Unsecured O.C. property tax bills for FY 2023-2024 are due by August 31

(Santa Ana, Calif.) – Orange County Treasurer Shari L. Freidenrich announced that the payment deadline for the 68,596 unsecured property tax bills totaling over $290 million is August 31. These bills were mailed in July to the owner of the property as of January 1, 2023 and are available online at octreasurer.com/octaxbill.

These fiscal year 2023-2024 unsecured property bills include taxes on business property, leased equipment, boats and aircraft. Treasurer Freidenrich recommends that taxpayers pay online on our secure website at octreasurer.com/octaxbill. There is no service fee to pay online by eCheck through your bank account, and taxpayers can pay online until midnight on August 31 to receive same-day credit and a receipt, which can be emailed and printed.

In-person payments can be made at the County Service Center located at 601 N. Ross Street in Santa Ana until 5 P.M. on August 31. Payments can also be dropped off 24 hours a day in the Payment Depository Box located on Ross Street and will be treated as timely received so long as they are deposited by midnight on August 31. Unsecured property tax bills not paid by the due date will be charged a 10 percent penalty plus a $75 collection fee. Taxpayers who pay by mail must have a U.S. Postal Service date stamp for August 31 or earlier. If you are submitting your payment through the mail, we recommend getting the envelope hand cancelled by the USPS, as many local post offices no longer postmark mail. Visit octreasurer.com/postmarks for more information to ensure that all mailed payments are timely received.

“Current State law designates the owner of record as of January 1, 2023 as the responsible party for the FY 2023-24 unsecured property tax bill, even if the unsecured property has been sold or otherwise disposed of after January 1, 2023,” said Treasurer Freidenrich. “Unlike secured property taxes, unsecured property taxes are not prorated by time of ownership.” The new owner of the unsecured property is not responsible for paying the property taxes on the personal property purchased until the new lien date of January 1, 2024. Treasurer Freidenrich encourages taxpayers to sign up for emailed or texted 11unsecured property tax payment reminders at octreasurer.com/unsecuredreminders.

Taxpayers can view prior tax bills and their statement online to see if any current or delinquent unsecured property taxes are owed. This information is available by going to octreasurer.com/octaxbill under the Unsecured Property Tax Bill section in the middle of the page. You can search by business name, tax collector reference number (TC Ref), CF-Number, N-Number, or the tax year and assessment number.

The FY 2023-24 unsecured property tax bills include assessments for 41,420 businesses, 15,053 boat and aircraft owners and 12,123 leased equipment owners. Taxpayers are reminded that the low value exemption for business equipment, boats and aircraft and leased equipment has been increased over the last several years from $3,000 to $10,000 by the Orange County Board of Supervisors after requests from the Treasurer and Assessor. This change has resulted in a decrease of over 46,000 unsecured property tax bills, lowering tax burdens on small businesses and taxpayers since it was approved. In FY 2023-24, there were 8,700 fewer assessments in 2023 than 2022 including a decrease of almost 4,500 business assessments.