Santa Cruz County Government
Central Collections

UNSECURED TAXES PAST DUE? WE CAN HELP!

CENTRAL COLLECTIONS
OFFICE OF THE TREASURER - TAX COLLECTOR
701 Ocean Street, Room 150
P.O. Box 801
Santa Cruz CA 95061

Phone (831) 454-2292

When is the tax due?

Unsecured taxes are assessed for ownership of assets including, but not limited to boats, planes, business property, mobile homes, structural improvements on leased land and other leasehold interests. The tax is assessed if you were in business or possessed the asset on January 1 of the tax year.

If you have not paid your unsecured taxes by August 31, or the delinquency date on your bill, they are OVERDUE and are transferred to the Collections Division of the Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector for action.

The Collections Division is empowered to take many actions to collect the tax, including:

Recording Tax Liens (Fee - $13.00 per account)
Reporting the debt to a credit reporting agency
Adding penalties (10% of the tax plus $80 transfer cost per account)
Adding interest (1.5%/month on each account)
Seizure and sale of your assets
Filing a lawsuit to recover the amount due.

What can you do? Who can help?

DON'T WAIT...

Call Central Collections at 454-2292 today and ask to speak with a Collection Officer.
A Collection Officer can:

Set up a monthly payment plan
Work with you to evaluate your family budget to help you pay the tax
Refer you to the Tax Assessor for help if you believe the tax was improperly assessed.

Remember..

Disputing the tax does not stop the addition of costs, penalties and interest. Consider paying the tax while you wait for the Assessor's Office to review your situation. The County will refund payments as appropriate upon receiving word from the Assessor's Office that your tax has been reduced or canceled.
Payment plans will not stop liens, penalties, interest, costs or reporting of the debt to a credit reporting agency. However, they will STOP SEIZURE OF ASSETS and LAWSUITS as long as your plan is kept current.
If you know that your payment will be late, call your Collection Officer before the payment is due. The Collection Officer will listen to your problem and see if there is anything that can be done to help.
Notify both the Assessor's Office and the Collections Division of any change in your business or mailing address. We want to make sure that you get our mail in a timely way.

BRING THESE ITEMS TO HELP CENTRAL COLLECTIONS SET UP A PAYMENT PLAN

Pay Stubs
Receipts for rent, utilities, and other basic monthly expenses
Credit card statements, and statements for other bills you pay each month
Tax returns

BRING THESE ITEMS TO HELP THE ASSESSORS OFFICE DETERMINE YOUR TAX

Bills of sale for the asset
Photographs of the asset
Copies of contracts and leases
Tax returns

Thank you for working with our office to make paying your taxes as easy as possible. We work for you...and we want you to be satisfied with the results.

IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Central Collections 454-2292
Central Collections Supervisor 454-2275
Collections' Fax 454-2257
Tax Assessor 454-2002

General questions and suggestions on content should be emailed to:

Central Collections Supervisor

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