NC-SA).

Starting in January, Madison will allow residents to divvy up property tax payments in four payments, as opposed to the two payments that are already allowed.

According the Department of Revenue, 60 municipalities in Wisconsin allow residents to pay property taxes in 3 or more installments. The goal in letting taxpayers pay smaller amounts more frequently is to lower delinquency rates, which doubled during the recession.

Madison Treasurer Dave Gawenda said delinquency rates have since gone down, but are still 30 percent higher than historical averages.

Stay informed on the latest news

Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“Going delinquent has a lot of serious repercussions,” said Gawenda. “There are extra costs involved. Plus you could be violating the agreement in your mortgage, so it could go affect your credit score.”

A 2012 study by University of Wisconsin’s La Follette School of Public Affairs showed delinquency rates drop by a third if the number of tax payments is increased from two to three. However, the study did not find a sizeable reduction in going from three to four.

The city’s website goes through different scenarios to guide taxpayers through the new process — for instance, what happens if you miss a payment or pay different installment amounts.