Fayette County residents may have been surprised when they got their tax bills in September.

But Tax Commissioner George Wingo explained that the system is now working how it should have been for years.

Wingo explained that for the past several years, the Fayette County tax bills have been due in mid to late December. This year the bills are due Nov. 15.

In 1981, according to Wingo, Fayette County adopted Nov. 15 as the annual due date under a statewide law allowing counties to adopt either Nov. 15 as a due date or continue to use the statewide due date of Dec. 20. State law also requires that the taxpayer be given a minimum of 60 days, from the date the bills are mailed, to pay their taxes.

Due to several reasons over the last few years, including tremendous growth resulting in a backlog of work in the Tax Assessors office, there has not been sufficient time to compile the tax digest and obtain approval from the state Revenue Commissioner's office and at the same time meet the Nov. 15 due date deadline, Wingo said.

But, since growth has slowed in Fayette County, and the approval process has been streamlined, the Tax Commissioner's office has been able to finally mail the tax bills with the county's adopted due date.

With the correct date in place, Wingo explained, the Fayette County Board of Education and other government entities will save money since they don't have to borrow money before the tax payments start to come into county coffers.

Wingo also added that taxpayers have 75 days before the bills are due. During the past few years, taxpayers only had 60 days.