(Washington, D.C.) The Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) will mail today more than 170,000 real property tax bills for the 2008 first half tax year to District property owners. The tax bills, which reflect current and past due real property tax liabilities, are due Monday, March 31.

Property owners can pay their real property tax bills by check using the self-addressed envelope included in the tax bill (enclose the stub part of the tax bill and write the square, suffix and lot numbers on the memo line of the check), in person at a Wachovia bank in the District of Columbia or by using OTR’s free online eCheck payment system. The eCheck payment system is convenient and easy to use, and it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at www.taxpayerservicecenter.com under “Real Property Service Center.”

If taxpayers do not receive a real property tax bill in the mail, they should call OTR’s Customer Service Center at (202) 727-4TAX (4829). Failure to receive a tax bill does not justify non-payment of taxes owed. If a tax payment is late, the property owner will be charged a 10 percent penalty and 1.5 percent interest for each full or partial month the payment is late. Properties with delinquent tax bills may be sold at the annual Tax Sale.

For more information about real property tax bills and tax relief programs, visit www.taxpayerservicecenter.com, call (202) 727-4TAX or visit OTR’s Customer Service Walk-In Center at 941 North Capitol Street, NE, on the first floor.