Overall tax collections received by the Warren County Collector's office are slightly ahead of last year's figures. According to Collector Linda Stude, her office collected $24,727,566.31 overall, including $20,807,029.43 in real estate taxes and another $3,920,536.88 in personal property taxes prior to the Dec. 31 deadline. That is above the total of $24,273,235.01 received last year by the deadline. In that period, $20,112,819.28 in real estate and $4,160,415.73 in personal property taxes had been received. Any payment made after or mailed without a 2009 postmark is considered late. According to figures provided by Stude, more than $2.5 million originally due to the county failed to be paid on time. Stude noted that this year's tax collection for personal property decreased slightly, dropping from $5,185,515.70 in 2008 to $4,766,100.18 in 2009. Real estate taxes increased to $22,526,909.10 in 2009 from $21,726,948.89. The overall amount collected by the county jumped to $27,293,009.28 in 2009 from the previous year's total of $26,912,464.59. Stude pointed out that all of the paid tax receipts were mailed out to taxpayers last week. She said any taxpayer who made a payment through the mail or the drop box located outside the collector's office in December who has not received a receipt should contact her office immediately. She added that since penalties accrue monthly, this will give her staff enough time to investigate and possibly resolve the issue before Feb. 1 so additional penalties are accrued. Any payments made after the deadline must be returned because they don't include additional fees for interest owed or being delinquent. Stude said payments remitted after the Dec. 31 deadline face a 9 percent late fee with an additional 2 percent assessed for every month thereafter. For more information, contact the collector's office at 636-456-3330. The collector's office is located in the annex building behind the Warren County Courthouse in Warrenton.