Tax bills sent out to an unknown number of Ellicott City residents have gone missing, and county government officials have asked the United States Postal Service to investigate what happened.
A total of about 65,000 semi-annual bills were sent out on Dec. 1, but not all homeowners in the 21042 zip code received them, according to county spokesman Kevin Enright. Approximately 9,000 bills were sent to that zip code, he said, and while it is difficult to know how many homeowners did not receive them, as the payments are not due until the end of the month, phone calls made to a sampling of homeowners revealed that a number of bills were not delivered.
The bills do not contain private information, but the government still wants the postal service to look into their disappearance.
The bills were sent out using the same system, vendor and procedures used in previous years, Enright said.
Replacement bills will be sent out this week to those living in 21042 who still have a balance due. The payment deadline for those living in that zip code has been extended to Jan. 31. Homeowners who have already paid their bills can ignore the new bills arriving in their mailboxes.
Questions can be directed to the county's tax customer service number at 410-313-2062.