Palmer Residents Get Online Municipal Tax Payment Option

Palmer Township residents, who already have the option to make some township-related payments on the web, will soon be able to make online payments for municipal real estate taxes.

On Tuesday, the township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of allowing Official Payments, a Delaware-based electronic payment provider, to handle real estate tax payments for the municipality.

Come 2012, property owners will have the option of making municipal real estate tax payments via the Internet. Currently, payments for municipal utilities, permits and park and recreation pavilion rentals can be made via the Internet through Official Payments. The township has been using the company for those payments for three years.

“The fees are getting passed onto the user,” said Supervisor David Colver. “It doesn’t cost the township anything.”

For those property owners who opt to make the payments online, there is a 2.75 percent convenience fee. The fee equates to about $17 for a homeowner with a property assessed at $100,000.

The agreement will be for a two-year term with a 60-day notification option to terminate the contract, according to township Solicitor Charles Bruno.

The online payment option is only for municipal real estate taxes. It does not include school taxes, township Manager Chris Christman said. Property owners will still be able to make payments by mail or at township hall, he added.