Dallas County residents who have not paid their property taxes are running short on time.

The deadline for property taxes, Dallas County Tax Collector Tammy King said, is Dec. 31. The office will be open that day, but she said there are other options as well.

“They can even go on the website and pay their taxes, they can come to the courthouse and pay the taxes or they can mail their taxes in as long as it’s postmarked by Dec. 31,” she said.

Payments can be mailed to P.O. Box 987 Selma, Ala., 36702.

The office will reopen Jan. 3, but King said at that point penalties will apply.

Property (ad valorem) taxes are taxed on real and business personal property. Real property includes land and improvements.

An improvement is anything that adds value to real property such as a house, swimming pool, chicken house or barn. Business personal property refers to items, which are used in any business and are movable or not permanently fixed to the land.

The Tax Assessor is responsible for determining property value, which must, by the law, be set according to “fair and reasonable market value.”

As with property taxes, King said the deadline to apply for exemptions is also near.

“They need to be up here by Dec. 31 to sign for any exemptions,” she said. “It won’t effect this year’s taxes, but it will effect next year.”

Mobile home owners, King said, have already missed the deadline and will pay a $10 penalty. The deadline, she said, was Nov. 30.

For more information on property tax deadlines and exemptions, call 874-2519.