ELLSWORTH – Pierce County Treasurer Kathy Fuchs is encouraging residents who pay their property tax bills by mail to be aware of a recent U.S. Postal Service policy change that may affect when envelopes are postmarked.

In August 2025, the Postal Service instituted a nationwide change as to when a postmark is affixed to incoming mail. Instead of postmarks being affixed when the item is first touched by the Postal Service, postmarks are now stamped at regional sorting centers.

“That means your postmark could be dated several days after you put it in your mailbox,” Fuchs said. “In other words, if you plan to pay your property taxes by mail, don’t wait until right before the deadline to put it in the mailbox.”

Fuchs noted that many federal and state laws define timely payment based off the USPS postmark, meaning payments may be considered delinquent if they are mailed too close to the deadline — even if they were, in fact, placed in a mailbox before the deadline.

A smart option would be to physically bring your payment into the post office and request that they postmark your payment envelope in front of you or by sending it certified mail, Fuchs said.

Fuchs also cautioned taxpayers about sending tax payments utilizing their personal bank’s online bill payment option.  Those payments arrive in bulk and there is no postmark at all on the envelopes that contain them.  There is a danger those could arrive late and become delinquent as well. 

To avoid the issue entirely, Fuchs encourages Pierce County property taxpayers to mail payments earlier or to use the E-check option to pay online to avoid becoming delinquent and accruing substantial late fees.

“While credit/debit card payments often come with a significant convenience fee, E-check convenience fees for tax payments made on the county web site are a flat $1.50 per payment, which comes out to about the same as postage for your payment and a return receipt,” Fuchs said. “This could be a great option for people who are concerned that they are mailing their payment too close to the deadline and want to make sure that they are not going delinquent.”

Payments for most municipalities can be made on the county’s website through the Public Payment Portal on the Treasurer’s Page.

Submitted by Pierce County Treasurer Kathy Fuchs