JOHNSTOWN — Copies of Fulton County property owners’ tax bills may soon be available for the public online.
County Real Property Tax Services Director Peter Galarneau announced the service at the Board of Supervisors’ Finance Committee meting Thursday at the County Office Building. The exact startup date wasn’t announced.
“I’m sending out a memo to everybody I can think of,” Galarneau said.
Galarneau said his second-floor office at the County Office Building — as well as other county offices, assessors, tax collectors and municipal clerks — receive numerous requests throughout the year for copies of tax bills. He said they must be tracked down and emailed out in PDF format.
“It’s time consuming,” he said. “There’s an expense there.”
Galarneau said that beginning with the 2018 county/town tax bills, PDF copies of most tax bills will be available on the county’s Image Mate Online web application. Bills available are those for taxable real property; other roll sections are not included, such as bills to utility companies, state land. The user will see an exact duplicate of the bill sent in the mail.
“It will be basically one page and they can view all the tax bills that are issued,” Galarneau said. “The best part is we won’t be charged for it.”
He said users will go to the specific parcel they are seeking a bill for and select the “tax info” tab. The user will then select “view tax bills. Galarneau said a list of available bills will be displayed. If the “view tax bills” tab is not visible, he said that indicates no bills available for that parcel. He said the intention is to have the current bill and at least the year preceding.
“I would like them to be [online], the same time they’re being mailed,” Galarneau said.
Galarneau added that this will be “useful tool” for property owners. He said the function is an enhancement of the agency’s current software at no additional charge to the county.
“This is going to be tremendous,” said Johnstown 3rd Ward Supervisor Jack Callery.
