By JOHN HOWELL

“Grace” is not a word to be found on Warwick tax bills, although some taxpayers think there is a “grace period” when submitting their quarterly payments.

City Tax Collector Kayla Jones is so accustomed to being questioned about a grace period from people late in making their payments that she has copies of city ordinances at her fingertips. The law doesn’t allow a forgiveness period before an interest penalty of 1 percent per month kicks in. What further raises the ire of those believing they should be allowed to skate for at least a couple of weeks is that the penalty applies to the full unpaid balance of the bill, not just the quarterly payment.

As Jones explains it, technically the full amount of the bill is due in July, but quarterly payments without penalty are permitted as long as pre-paid or paid on the due date. Of course there have been exceptions when the issuance of bills and mailings has been delayed.

According to the resolution approved by the City Council, “Each installment of taxes, if paid on or before the last day of each installment period successively and in order, shall be free from any change for interest.”

However it goes on to say if the first quarterly payment or any installment of taxes is not paid by the deadline “then the whole tax or remaining unpaid balance of the tax as the case may be, shall immediately become due and payable with interest computed” from July 15, 2022.

Thanks to legislation introduced by former Ward 9 Councilman Steve Merolla, taxpayers are eligible to apply for a waiver of interest on overdue payments.

Jones said the provision is designed for those who have a record of paying taxes on time but for whatever reason forgot a payment.

To be eligible for the waiver, the property must be the residence of the taxpayer; that the taxpayer has made timely payments for a least five years and that the bill overdue was issued less than two years prior to the waiver request.

Jones said she is not seeing the level of skipped payments now that banks have adopted a practice of incorporating taxes with mortgage payments. Previously property owners could select to make mortgage payments exclusive of taxes.

Jones said it is too early to tell whether inflation has affected the level of tax payments resulting in an increase in delinquencies.