JACKSON -- County taxpayers had better heed the warning on 1992 personal property tax assessment lists that were mailed out last month by meeting the March 1 return deadline.

Cape Girardeau County Assessor Jerry Reynolds pointed out Thursday that a new state law that took effect Jan. 1 requires assessors to increase the assessed valuation of personal property tax bills by 5 percent for each month the assessment list is late.

Assessment lists were sent out in January and are designed to have taxpayers list all the personal property they owned as of Jan. 1.

For most people personal property is only licensed vehicles, but for businesses and farms it includes such things as livestock, equipment, and machinery.

In the past, state law gave assessors the option of doubling the assessment of taxpayers who failed to meet a late-spring deadline, but did not require it. Most assessors, including Reynolds, did not impose the penalty.

"Under the new law we are required to have these in by March 1," Reynolds explained. "At this point I've got to impose the penalties because the law says the assessor shall do it. I have to carry it out; I don't have any choice."

In the past Reynolds has mailed second notices in March to anyone who had not returned their assessment list, but with a March 1 deadline there won't be time for second notices.

For most taxpayers the 5 percent penalty will be small and likely not be noticed, but it will increase at 5 percent a month through the end of the year.

"If you have a $1,000 valuation on your car, the penalty in March would be 5 percent or $50. In April, the penalty would raise the valuation to $1,100 and so on," said Reynolds.

Tax rates are applied per $100 assessed valuation.

The law still gives the assessor the authority to double the assessment of a taxpayer who files a fraudulent list.

The warning on the assessment list states, "Missouri statutes provide for penalty for failure to return this list by March 1."

Reynolds said he plans to run public notices in newspapers to help remind people of the need to meet the deadline.

Reynolds said he hopes the law can eventually be changed and would prefer that the penalty deadline be rolled back to at least April 1 and maybe May 1.

The assessor must turn personal property tax books over to the county clerk by May 31 of each year. If a list is not returned, no tax bill can be prepared.

Since tax bills are not mailed until November, by the time it is determined a list is not returned, there would be an assessment penalty of 45 percent.

For most people, meeting the March 1 deadline will not be a problem; however, for some larger businesses Reynolds said it might be very difficult to meet the deadline. While a 5 percent assessed valuation increase penalty is very small to most taxpayers, for a large business the impact on their tax bills could be significant.

"I have no problem with a 5 percent penalty for people that don't get their list in, but March 1 is just too quick," said Reynolds.

At this point the assessor said he can find nothing in the statutes giving him the authority to waive a penalty.

Reynolds stressed that people who have not received assessment lists and those who may have lost theirs need to contact his office right away to receive a duplicate.

The assessor has offices in the county administration building in Jackson and in the Common Pleas Courthouse Annex in Cape Girardeau. The office telephone numbers are 243-2468 and 334-8876, respectively.

Approximately 25,500 personal property lists have been mailed to Cape County residents. Reynolds said that includes about 13,000 bills in the city of Cape Girardeau, 4,500 in the city of Jackson, and 8,000 in the outcounty.

As of Thursday, Reynolds said his office had received about 17,000 lists back, which seems to be a little ahead of previous years.