Most of us pay little attention to the pre-addressed return envelopes that are sent to us when we receive a bill.
We assume that if we put our check in that envelope it will be sent to the right place. For some residents of Collin County, that would not have been a good move with the recent property tax bills that were sent out.
Why? Because the pre-addressed return envelopes enclosed with Collin County property tax bills were sent out with the wrong address printed on them.
Approximately 2,500 residents of Collin County, Texas found that the enclosed return envelope was addressed not only to the wrong county but also to the wrong state. Instead of using the address for Collin County, Texas the envelopes contained the payment address for Dona Ana County which is located in southeastern New Mexico. Dona Ana County is over 500 miles away from Collin County.
Not all residents saw caught the mistake and approximately 15 so far have sent the check for their Collin County property taxes to the wrong address.
So what happened?
It turns out that both Collin County and Dona Ana County used the same printing company in Houston. That printing company sent the wrong return envelopes to some property owners. The error was caused in part because the printing company was short one box of Collin County envelopes.
So what happens if you send your Collin County property tax payment to Dona Ana County as a result of using the wrong envelope?
Fortunately, officials in Dona Ana County are aware of the situation and have agreed to forward those tax payments to Collin County.
Of course with most government errors, nothing has been said about giving residents additional time to meet the January 31, 2011 due date if a property taxpayer in Collin County sends their payment to the wrong address.
If you live in Collin County, Texas, it would be a good idea to double check on where you sent your property tax payment and to find the property tax record online for your home. Make sure your payment has been property credited to your account.
Don’t leave it up to government officials to sort out this mess.
