There is still plenty of time for those needing to pay property taxes, but Covington County Revenue Commissioner Janice Hart said Friday that people should be mindful that the deadline is approaching

“The deadline is December 31,” Hart said. “We will still be collecting in January, but there will be a late fee and interest added at that point.”

Hart said to date, the revenue commission office has collected $1,135,653.13. She called that number average, but “really, pretty good.”

The county billed $11,202,369 in taxes.

“It’s been coming in good,” Hart said. “If it will continue like this until the end of the collection season, we’ll be fine.”

Hart said all property tax statements, including mobile home statements, were mailed out Sept. 30. She said those needing to make a payment on a mobile home statement have one month less time to get those bills paid.

“The only thing that will be coming due before the end of the year is a mobile home registration, and they give us the months of October and November to collect those,” Hart said. “Without a late fee, people need to get those in by Dec. 1.”

While efforts have been made to include credit and debit cards as acceptable forms of payment, Hart said, as of now, that service is not available.

“At this point, the county commission is not quite ready,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do that before the end of the year.”

Hart said exemptions for this year have also been mailed out.

“The ones that we mail each year are for the people from the previous year. If someone is a new customer, or they are applying for the first time, they need to come into the office so we can get the forms right and get it set up.”

The revenue commissioner’s office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

When paying by mail, send the bill or bills and payment to “Revenue Commissioner, 1 North Court Square, Suite G, Andalusia, AL 36420.”

Residents should also bring their bills to the courthouse, in order to expedite the process.

Property taxes are distributed to the school systems, the county’s general fund and road/bridge fund, among other areas.