According to data from our Public Records Act request, the vast majority of property tax penalty waiver applications were successful.

Way back in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, just after the first Bay Area shelter-in-place order, the Mill Valley Chamber worked feverishly to hunt every form of relief for Mill Valley businesses.
One form of relief proved a tough nut to crack: property tax relief, i.e., the County of Marin providing a way for people to pay their property taxes late but avoid paying the late fees and penalties associated with doing so.
As a result of Governor Newsom’s earlier Executive Order N-61-20, small commercial businesses can apply for a property tax PENALTY waiver, but still have to pay the base tax.
According to data from our Public Records Act request last month, the vast majority of property tax penalty waiver applications were successful:
Per County of Marin's Dept. of Finance: "As of November 24, 2020, we have the following Requests for Cancellation of Penalty from small businesses:
40 Approved
13 Pending
1 Denied
54 Total small business requests."
The last day to submit payment of base taxes AND the Penalty waiver request/justification is May 6, which would cover the taxes due this December 10 AND April 10, 2021.
You need to submit separate requests for the Dec 10th and April 10th payment dates.
If you do not want to submit your request online, please print the Request for Penalty Cancellation PDF form and mail it with your tax payment to this address:
Marin County Tax Collector
ATTN: Penalty Cancellation
P.O. Box 4220
San Rafael, CA 94913-4220
Questions? Contact the Department of Finance here or at 415.473.6133.
Contact the Mill Valley Chamber here.
One form of relief proved a tough nut to crack: property tax relief, i.e., the County of Marin providing a way for people to pay their property taxes late but avoid paying the late fees and penalties associated with doing so.
As a result of Governor Newsom’s earlier Executive Order N-61-20, small commercial businesses can apply for a property tax PENALTY waiver, but still have to pay the base tax.
According to data from our Public Records Act request last month, the vast majority of property tax penalty waiver applications were successful:
Per County of Marin's Dept. of Finance: "As of November 24, 2020, we have the following Requests for Cancellation of Penalty from small businesses:
40 Approved
13 Pending
1 Denied
54 Total small business requests."
The last day to submit payment of base taxes AND the Penalty waiver request/justification is May 6, which would cover the taxes due this December 10 AND April 10, 2021.
You need to submit separate requests for the Dec 10th and April 10th payment dates.
If you do not want to submit your request online, please print the Request for Penalty Cancellation PDF form and mail it with your tax payment to this address:
Marin County Tax Collector
ATTN: Penalty Cancellation
P.O. Box 4220
San Rafael, CA 94913-4220
Questions? Contact the Department of Finance here or at 415.473.6133.
Contact the Mill Valley Chamber here.