After Spring Mail Theft, Napa County Urges Property Taxpayers to Pay Online or In Person
The first installment of 2026-2027 property taxes is due November 1. Pay by 5 p.m. on December 10 to avoid a 10 percent penalty, and the county would rather you skipped the mailbox this year.
NAPA: Napa County is asking property taxpayers to pay the first installment of their 2026-2027 taxes online or in person this year, in an announcement the Tax Collector’s Office posted on Monday, Oct. 19. The installment itself is due Nov. 1, 2026, and the county says it must be paid by 5 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2026 to avoid a 10 percent penalty.
The push away from the mailbox has a specific reason behind it. The county says it is still working with local, state and federal partners to investigate fraudulent activity tied to property tax payments that were stolen after being sent by mail in April 2026, and its tax collector is now steering payers toward channels where a payment can be tracked.
Following the theft of mailed payments this past spring, we urge taxpayers to pay online or in-personRobert Minahen, Napa County Tax Collector, in the county announcement posted Oct. 19, 2026
Minahen added, in the same announcement, that paying online or in person helps taxpayers keep track of their payments, lowers the risk of mail theft, and supports the timely collection and distribution of the property tax money that funds services across the community.
Following the theft of mailed payments this past spring, we urge taxpayers to pay online or in-person.
How to pay
Online payments run through InvoiceCloud, the electronic payment processing system the county now uses, reached from the Tax Collector’s web page, where taxpayers can also view their property tax bills and payment status by searching an assessment number, a fee parcel number or a property address. The Tax Collector’s office page lists what registering with InvoiceCloud offers: paperless billing, the ability to link multiple parcels and assessments to one account, AutoPay and Scheduled Pay, payment reminders by text or email, and pay by text. Bills also carry a QR code on the payment stub that can be scanned with a phone to pay from a mobile device, the office page says.
In person, the Tax Collector’s office is at 1195 Third St., Suite 108 in Napa, with weekday hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closures on county holidays. Taxpayers who want to skip the line can use the drop box just outside the office’s main entrance, as long as the payment is deposited before 5 p.m. on Dec. 10.
Mail has not been ruled out. The county says mailed payments should be postmarked by Dec. 10, 2026 to avoid the penalty, but its guidance pages carry a caution worth knowing before relying on the postmark: a payment that arrives after the delinquency date with no postmark is treated as late, and the Postal Service does not postmark every kind of postage, including metered mail and permit imprints used by bill pay services.
The dates, and what late costs
The calendar in the county announcement runs in two installments. The first is due Nov. 1, 2026, with the 5 p.m. Dec. 10 deadline and the 10 percent penalty behind it. The second installment is due Feb. 1, 2027, and it can be paid as late as 5 p.m. on April 12, 2027 without a penalty, a date the county sets because April 10, the usual delinquency date on its general guidance pages, falls on a Saturday in 2027. Paying the second installment late adds a 10 percent penalty plus a $10 cost, according to the Tax Collector’s office and penalties pages.
One more deadline for anyone whose bill never showed up: the Tax Collector’s office asks taxpayers who have not received a secured tax bill by Nov. 10 to call 707-253-4312 to arrange a duplicate, and notes that not receiving a bill does not remove the obligation to pay it. For other property tax questions, the county announcement lists 707-253-4327.
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