Why did I receive a late notice?
On July 1, late payment penalties of one percent per month began to accrue on all unpaid city fee accounts, except those that had applications submitted before the deadline.  If you received a late notice, it is an indication that the city fees have not been paid on a property you own.

 

I just bought this property, and now I have received a late notice.  I had no idea these fees existed.  Can you waive the late penalties?
The owner of a property is responsible for ensuring the fees are paid.  Ultimately, disclosing payment (or non-payment) of the fees is a private matter between a buyer and seller.  The city will not waive late penalties in these cases.

 

I submitted an application before the July 1 deadline, but I still got a late notice.  What do I do?
While we have entered a majority of them into our account system, we are still finding some that have not yet been entered or that were entered incorrectly.

The late notices were intended to target property owners who have taken no pro-active action to address their city fee bills.  We appreciate property owners who have taken an active interest by submitting an application, and we will work with those owners to ensure that the appropriate application(s) is/are applied to their accounts and late penalties are removed when appropriate.

 

I submitted an application after July 1, but I still think I should have my late fees waived because I qualify to receive what I applied for.  Is this possible?
In order to ensure our billing file is as accurate as possible for 2009, we are processing adjustment (correction) applications received after July 1.

Likewise, because the stormwater fee exemptions for low-income and 501(c)(3)s were specifically stipulated in the enabling ordinance, we are continuing to process those applications to apply to the 2008 billing.

Property owners will receive a refund for applications approved on accounts already paid.

However, because credits are discounts issued at the discretion of the Jacksonville Stormwater Utility, the application deadline of July 1 stands.  Credit applications received on or after July 1 will be considered for the 2009 billing.

 

I got a late notice, but I paid my bill before September 30.  What should I do?
We had to create the mailing file in late September in order to mail by October 1.  Therefore, we recognize some customers may have paid their fees by the time they receive the late notice.  In such cases, the late notice should be ignored.

Customers may use the Online Access to City Fee Accounts or call 630-CITY to learn the current status of their account. 

If you paid your bill well before late September but you have not received your check back for insufficient funds or an attempted partial payment, you will need to provide proof, such as a canceled check, that the payment was made.  Please send a letter and a copy of the canceled check to:

Administrative Services Division
Attn:  City Fees
214 N. Hogan Street, 10th Floor
Jacksonville, FL  32202

 

I refuse to pay these fees.  What are you going to do?
By ordinance, the monthly one-percent penalty will continue to accrue on your outstanding balance until it is paid in full.  Ultimately, the city has the authority to pursue all legal methods of collection, to include placing a non-foreclosable lien on your property.

 

When I initially received the bill in May, I contacted the city but never got a response.  Now, I'm being charged late fees.  Can you waive them?
Ultimately, it is a property owner's responsibility to pay the fees on time and/or to ensure an application was received by the posted deadline in order to avoid late payment penalties.

However, we will consider waiving late fees on a case-by-case basis, depending on an individual's specific situation and if it can be reasonably determined that the property owner is not at fault for incurring late fees in the first place.