Delaware County officials announced Monday the next phase of economic-recovery assistance for their residents and business owners due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Included are plans to extend property-tax collection deadlines, to defer taking action on foreclosures until 2021, and to waive penalty fees on payment delinquencies.

County Treasurer Michael Ringle and County Auditor George Kaitsa announced they have submitted a request to the Ohio Tax Commissioner to extend the July 10, 2020, collection deadline for real-property taxes until Aug. 20, 2020, and the deadline for manufactured homes from Aug. 15, 2020, to Sept. 15, 2020. Kaitsa said he hopes a decision from the Ohio Tax Commissioner will come within two to three weeks. The property-tax extension cannot go forward without the approval of the Ohio Tax Commissioner.

“Treasurer Ringle and I did not come to this decision lightly,” Kaitsa said. “We undertook a thorough process, working with the county commissioners, and then conferring with our local school districts and townships that rely on property-tax proceeds, to ensure that all localities were on board with this decision.”

Kaitsa added: “We also took the time to make sure our first responders and teachers will have the resources they need, while extending a much needed helping hand to Delaware County’s residents and commercial businesses who need this extension to make ends meet.”

Ringle announced also that his office “will not file new tax-lien foreclosures until at least mid-2021 to enable taxpayers who fall behind on their payments for whatever reason to get back on their feet.”

Taxpayers who miss a property-tax payment deadline also are usually subject to penalties on the delinquent amount, but Ringle said property owners will be able to avoid accruing penalties if they submit a Penalty Remission Application that can be found on his office’s website at https://treasurer.co.delaware.oh.us/forms/ or by calling the treasurer’s office at 740-833-2480.

Ringle also recommended that taxpayers with delinquencies will be able to enter into payment contracts with his office to avoid having notices of delinquency published and to avoid the sale of a tax certificate on any delinquent amount.

“Auditor Kaitsa and I are committed to helping our residents and businesses,” Ringle said, “while also supporting our first responders, teachers, townships, and school districts, as we are all in this together.”

Jeff Benton, president of the Delaware County Board of Commissioners, praised his fellow officials’ efforts to help alleviate the economic hardships that so many Delaware County residents and business owners are navigating at this time.

“These steps are the next in our multi-phased plan and I am very pleased that Auditor Kaitsa and Treasurer Ringle have been so thorough in their preparations,” Benton said. “They have been an integral part of the Economic Recovery Advisory Team that commissioners Gary Merrell, Barb Lewis and I assembled and we look forward to announcing more initiatives in the near future.”

For more information about the Delaware County Auditor’s Office, visit https://auditor.co.delaware.oh.us/ or call 740-833-2900. The Delaware County Treasurer’s Office website is located at https://treasurer.co.delaware.oh.us/. For information about the current state of operations in all Delaware County government offices, go to https://co.delaware.oh.us/covid-19-information/.