Effective December 24, 2025, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is moving the postmark process from local application to regional sorting centers. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR), State and Local Finance Division has requested the Village share the following information with you.
The USPS postmark change has raised concerns about the timeliness of property tax payments, so DOR encourages you to communicate this change to property taxpayers and to recommend mailing payments earlier than usual. When the village receives a payment, we look at the postmark to determine if it was mailed timely.
If payment was received in January; any payment postmarked (not dated) December 31st is recorded on the receipt that its payment was made in December even though it will be posted in January.
If the payment is received in February, the following procedures are used to determine whether or not the payment was made timely:
- Within the five working day grace period – are considered timely, regardless of postmark (secs. 74.11, and 74.12, Wis. Stats.)
- After the grace period – must be properly addressed and postmarked before midnight of the due date to be considered timely (sec. 74.69(1), Wis. Stats.)
- Late payments – may be considered timely if the delay was due to a USPS delay or administrative error (sec. 74.69(2), Wis. Stats.)
When a taxpayer disputes the Whether or not the payment was received timely, Sauk County follows the state law for guidance regarding timeliness of payments. Under state law:
- A taxpayer may file a written request with the county treasurer requesting the county board determine their payment as timely (sec. 74.69(3)(b), Wis. Stats.)
- County board makes the determination to consider the late payment as timely if the sole reason the payment was not timely is due to a USPS delay or administrative error (sec. 74.69(3)(c), Wis. Stats.)