Finance Director and City Recorder/Treasurer Melissa Wright reminds property owners to pay property taxes on time. City property taxes are normally due by Dec. 31 but payment can be made on or before January 2, 2018 without incurring interest charges for being late because the due date falls on a holiday weekend.

The Rutherford County Assessor's Office has alerted the City of Murfreesboro that some property owners may receive a duplicate tax billing due to a mechanical printing error. The Assessor believes that less than 500 of more than 45,000 bills were inadvertently printed and mailed twice. Property tax billings for 2017 were mailed this past weekend.

"We understand the confusion this may bring to those receiving more than one billing," said City Finance Director Melissa Wright. "We want to assure property taxpayers that if they happen to receive two identical tax bills from the City for the same property, it is due to a printing error. Taxpayers should only pay once."

Taxes paid or postmarked after January 2, 2018 will be subject to interest charges. The interest charges for late payment begins accruing January 3 at the rate of 1 and ½ percent per month, or any portion of a month, applied to the base tax until they are paid. Payments may be made with cash, check, or credit card. Bank counter checks or two-party checks are not accepted.

Murfreesboro Citizens no longer have to make a trip to City Hall or use the postal service to make property tax payments. An online website helps City taxpayers and those who need to access property tax information online. The web site address is available at https://www.murfreesborotntax.com/#/ and will take you to the tax information for the City of Murfreesboro.

Citizens can pay online via Pay Pal® using Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover credit/debit cards or Forte Payment Services using an e-check. In addition, citizens can print a copy of their tax bill or a paid receipt, using the web site features. A convenience fee is added for credit/debit card transactions of approximately 2.50% (subject to change) +$.30 of the charged amount that will be added to your payment and paid directly to the credit card service provider. The fee added for e-checks is a flat $1.50.

Payments made by mail should be made payable to the City of Murfreesboro and mailed to P.O. Box 1139, Murfreesboro, TN 37133-1139. Payments made in person are to be made at City Hall, 1st Floor, Finance Department, 111 West Vine St., Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Partial property tax payments are accepted. The City also participates in the State of Tennessee Tax Freeze program. Low income senior citizens or disabled veterans may qualify for the State of Tennessee Property Tax Relief program and receive a reduction in property taxes.

If you have questions about information printed on the property tax billing, please contact the Rutherford County Assessor's Office at (615) 898-7750.

If you have any questions regarding how to pay your tax bill or tax relief programs, please call the Tax Department at City Hall (615) 893-5210 or contact Finance Director Melissa B. Wright at mwright@murfreesborotn.gov.