Editor:
Oneida County taxpayers should have received their 2013 tax bills. If you did not receive your tax bill, you should contact your County or municipality Treasurer. Oneida County Treasurer’s office can be reached at 715-369-6137. Remember, State law states you must pay your taxes and pay them on time even if you did not receive a tax bill. You can also find the 2013 Oneida County tax information on the Oneida County website. Go to www.co.oneida.wi.gov. Click on Property Tax Information located in the center of the screen to access the information. Tax payments will not be updated on this screen until the municipalities have closed their books in February. 

You must pay at least the first installment listed on the tax bill on or before Jan. 31 to the town/city treasurer. If you miss the payment deadline, or if you pay less than the amount due, your taxes will be delinquent. You will be charged 1.5 percent penalty and interest per month on the total unpaid tax amount beginning Feb. 1. More importantly, however, you lose the option of making your second half payment in July.

Now is also the time to be sure you are certified for the Lottery and Gaming Credit. Please check your tax bill. The amount of the Lottery and Gaming Credit appears in the middle of your tax bill, right above the Net Property Tax calculation. If you have not received the Lottery Credit and meet the requirements, contact your local treasurer who will see that you receive a claim form or go to the County website and look under Departments, Treasurer. You must sign and return the form to your local treasurer before you can be certified for and receive the Credit. Property that was owned by you and was your primary residence Jan. 1, 2013 is eligible for the credit. This form must be in the hands of the local treasurer by Jan. 31 to receive the credit off the current tax bill. 

The State audits the files of each County and in order to keep the files current we must recertify every so often to find owners that are not receiving the credit and to remove those that do not qualify. In the next few years Oneida County will be asking property owners in some towns to recertify for their lottery credit. Every year we will pick a couple towns to do this for us. If you received a blue copy of a lottery credit form from your local treasurer it is your turn to recertify. This year the towns are Cassian, Crescent, Enterprise, Newbold, Nokomis, Pelican, Pine Lake, and Woodboro. You will not receive a lottery credit in 2014 if your town is being recertified and a signed form is not returned to our office.

We thank you for your cooperation with this project.

Kris Ostermann, Oneida County Treasurer