About a third of San Diego County property owners have yet to pay the first installment on their property taxes, which are due Friday, according to the county.
Owners of 981,879 properties in the county are subject to paying the taxes, said Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister.
"We are in full swing and prepared to receive over 370,500 installment payments that still remain to be collected," McAllister said.
"The penalties for not paying taxes are very onerous," he warned. "We hope that taxpayers will avoid penalties by paying on time, and we are confident that taxpayers will pay by the deadline."
Although the number of taxable properties is a record, because of the depressed housing market, revenues to the county of San Diego are expected to drop by $48 million from last year -- to $4.4 billion, he said.
About 575,000 bills were still unpaid on Thanksgiving, McAllister said.
To make it more convenient for taxpayers, Treasurer-Tax Collector offices in downtown San Diego, Kearny Mesa, El Cajon, Chula Vista and San Marcos will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.
Payments by phone or Internet need to be made before midnight to ensure they are on time.
