Posted: Thursday, October 1, 2009 1:13 pm

Ever feel like the only letters in the mailbox are bills?

Well, be prepared to receive the most important bill of the year over the next few days – The Property Tax Bill.

Both Rutherford County and City of Murfreesboro tax bills will be entering a mailbox near you this week with an increase.

The property tax increase brought the county’s tax rate of $2.56 to $2.735, adding $65.63 to the yearly tax bill for the average homeowner with a home valued at $150,000.

The county needed the extra cash to plug a more than $2.4 million hole in its $390 million budget, with shortfalls in many funds, including the general, solid waste and sanitation, and school budgets.

The county requires their part of the property tax to be paid by Feb. 28, 2010.

It can be paid by checks, cash, money orders, credit card and debit card:
• At the County Trustee Office, suite 102 in the Historic County Courthouse on the Public Square in downtown Murfreesboro,
• Checks or money orders made out to the Rutherford County Trustee can be mailed to P.O. Box 1316. Murfreesboro, TN 37133, or
• Online at tennesseetrustee.com, choose Rutherford County.

The county will accept partial payments, Trustee Teb Batey said. Call his office at 898-7705 for more information.

The county has other programs like the senior tax freeze and tax relief programs for lox income seniors, totally disabled homeowners and disabled veterans, which relief the tax burden on some, Batey said.

City tax bills can be paid by Cash, check or money order:
• In person at City Hall, 111 West Vince St., Murfreesboro, or
• By mail, to Po Box 1139, Murfreesboro, TN 37133 or 111 W. Vine St. Murfreesboro, TN 37130.